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Walt Whitman's Assassination Research Paper

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Walt Whitman penned these words after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, devastated by the leader’s death. All throughout history, controversial leaders have been assassinated by conspirators who feel it is the best thing to do. These leaders died died for what they believed in. State the opposing side of your argument. Some will make the argument that these radicals are killing leaders for selfish reasons, but they are mistaken. In the grand scheme of things, conspirators who kill leaders believe they are doing so for the benefit of society, because that leader threatens what they think is best for the world, and conspirators try to remain honorable in their actions. Many assassins kill leaders because they believe that if they …show more content…

Booth’s original plan was not to kill Lincoln, but to remove him from power by kidnapping to help the Confederacy in another way. An unfortunate series of events caused him to force his hand. “Booth abandoned the kidnapping plot. He had no choice… Booth got it into his head that if Lincoln and his government were eliminated, there would be some sort of political revolution,” (Jakoubek 4). Many assassins of leaders lament that the death of a leader is the only for them to remove the threat they perceive to the greater good. Since they are working for the greater good of society, they are willing to do whatever it takes to protect that. If they were working only for personal gain, they would kill the leader without remorse, but since they are honorable they wish there was another way. Another set of conspirators who rue the fact that they must kill a leader are those in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Caesar’s assassins in his namesake play wish they did not have to kill him, but believe they must in order to help the people. “Oh, that we then could come by Caesar’s spirit and not dismember Caesar!” (Brutus, Act 2 Scene 1 Lines 171-172). These and many other groups of radicals would love if there was a way to remove the endangerment to the greater good without killing the leader themselves, but they unfortunately see no other way of going about it than to kill them. Their wish for the greater good outweighs their desire to keep their hands clean. Assassinating a leader is never a safe thing to do, but these people do it because they believe that it is what is most important for society and for the greater good. The reluctance of conspirators to kill leaders shows that their motives are for the protection of the greater

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