A REMEMBRANCE

It is with an extremely heavy heart that I report the death of James Swanson, the noted author, Lincoln scholar, and our good friend. He passed away in Chicago after battling a rare form of brain cancer. He was 66.

James Swanson was born on February 12, 1959, exactly 150 years after Lincoln’s birth. His death occurred exactly 160 years after the day the train carrying Lincoln’s body left Washington for Springfield, Illinois.

James was born the first of two children to Lennart J. Swanson and Dianne M. Swanson (née Kosloff) on Feb. 12, 1959, in Chicago. The family made their home in the northside community of Norwood Park, where James completed elementary and middle school at nearby Our Savior Lutheran. He graduated from Luther North High School in Chicago in 1977. After receiving his diploma, James attended the University of Chicago, where he was appointed to a Historic Deerfield (Massachusetts) Fellowship in Early American History (1980), graduating with an honors degree in history the following year. He subsequently attended the University of California Los Angeles School of Law, graduating in 1986 and thereafter becoming licensed in the state of Illinois.

In the same year, he relocated to Washington, DC, where he began his career in public service, serving as legal advisor to the chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission (1986) and as law clerk for Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg at the U.S. Court of Appeals DC Circuit (1986-87) before being appointed by Pres. Ronald Reagan to the position of special assistant in the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice (1987-88). He was later appointed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a federal commissioner for the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission (2016-2025) and by Pres. Donald J. Trump to serve as associate deputy attorney general for the Department of Justice (2017-18). He subsequently served as senior advisor to the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (2020-21).

James also held a series of think-tank and public-policy posts, including serving as senior fellow in constitutional studies and founding editor-in-chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review at the Cato Institute (2001-03). In 2003, he was appointed by former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese to serve as senior legal scholar for the Heritage Foundation and was later appointed to the executive leadership committee of the Free Speech & Election Law Practice Group for the Federalist Society (2017-25).

James was a Lincoln scholar of the first order and a collector of Lincoln memorabilia.

As he said in an interview, “I’ve been interested in history for as long as I can remember. I was born on Lincoln’s birthday, in Chicago, Illinois—his home state. When I was eight or nine, my grandmother gave me an unusual gift. It wasn’t a baseball glove or bat, but a framed engraving of the derringer pistol James Wilkes Booth used to shoot Lincoln. And along with the engraving was a newspaper clipping from the Chicago Tribune, dated April 15, 1865, with a headline announcing that the President had been shot. But the clipping was torn off soon after that, and I remember thinking that I wanted to read the rest of the story—I knew I needed to know it. But at that time, I needed a book that no one had yet written.”

James’ books include “Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer” (for which he received an Edgar Award),”Bloody Times: The Funeral for Abraham Lincoln and the Manhunt for Jefferson Davis,” “End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy,” “Chasing King’s Killer: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Assassin,” and “The Deerfield Massacre: A Surprise Attack, a Forced March, and the Fight for Survival in Early America.”

He served as a Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation and has previously appeared on C-SPAN on behalf of the Koch-affiliated libertarian CATO Institute think tank.

I first met James Swanson at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Most fitting place because of the connection with Lincoln and the battle. In 2005, the Federal City Brass Band was playing on Little Round Top, located on the southern edge of the battlefield, where the second day of the battle occurred. Each year in November, reenactors gather to pay tribute to those who fought on these fields July 1-3, 1863. In November of that year, Abraham Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg to offer “a few appropriate remarks” at the dedication of the new national Cemetery.

After the band played, I was approached by James, and we struck up a conversation that developed into a 20-year friendship. James invited us to perform at the launch of his latest work, “ Manhunt: The 12-Day Search for Lincoln’s Killer.“

The band also played for a reception at the Newseum (which has since closed) on the occasion of the anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination. After the reception, we walked several blocks to Ford’s Theatre, where we played a few numbers and James spoke eloquently about what had happened there. It was a night to be remembered and had us looking forward with anticipation to commemorating the 150th anniversary, which was set to take place in April 2015.

James returned to Gettysburg several times, where we saw him on the hill listening to our musical tribute to the boys of ‘61. Each year, our impromptu concert followed the same format. We would start playing approximately 30 minutes before sundown. The first half featured the usual upbeat patriotic music played by the regimental bands during the Civil War, enhanced by applause from the gathered audience. Then, an announcement was made that the rest of the performance would be more solemn in nature and that there should be no applause. Brief remarks would precede the playing of Taps and “Home, Sweet Home.”  One year, I finally got James to address the crowd that had gathered. He spoke of the importance of music during the Civil War and noted that the band was playing not facing the audience in attendance, but rather out toward the battlefield. Everyone there was moved by his words. Over the ensuing years, we had the privilege of playing at events where James was the featured speaker. Many of these events promoted his books, and it was always a pleasure to listen to his lectures.

James was a collector of Civil War artifacts, including drums, bugles, and muskets. He also had a collection of books on Lincoln in his large library on East Capitol Street in Washington, which I had the opportunity to visit. I had the great opportunity to introduce James to the noted collector Mark Elrod and spent a delightful afternoon listening to them talk about Civil War weapons.

As we approached the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, James published a book titled “End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy.” Being a JFK buff, I attended several of his lectures on the assassination. In November 2013, Taps For Veterans sponsored an event at Arlington National Cemetery commemorating the 50th anniversary of the sounding of Taps at President Kennedy’s funeral. We invited James to be the main speaker at this event, which he graciously accepted. The event was attended by buglers from around the world, the family of Keith Clark, the bugler who sounded Taps, the Maryland Defense Band, and Colonel Michael Colburn, the leader of the United States Marine Band. James spoke about that terrible weekend, and the program ended with a massed performance of Taps conducted by Colonel Colburn.

Many Civil War 150th events took place, and we were honored to be part of programs with him

Over the years, our paths crossed. In 2022, James called me because he wanted to visit the new WWI Memorial. I was glad to give him a tour in my new position as the Executive Director of the Doughboy Foundation. Outside of an occasional email, this was the last time I was in contact with him. 

We shall meet, but we shall miss him,
There will be one vacant chair;
We shall linger to caress him,
When we breathe our ev’ning pray’r.

An obituary can be found here:
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/james-swanson-obituary?id=58216009

From the Cato Institute:
https://www.cato.org/blog/james-l-swanson-rip


As plans develop for a funeral and/or memorial service, I will post on social media.