There was another conspiracy theory related to the radical republicans of that day. The theory was that they (radical republicans Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in particular) were part of the Lincoln assassination. They did not like the plans that Lincoln had for the south and reconciliation and restoration of the union. They wanted a more iron fist approach, so they allowed the assassination to occur to get Lincoln out of the way. They knew Johnson was weak and they could steamroll him. One conspiracy theory may lend credence to the other. rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln74.htmlSee theory #6 If not, then Booth was a huge stroke of luck for them. We know they didn't like Lincoln's plans as they discarded them for harsher measures. The 1866 mid-term elections were poised to be a take-over for the Democrats as the abolition of the 2/3 compromise rule greatly boosted the southern Congressional representation. Ironically, the elimination of the 2/3 compromise had been one of the main goals of the north for decades. When it happened, it almost helped the south in a big way. Therefore, the southern white man had to be disenfranchised and puppet regimes had to be installed in the southern states