Thank you.
- Evening. - Excuse me.
Are you Miss Keckley?
Yes.
I'm Edwin Stanton.
President Lincoln speaks very highly of you.
Thank you.
He's just upstairs. Willie has taken ill.
- Should I come back at another time? - Oh, no.
Actually, Mr. Lincoln appreciates visitors even more
when his children are not well.
If I should cancel my party and tell my guests to go home, I will.
Please tell me, is this grave? I need to know.
Go enjoy your party, Mrs. Lincoln.
Come down.
I will.
As soon as he's sleeping soundly.
Everything should be better by tomorrow.
Thank you, Doctor. Stay for the dancing?
Now, I think it best we postpone the dancing for tonight.
Not the whole party, but just the dancing.
Do you say that because of Willie's condition
- or because of the noise? - 'Cause of the noise.
- We just let him sleep. - Of course. Of course.
You've worked so hard on this renovation.
Go and enjoy yourself.
I'm so used to expecting the worst.
I'll pray for the best.
You've never looked lovelier.
Is it days or weeks, Doctor?
Days.
And there's nothing that we can do to cure him?
Nothing we can send for--
Do anything for him? Anything that you can think of?
You keep him comfortable.
I apologize for not being truthful to your wife just now.
But I could see she couldn't hear it.
That's all right. One more night of peace.
Thank you, Doc.
The doctor said Willie would be okay by the morning.
That's wonderful.
Does he still need these?
Abe would appreciate that.
May I help you with those?
Thank you.
The president really needs a right hand to push emancipation through.
Everyone deserves freedom, Mr. Stanton.
"Pip, dear old chap,
life is made up of ever so many partings welded together."
- Edwin Stanton for you. - Right. Thank you.
- Mr. President. - Come in.
I have these for you.
Edwin, that's very kind of you. Thank you.
And I hoped that he would follow in my footsteps in the law. But now...
Pa? I'm parched.
Hang on.
Here. Here.
Yeah. Mama will be in shortly.
Yeah. You rest, you rest. You rest and you dream.
All right. All right.
Here.
Can you fetch back Mrs. Lincoln for me? Thank you.
So you've decided to be my war secretary, my Mars?
I have, Mr. President.
All right. Well, this kind of work, it isn't glamorous.
And glory is no guarantee.
I used to split rails to support my family.
Brutal, but it gave you a lot of time to think.
Rail-tie by rail-tie. Swing by swing.
Hours add up, and suddenly you've paved a way.
Sir, I am built for work.
All right, where would you start?
By taking control of the nation's telegraph system.
Transfer central communications to the War Department.
Direct lines to generals on the front, to newspapers.
Improve morale with positive stories in the press.
Morale builds courage, courage wins battles.
I believe Grant and our Union men can prevail with the right support.
So your big plan is telegrams?
Yes, sir.
For starters.
Can you begin tomorrow, Mars?
- Yes, sir. - All right.
Trial of the century begins today!
- Conspirators on trial! - Papers! Get your paper.
Trial of the century begins today!
- Mr. Secretary! - Secretary, a word, please.
- Mr. Secretary! - Mr. Secretary!
Does the conspirators' trial have any significance without Booth?
This trial will reveal a conspiracy more significant and more important
than any one individual.
I say this to you: It is my sincere hope that once justice has been served,
we as a nation can unite to complete the work begun
by President Abraham Lincoln before he was cruelly cut down.
With the intent to subvert the Constitution
and overthrow the government of the United States
in the murder of President Abraham Lincoln,
and of the attempted murder of Vice President Andrew Johnson
and Secretary of State William Seward...
we accuse Dr. Samuel Mudd,
Lewis Powell, Edward Spangler, George Atzerodt,
Mary Surratt and David Herold
of confederating in a conspiracy against the United States,
along with John Wilkes Booth.
A conspiracy designed to dismember our government
and the persons of its chief officers, president, vice president,
secretary of state,
thereby subverting the Constitution
and the laws of the United States of America.
We also accuse and name in this conspiracy
John Surratt Jr., George N. Sanders...
and Jefferson Davis.
Adjourned until tomorrow.
I know you had my friend killed. Admit it.
I have not repented.
I would conduct my presidency the same way all over again.
The delusion, Secretary, that this trial will prove something.
That the Confederacy's dead.
We will win the White House
and fly the American flag.
And that flag will represent the Confederacy.
I believe this country is better than that.
My cause lives and breathes, and always will.
We're out of time.
Did your agent collect evidence on Davis?
Conover's in town, but his cover's been blown.
Sanders and the Montreal CSS know that he works for me.
The good news is Conover's been two-timing us,
working in intelligence for the CSS.
Good news? How is that good news? Bad news upon worse, surely.
It's good news because now Conover wants to tell us
what he couldn't tell us before.
You're saying that the man
who could theoretically have stopped the conspirators
is now our best bet to convict them.
Would we ever have listened to him?
What is he saying he has?
He claims to have been in Montreal and overheard talk
about the events leading up to April 14th.
He also claims to be in possession of a document
that the CSS refers to as "the pet letter."
Pet?
Meaning what?
Davis's nickname for Booth.
Jefferson Davis called John Wilkes Booth his pet?
His pet.
Conover is our star witness.
Let's get him in here.
You may step down, Miss Simms.
Thank you so much and et cetera.
But now the defense will do anything for an advantage.
It will suggest you're stupid or a liar, or both.
If I could survive the whip, I can survive words.
What education do you have?
I can read. Though I didn't attend school.
You've never attended school?
How do you expect us to believe
that you understand the difference between fact and fiction
when you have no formal education whatsoever?
- Sir, I wasn't able to atten-- - No further questions, Your Honor.
Hope I get to say more than that.
They may not let you.
Powell was wearing that brown hat bent down over one eye...
Same way he's looking at me now.
How old are you?
I guess I'm between 29 and 30.
You don't know your age exactly?
People like me who were born into slavery weren't given a birthday.
But I do know the assassination attempt on my employer's life was planned.
Powell tricked me by bringing a pharmacy box.
Thank goodness Secretary Seward survived.
But I'm certain Powell meant to murder him.
Mr. Spangler told me to watch the horse.
To have it ready outside the theater.
I told him I had to sell my goods.
He say I had no choice.
Don't you always have a choice, Mr. Burroughs?
In my experience,
when certain men say, "You got to," like that--
It was a threat.
And you are saying that Mr. Spangler protected Booth's horse
and opened the door for him?
On the Bible...
I swear it's true.
I'm the assistant secretary of war and a telegraphic expert.
Could you tell us the purpose of this instrument?
Which is exhibit number 59, Your Honors.
It's a cipher key. It breaks code.
Where did you acquire this cipher key?
The office of Mr. Benjamin.
He's the Confederate secretary of state at Richmond.
Thank you.
And now, if you would,
cipher fragment exhibit number seven,
which is said to have been found in the hotel room of John Wilkes Booth.
And compare it, please, to the other cipher.
They're the same.
I've examined and compared them.
You have no doubts as to their being the same?
I'm the national expert.
Why would one of the objects in Booth's hotel room be Confederate code?
Only the accused can answer that.
No further questions.
We know Booth is an actor.
Couldn't exhibit number seven be a prop from a play?
We know his pistol wasn't a prop.
Order.
My name is Jeremiah Dyer.
I'm a pastor in Bryantown.
I've known Sam Mudd from our early youth.
Do you know his reputation?
Mudd's reputation is exemplary, I'd say.
State to the court Dr. Mudd's treatment of his household. Servants or slaves.
They didn't work a great deal.
- His servants are considered lazy? - That's the talk.
When you were a plowman on Dr. Mudd's farm, how did he treat you?
First-rate.
And how long have you known Mary Simms?
Since she was a small girl.
We were good friends.
But when she came to be grown,
all the servants in the neighborhood learned not to trust her.
She lies. A lot.
And on the other hand, Dr. Mudd delivers babies and saves lives.
White and colored lives.
He's a good man.
I don't know if I'm enough, sir.
Mary, listen to me.
It was never going to be easy, but you will have your chance.
- Will I? - You will.
Hold your nerve.
Will you testify?
It's me versus a lot of men.
And they saying things like Mudd is kindhearted.
And they calling me a liar.
You asking me to speak out against a white man in a federal trial?
They string men from a tree for a lot less than that.
Don't you want them to know what he capable of?
You can tell them what Mudd did to me.
Milo, that's not my story to tell.
What's your concern?
They calling her lazy. And a liar.
I'm just a crippled servant, so what you think they're gonna call me?
Your account of what Mudd did to you,
that story tells us who he really is.
But no one will know that unless you tell them.
This is your chance.
I'll give you a few minutes to think about it.
Thank you for granting me immunity.
I promise to tell the whole truth about the Surratts and Booth
and everyone at the boardinghouse.
Good. Well, I'll see you in court.
We could lose if you don't speak up.
Please.
Sir, Milo said he'd speak.
Good.
Can I count on your testimony?
I'll be there.
Could we keep on practicing?
No, I don't want you to over-rehearse.
You'll do fine.
I'll see you both in the courthouse.
Sir.
Secretary.
Take a seat.
Baker told me to report to you for the trial.
How can I help?
Officer Weichmann?
I think I know why you've been quiet at practice. May I talk to you?
I think you know more about the men that killed the president
than what you leading on.
And why would you think that?
'Cause Dr. Mudd say--
He say that you spent a lot of time with Surratt.
And he had a meeting with Booth and Surratt after DC in January.
Mudd, Booth and Surratt, they all knew each other before the 14th.
And I just feel like there's something that you not saying much about.
Look, I say that all them knew each other before the 14th,
they not gonna believe me.
I'll be saying the same thing.
Not just--
Not just that.
But, if the wind go against me, just please--
please just tell 'em why you believe me.
Tell me about this letter.
I do believe you have a case for grand conspiracy.
Mr. Simms, would you please state for the court
whether you were the defendant Dr. Samuel Mudd's slave?
Yes, sir. I was his carpenter.
How did you become crippled?
Dr. Mudd shot me in the leg.
I never shot that boy.
Manage your defendant, or I will ask him to leave.
Sit down. Keep quiet, Dr. Mudd, or you'll have to leave.
He's a liar.
What was the reason Dr. Mudd shot you?
One day, I guess...
Well, I guess Dr. Mudd ain't like my attitude.
Shot me in the thigh over nothing. Like it was the punch line to a joke.
Thank you, Mr. Simms, that's all.
The prosecution calls Milo Simms's sister, Mary Simms.
Miss Simms...
would you please state for the court whether you too were the slave
of the prisoner Dr. Samuel Mudd?
Yes, sir. I kept house for him.
And state for the court whether you heard any talk between a neighbor and Dr. Mudd
about President Abraham Lincoln.
Sir, neighbor told Dr. Mudd.
He say, "Abe Lincoln, old, goddamn son of a bitch.
He should have been dead long ago."
Dr. Mudd say, "That is much on my mind. We would have killed him."
I see.
And state for the court whether Dr. Mudd had visitors
stay at his house.
Yes, sir, Confederates. They wore gray.
And Mudd made me take provisions to 'em.
In his words, he tell me, "Look out for 'em."
Lastly, was there a particular man who most often visited Dr. Mudd
at his house last summer?
Yes, sir. John Surratt.
He stayed most Saturday to Monday.
He go between Richmond and Montreal.
Thank you, Miss Simms.
If you did not want to aid their activities,
why didn't you leave?
I tried to leave, sir.
Dr. Mudd whipped me.
We will stipulate that she has scars and will not ask her to show them.
You want us to believe the good Dr. Mudd is a Confederate agent?
His home, a stop on the Secret Line?
Yes, sir.
And that Mudd, Surratt and Booth,
they was friends before the assassination.
Pardon me, but have you ever been to school?
Who believes this yarn she's spinning?
If you don't believe me, ask Officer Weichmann.
State your name and where you live.
Louis Weichmann.
And I stay at the DC boardinghouse
owned by Mrs. Mary Surratt.
John Surratt's mother, the prisoner there.
Have you ever seen Mrs. Surratt with the defendants?
Yeah, with all of them.
And how do you know the widow Surratt?
I started boarding with her when the War Department hired me.
Did not realize my associates at the boardinghouse
were planning the assassination.
Or I would have reported it.
When's the last time you saw John Surratt?
He left a few days before April 14th.
Said he was looking for work up in Montreal
and I should expect to hear from him.
Could Mr. Surratt have come and gone without your knowledge?
No, that would have been impossible.
You were on intimate terms since school?
Very intimate, indeed.
How intimate?
Well, at his mother's boardinghouse, we shared a table,
we shared a room, we shared a bed, and...
we slept together.
Order!
You never heard discussions between Surratt and the other defendants?
The only time I overheard some of it
was when Surratt took me to Booth's hotel room in January.
Dr. Mudd was there.
Booth claimed that he was interested in buying Mudd's farm.
Did you have reason to doubt them?
No, I never knew why John had gold with him
when he would return from trips to Montreal or Richmond or...
But he never did share that he engaged in Confederate activities.
Thank you.
Your Honor, I have every reason to defend John Surratt.
But...
Well, everything Miss Simms has said about him makes sense to me now.
And I believe her.
You are good at this, Miss Simms.
Thank you, sir.
I'm a correspondent for the New York Tribune.
Two years ago, I reported to Baker
that I had a source inside the Confederate Secret Service in Montreal.
He didn't realize that source was me.
To secure my income during the war,
I gathered intelligence on both the War Department and the CSS.
When Lee surrendered, fellows were celebrating in the streets of DC.
In Montreal, they were awaiting the go-ahead from Richmond.
John Surratt delivered it to set "pet" in motion.
Pet?
John Wilkes Booth.
Who calls John Wilkes Booth "pet"?
In CSS circles,
it's commonly known that Jefferson Davis refers to Booth as his pet.
Quiet, please. Order!
I knew they had a plan.
And this is how Sanders explained it to me.
They would kill the president, the vice president,
and the secretary of state.
Since the Constitution does not indicate how to choose a new president,
it would be chaos.
It was their Hail Mary plan to win if they lost on the battlefield.
And Sanders told me that he believed
that Booth would make a fizzle of the plan.
I have provided a message that I found that was delivered and never picked up.
Who was this letter addressed to?
George Sanders, who's now in London.
George Sanders. Would you please read the message to the court?
"Pet has done his job well.
He is safe.
And old Abe is in hell."
When was the last time you saw John Surratt in Montreal?
Four days before the assassination
in the smoking room of the Saint Lawrence Hotel.
With a dispatch from Richmond.
- Stating what subject? - I didn't see it.
But Sanders turned to me and said, "This makes the thing all right."
What did you take that to mean?
That Booth had the go-ahead from Jefferson Davis.
Thank you, Mr. Conover.
Is your name Sanford Conover?
It is not the only name I have.
Our research shows us that you have an alias as a broker.
James Wallace?
That is also me.
So who is Charles A. Dunham? An expert in forgery.
That is also me, sir.
So, you're a double agent, and you have three different names?
Which of these names is actually yours, sir?
I go wherever the story leads.
Does that include forging evidence?
No, sir, it does not.
Exactly when did you first see Booth, Surratt and Sanders in Montreal?
I'll repeat the question.
When did you first see Booth, Surratt and Sanders in Montreal?
October 17th, before the election.
It's the first time that I saw Booth in Montreal with Surratt and Sanders.
Are you certain about that date?
I am certain.
I have a record that you were in jail for trespassing
the entire month of October.
- I was briefly arrested, but I was not-- - Mr. Dunham. Or Conover. Or is it Wallace?
Are you a con man?
How could you be in a Montreal hotel when you were in jail?
I misspoke. I got the month wrong.
Your Honor.
Despite my confusion,
I'm certain that Jefferson Davis was aware
of the plan to assassinate President Lincoln.
I believe he not only knew it, he ordered it.
As a reporter, spy and a forger,
you must have quite an imagination.
Did you intentionally commit perjury in this courtroom?
Or do you just lie for sport?
What difference does it make what month it was?
The defense rests.
News?
No. No, there's no news.
Not yet.
Whatever the outcome, you did right by Abe.
Charging Davis and the Confederacy puts it on the record.
They know we know what they did.
So whatever the verdict, I can sleep.
Well, I'll sleep when justice is served.
Don't get me wrong. I want that.
The judges reached a verdict.
Any indication?
No hint.
All rise.
Be seated.
Whatever may be the convictions of others,
it is my own conviction
that Jefferson Davis is as clearly proven guilty of this conspiracy
as John Wilkes Booth,
by whose hand Davis inflicted the wound on Lincoln.
However, our panel has determined the charges of grand conspiracy
to be inconclusive.
The commission does believe that using the hand of John Wilkes Booth,
conspirators in Richmond and Montreal inflicted a mortal wound
which deprived the republic of its chief defender.
Conspirators filled the land from ocean to ocean
with a strange, great sorrow.
But due to tainted evidence and technicalities,
our panel was prevented from rendering a fair verdict
on the grand conspiracy behind the assassination.
Future inquiries and history must achieve that proof.
Yet we have reached a verdict on the defendants in this courtroom.
Our decision will be read by the war secretary.
Thank you.
Mary E. Surratt...
guilty.
Lewis Powell, guilty.
George Atzerodt, guilty.
David E. Herold...
guilty.
All to be hanged tomorrow.
Edward Spangler, guilty.
Sentenced to six years imprisonment.
How about Mudd?
It's coming.
Finally, Dr. Samuel A. Mudd.
Guilty.
Sentenced to a term of life imprisonment and hard labor.
Order! Quiet!
I told the truth.
What was the point in telling the truth if it was surrounded by lies?
You knew exactly who I am, Baker.
Baker.
Did someone offer you a better price?
I received a suspicious package this morning from London.
You know where to find me when you need me again.
Sanders got to him.
- Secretary. - Secretary, a word.
- Secretary, a word, please. - Mr. Secretary.
- Gentlemen. - Was accusing Davis and the Confederacy
of grand conspiracy too ambitious?
Absolutely not.
The verdict for Jefferson Davis was inconclusive
but let there be no doubt,
this court did not exonerate the Confederacy here this evening.
But did you fail Lincoln?
We can't ask him, can we?
Sir, could you address Reconstruction?
Papers want your permission to use the image of the executions.
Permission granted.
Also, the...
the National Archives collected the items from the evidence table.
- They-- - Good.
They want to know why 18 pages of Booth's diary are missing.
They could open an inquiry.
Baker had it last.
Baker claims you did.
They should speak to Baker.
Also, earlier, I noticed your hearth needed a cleaning.
I had that taken care of.
...personally see your application arrive on my desk.
Application for what, sir?
Mr. Howard has founded a university for colored students.
A college of arts and letters and trades.
As soon as I qualify, I'll put my application on your desk, sir.
Edwin.
Oliver.
An hour ago, Johnson told me he was cutting the bureau by half.
He made a point to say
that he knows we helped freedmen under the auspices of the War Department.
I fear he's up to something. I don't know what.
All right. Thank you.
I think it's about that time. Shall we?
Of course.
So...
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome.
Thank you all for coming.
We are gathered here this evening
to celebrate the publication of Miss Keckley's remarkable book
and to raise funds for the Contraband Relief Association,
founded by Elizabeth.
Now the Freedmen's Bureau, headed by the valiant Oliver Howard,
essentially parallels Miss Keckley's vital efforts.
And as long as the work of the bureau is not supported by the president,
we continue to rely on Miss Keckley's fund to support and provide resources
to the recently freed as they make the leap from slavery into society.
So do please give as generously as you're able.
I greatly admire her undertaking, and...
well, if truth be known, I greatly admire her, so...
Elizabeth.
Thank you so much, Secretary.
Every donation you make provides staple items for those in need.
Because too many of my brothers and sisters coming up north
are not prepared for their new life.
If it were not for the generous spirit of Mrs. Lincoln
and that of Mr. Abraham Lincoln...
May he rest in peace.
They have given relief many times over, which is why I included them in my book,
Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House.
That's all I have to say. Okay. So, all proceeds today will be donated.
And thank you again for coming. Please enjoy.
It's a good turnout.
You invited Lorenzo Thomas?
Is it the same Thomas you shipped to Arkansas?
Failed his way up?
Why would he come to this?
I think Johnson might be replacing me.
Hold this.
Mr. President.
Thank you for coming.
- Lorenzo. - Edwin.
We need to talk.
Please.
You tried to ruin my party, so now I am ruining yours.
Edwin, I plan to withdraw your men from the South.
I know you won't obey my decision
because it ends your enforcement of Reconstruction.
That's fine.
I appointed Thomas to replace you.
He'll send the order tomorrow.
Americans are not ready for all these plans you're making.
There's too much unrest.
I could have accused you.
But you didn't.
If you remove me like this,
it will trigger an investigation by Congress
and they'll impeach you.
Congress is welcome to fight me.
Come on, I'll give you a tour.
Mr. President.
I'll need your keys.
Of course.
I've put them--
Left them somewhere.
Let me look.
Mars. Come on in.
Need more time?
No, no.
I've had my hour.
Willie and I talked through prayer.
He's as charming a rascal as ever, and I read him a chapter
from his favorite novel.
This weekly scheduled hour of grief, it mends my heart, contains it.
If I never thanked you for teaching me the ritual, I'm thanking you now.
So, what is so important
that it couldn't wait for me to come by the office later?
Has Lee surrendered a second time?
No, he has not.
I know.
Jefferson Davis changed his tune
and decided to join the cabinet.
No.
Abe, as you know...
Ellen and I were mourning our son, James, when I joined the cabinet.
She supported me taking your offer with her whole self.
It's been long years and late nights.
And now that, you know, God willing, we have finally prevailed...
well, she'd like me home.
You're attempting to resign?
I am.
Ellen knows that the work isn't done
the moment Lee flies a dish towel.
She does.
My priorities need to resume to my family,
and obviously I will make myself available to whoever you name as my successor.
Mars, I can't accept your resignation.
And I do not believe that you believe in it.
Your heart, it's always been more in Reconstruction
than it ever was in victory.
And I need you now more than ever.
And you could propose a vacation.
We're planning on finally going to California.
We could go to the beach.
Come with us.
Yeah, after we pass the amendments. Maybe next summer.
You can tell Ellen that you won't be working on Christmas this year.
She'll have you home for the holiday.
Abe, it's April.
Abe, I have given you and this office three years.
I am confident that the plans that I have put in pla--
Reconstruction is more difficult than the destruction of war.
You've been our main reliance.
You understand the national situation better than anyone.
I don't want to imagine.
It is my wish and it is the country's need that you remain.
You cannot go.
You must see us through the final act.
I've heard you have a taste for Scotch?
If you're interested, I have a 30-year-old I've been saving.
It's in the hall pantry there.
I do love a good aged Scotch.
Let's open it.
It's just round to the right.
- You can't miss it. - Okay.
You wanna kill Reconstruction?
You'll have to get past me.
Edwin. Open the door, Edwin.
Edwin?
Edwin, I am secretary of war. I'll have the army here in a day.
"Dear General Grant."
All right.
- Don't be nervous. - Very nervous.
- How do you feel? - Good.
You coming down for breakfast or should I bring a plate up?
No, no. I'll come down.
What is it?
News from the court.
Your nomination was confirmed.
Show me.
You know, I hated seeing you sacrifice so much of your health
to hold back Johnson.
But I see now.
It was worth it.
On the court, your decisions will finish your work with Lincoln.
Father, you did it.
The family know?
Come down and tell them.
Grandpa is a justice of the Supreme Court.
I'll--
I'll be right down. You go on.
Eddie.
Thank you.
We finish the work now.
We have to.
My father died of asthma-related organ failure.
He was never able to serve on the Supreme Court.
Two months after Secretary Stanton passed away,
the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified.
It guarantees US citizens,
regardless of previous enslavement or race, the right to vote.
We finish the work now. We have to.