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There weren't really a horde of "Lincoln bodyguards" though. The Secret Service didn't even handle guarding politicians yet (They had just been created, but for
by jhbadger 4y ago
There weren't really a horde of "Lincoln bodyguards" though. The Secret Service didn't even handle guarding politicians yet (They had just been created, but for their primary task of fighting counterfeiters). It's hard to imagine, but back then it was considered normal for politicians to just live like other people rather than being surrounded by bodyguards. You could even go as a normal citizen to the White House and ask to speak to the President (he might not have time to do so, but you could ask and people did)
- cik2e 4y agoYou are kidding right? Of course Lincoln had bodyguard. Maybe they weren't called the Secret Service but he had bodyguards. This was a time of war and the president is going about unprotected? Guarding your most important politician is not a modern invention.
- jhbadger 4y agoNo. He had in theory just one unofficial bodyguard, a police officer named John Parker. There is some evidence that Parker was bored by the play and left at intermission to get a drink and didn't come back to the president's box. He wasn't around at the time of the assassination, though, at which point Lincoln was completely unguarded.
- yamtaddle 4y agoWe've tightened the security around major US politicians, and especially the President, a ton over the 20th century, especially. It's even increased a bunch since e.g. the 1950s. Anyone could just walk onto the White House grounds without challenge for a really long time, for example.