It is usual today to depict the death of Lincoln as having occasioned an universal outburst of grief throughout the North and particularly among the leaders of the Republican party, by whom the “Great Emancipator” has since been made a party god. When a searcher for the truth examines the private records of the time, he can scarce repress a feeling of surprise, for the fact is that the Radical leadership of the Republican party, while not pleased with the sacrifice of Lincoln, the individual, almost rejoiced that Lincoln, the merciful executive, had been removed from the helm of state.

George Milton
Age of Hate