The story of the first presidential assassination in American History is an interesting one, but the story of what happens after is hardly ever touched upon in history classes. I was aware of the event leading up to the assassination and death of Abraham Lincoln, but the attempted body snatching never came up. This book, Stealing Lincoln’s Body by Thomas J. Craughwell, tells the story of the reasoning, planning, attempt and failure of Big Jim Kennally to steal the dead president’s body. The book also covers a lot of the fight against counterfeit money and the formation of the Secret Service. Stealing Lincoln’s Body starts with an introduction to the counterfeit rings that ran rampant through the United States during the civil war. This forgotten historic event takes place in the aftermath of the Civil War and Lincoln’s assassination, when the country is still recovering economically. The recovery is being slowed down by the counterfeit rings which keep adding fake money into circulation, so the Secret Service is formed to help stop it. In the beginning the Secret Service was as corrupt as the business it was in charge of stopping, but once Patrick Tyrrell took over, it became more organized. One man caught by the secret service was Benjamin Boyd, an important engraver for Big Jim Kennally. A man in connection with the…show more content… I also feel terrible for Mary Todd Lincoln, who could not get a break and had to deal with all of this till her death, and Robert Lincoln, who seemed to handle most of the problems. My understanding of the aftermath of the civil war has not changed, too much, but the economic issues make more sense now. The country was not only dealing with debt but counterfeit money. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and learning about the crimes that took place during this
