What cabinet member was stabbed but survived the night of lincolns assasiation?

1 answer

Answer

1285189

2026-04-24 01:45

+ Follow

William Henry Seward, Lincoln's Secretary of State, was stabbed on the night of Lincoln's assassination by Lewis Powell (alias Payne or Paine). Powell was a Confederate soldier who'd deserted the army and became friends with John Wilkes Booth.

Booth, Powell, and a few others conspired at first to kidnap Lincoln and hold him, the ransom being the return of all the Confederate prisoners. When the war ended, however, the need to kidnap Lincoln went out the window. So, a new plan was conceived: Booth would assassinate Lincoln while Powell assassinated Seward, and another accomplice (German immigrant George Atzerodt) would assassinate Vice President Johnson. As it turns out, Booth was the only success of the three. Powell succeeded in stabbing Seward, as well as severely injuring Seward's son Frederick, but not in killing him (Seward had broken his jaw in a carriage accident weeks before and had broken his jaw; he had a metal contraption on his jaw to keep it in place, which kept Powell's knife from striking any major veins, therefore saving his life). Atzerodt didn't even try to go through with it, chickening out at the last moment and going to a bar.

Miraculously, Seward (and his son) recovered and continued to serve as Secretary of State under President Johnson.

ReportLike(0ShareFavorite

Copyright © 2026 eLLeNow.com All Rights Reserved.