Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase For Lincoln's Killer, By James L. Swanson

James L. Swanson became fascinated with President Lincoln and other presidents at an early age. Naturally, Swanson was born on Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. He has written many books on Lincoln and Kennedy. His book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer is a New York Times Bestseller. He wrote a book for a younger audience called Chasing Lincoln’s Killer. He also wrote Bloody Times: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the Manhunt for Jefferson Davis and Lincoln’s Assassin about President Lincoln. He wrote End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy, and “The President Has Been Shot!” about President Kennedy. Swanson is a part of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. He is an avid Lincoln scholar who gets his information from archives, …show more content…
Swanson writes an intense, thrilling, minute by minute recall of the event that changed a generation. “At the same time Lee Harvey Oswald was driving to work, John and Jacqueline Kennedy were awake in their suite at the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth.” It goes back and forth explaining what both parties were doing at the same time. This is extremely important. “The president has been shot!” is all about this day and these moments. Oswald, with his last minute plans, did everything he could to go through with this plan without a hitch. Kennedy, while riding through town, did not want his secret service men to be on the car and black the publics view of him. The choice to be personal with his fellow Americans only hurt him in the end. Without the secret service men on his side, Oswald had a clear shot from the window on the sixth floor. This day was devastating to the government, American citizens everywhere, and to Mr. Kennedy’s wife and children. The younger generation was not alive during this time and it is difficult to think of this as personal. This intimate information and way of writing makes it seem more …show more content…
Oswald denied that he shot Kennedy. Vice-President Johnson swore into office as President, and Kennedy had a large, grand, and sad funeral. The author goes days after the initial important event and gives a sort of resolution. It is important to know the outcome of the climax and not just the main event. Everything before and after is just as important. Kennedy’s funeral was a sad day for many. It is very sad to think that his wife was now a widow, and his young children now fatherless. This should have never happened, but it did. This book is a engaging way to get young people informed on this historical