Althouse: "Ridiculously Photogenic Assassin Guy"/"Almost like he's a model turned assassin...."

November 20, 2022

"Ridiculously Photogenic Assassin Guy"/"Almost like he's a model turned assassin...."

At the subreddit r/historyporn.

19 comments:

Mary Beth said...: I thought anyone and everyone who had anything to do with the Confederacy was supposed to be banned from being viewed, or was that just for statues of people who also did many good things?; 11/20/22, 12:06 PM
tim in vermont said...: Not loading the app, so let me guess, John Wilkes Booth.; 11/20/22, 12:11 PM
William said...: Good looking, but he didn't have the star power of John Wilkes Booth. Still, it showed prudence and proper planning on John Wilkes' part to leave the assassination of Lincoln to himself. Can you imagine the tragedy if John Wilkes had failed and this young man had succeeded in his assassination attempt against Seward. All of John Wilkes efforts would have been in vain and he would have died in a supporting role in a production that he himself had inspired and designed. What bitter irony. Fortunately there was a benign providence that shaped his destiny and John Wilkes remains the star of the Lincoln assassination plot. He was the first of many actors to upstage the President and to this day remains an inspiration to many. Every time I hear an Oscar acceptance speech I think of John Wilkes Booth and his "sic semper tyrannis" comments.; 11/20/22, 12:34 PM
gilbar said...: Hard to believe, that they thought that killing the VP (Andy Johnson), and the Sec of State (Seward) would have been a "good idea"

IF (Capital I F, IF) they'd succeeded, Who would have been the next President?
The Presidential Succession Act of 1792, provided that the president pro tempore of the Senate would be President.. Who WAS the president pro tempore of the Senate in 1865?
Daniel Clark became Pro Tem April 26, 1865; When Congress sat again.. But, would they have picked HIM, if Johnson had died? I don't know.
One Thing is For SURE, it wouldn't have been a Peace Democrat.; 11/20/22, 12:36 PM
Michael K said...: Powell was described at the time as mentally "slow." He would a good fit with today's Democrats.; 11/20/22, 12:53 PM
as if.... said...: The story of the chase and capture of JWB across the Virginia countryside in the days after the assassination is pretty entertaining.

And apparently, actors have always been overdramatic(by nature) and crazy.; 11/20/22, 1:02 PM
Oh Yea said...: Marina Amaral who is a digital colourist of old photos did this photo a few years ago. It got one of the largest responses in that it appeared to be a contemporary photo. You can slide between old and new at this site:

https://marinamaral.com/portfolio/lewis-powell/; 11/20/22, 1:05 PM
Lurker21 said...: He died before Hollywood could make him a star.

Lewis Payne's real name was Lewis Powell, same as the recent Supreme Court Justice.

The photo is iconic and well-known in history circles. It turns up in the horror film Night Watch with Ewan McGregor as a harbinger of strange and horrible things to come.

Assassins. Two days until 11/22. It used to be a big deal. Now not so much. Has mention of Judyth Vary Baker and her alleged affair with LHO put everyone in the holiday mood?; 11/20/22, 1:06 PM
Big Mike said...: His real name was Lewis Thornton Powell, and although he was a member of Booth’s conspiracy his assignment was to kill Secretary of State Seward and he failed. Maning that he wasn’t a successful assassin. The descriptions I’ve read imply that he was a slow witted and possessed a violent temper.; 11/20/22, 1:09 PM
narciso said...: life is catching up with zoolander; 11/20/22, 1:40 PM
Gusty Winds said...: Powell proclaimed Mary Surratt’s innocence the night before the execution, and publicly from the scaffold.; 11/20/22, 2:06 PM
readering said...: Thanks Oh Yea. Wow.; 11/20/22, 2:18 PM
Kate said...: Hilarious comments over there. "I'd wave my handkerchief at him."; 11/20/22, 3:21 PM
Eva Marie said...: He was a guilty pleasure of my 7th grade female classmates. We passed around (pretty sure this was the book) The Death of Lincoln by Leroy Hayman, Scholastic Book Services and sighed.; 11/20/22, 4:59 PM
Joe Smith said...: He either has a huge head, the shoulders of a 12 year old girl, or probably both...; 11/20/22, 5:35 PM
Joe Smith said...: 'Confederacy was supposed to be banned from being viewed, or was that just for statues of people who also did many good things?'

They were all democrats...; 11/20/22, 5:36 PM
tim in vermont said...: Miss America 1924 kind looks like him in a wig; 11/21/22, 7:03 AM
Anthony said...: Yes, like 'Idiocracy' everything in 'Zoolander' will eventually become fact.; 11/21/22, 11:42 AM
Josephbleau said...: “The story of the chase and capture of JWB across the Virginia countryside in the days after the assassination is pretty entertaining”

After leaving a burning barn Booth was shot by a Union sergeant who wanted the honor. The barn and house foundations are now on the woody median of I 81 in rural Virginia. the site is accessible and there is a rusty sign.; 11/21/22, 7:07 PM

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