For John Wilkes Booth, his believing in lies had disastrous consequences for President Abraham Lincoln and the history of the United States after the civil war.  His mischaracterization of Lincoln helped drive Booth to assassinate the President. Booth wrote in his diary after he killed Lincoln that “I struck for my country and that alone. A country groaned beneath this tyranny and prayed for this end…Our country owed all her troubles to him, and God simply made me the instrument of his punishment.”(1) He was basically calling Lincoln a tyrant, one who wields oppressive power. The is not who Lincoln was. Ironically, this description fit the slave masters in the south, and most of the country’s problems at that time were because of slavery. God used Lincoln instead to help end slavery in America which brought freedom to millions from oppression. Lincoln also spoke of giving voting rights to freed slaves at his second inaugural address. (2)Lincoln is considered by many to be one of greatest, if not the greatest, President in the history of the United States. Unfortunately, when Andrew Johnson became President after Lincoln’s assassination, he did not include black suffrage in his plan reconstructing the union of north and south states. This delayed real freedom to blacks because they could not vote. (3)

Considering how this history relates to today with President Trump, America needs to be careful how we view him or who to listen to about his character and motives. God spoke to several people who regularly receive prophecy from Him that Trump would be elected President. This was even before he announced that he was running for the nomination. Up until almost the last moment, the press and many others were saying that Hillary Clinton was going to win by a wide margin. I consider his victory as miracle from God. Of course, he is not perfect, and he was not my first choice on the Republican side, but I believe, as do others who have heard it from God, that Trump will be used by Him for the good of this nation which is now in trouble again.

1- See “The American Miracle” by Michael Medved , page 336.

2- See “Mourning Lincoln” by Martha Hodes , page 214.

3- See “Mourning Lincoln” by Martha Hodes , page 240/