Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

O'Reilly's Lincoln Book Slammed for Historical Boo-Boos

Ford's Theatre superintendent writes scathing 4-page letter

By Neal Colgrass, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 13, 2011 5:29 PM CST

(Newser) – Bill O'Reilly's book, Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever, has sold nearly a million copies and currently sits at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list. Only problem is, it's riddled with errors, according to a scathing review from the National Park Service bookstore at Ford’s Theatre, Salon reports. Here are a few alleged historical missteps:

Killing Lincoln refers several times to the Oval Office. Little problem: The Oval Office wasn't built until 1909.

O'Reilly writes of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee: “The two warriors will never meet again.” In fact, they did have a second meeting in 1865 to talk about prisoners of war.
According to the book, Ford's Theatre “burned to the ground in 1863.” Sorry Bill, make that 1862.
In O'Reilly's words, John Wilkes Booth used "a pen knife to carve a very small peephole" to observe Lincoln in his theater box. But one historical record says the hole was bored so guards could keep an eye on the president.

Even an Amazon reviewer is taking aim at apparent inaccuracies in the book. To read more of the Salon article, click here. (Or read about O'Reilly's theological explanation for the Earth's tides.)

Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly appears on the Fox News show, "The O'Reilly Factor," on Jan. 18, 2007 in New York. (AP Photo/Jeff Christensen)

FOX TV show host Bill O'Reilly arrives for a taping of the "Late Show with David Letterman," Monday, Oct. 27, 2008, in New York. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

CLICK BELOW TO VOTE

81%

10%

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

O'Reilly: Lincoln Book Has Just 4 Errors, 2 Typos

Says his enemies are 'full of rage at our success'

(NEWSER) - Bill O’Reilly vigorously defended his book, Killing Lincoln, yesterday, after the National Park Service lambasted it for historical inaccuracies . “Our enemies are full of rage at our success,” he said on his show. He said the book contained "four minor misstatements, all of which have been corrected" along with "two typeset errors," which he deemed "a pretty good record." He said the Washington Post’s report that the book wouldn’t be sold at the Fort Theater bookstore is inaccurate. "The media lies at will these days," he said. More»

Santorum: Fox, O'Reilly Dissed Me

Former senator complains that right-wing media dismissed his candidacy

(NEWSER) - Seems Dan Savage isn't the only member of the media with whom Rick Santorum has a bone to pick: Even the right-wing media stalwarts over at Fox News have dissed the former Pennsylvania senator's candidacy, he complains today in a radio interview picked up by Mark Halperin of Time . "Bill O'Reilly has refused to put me on his program. As far as he was concerned I wasn't a worthy enough candidate to earn a spot to sit across from him and be on his program." With Iowa's caucuses looming tomorrow, Santorum currently sits in a virtual three-way tie with Ron Paul and Mitt Romney. More»

O'Reilly on Anthony Verdict: So Did a Martian Kill Caylee?

He flips over the outcome of the trial

(NEWSER) - Bill O’Reilly is shocked at the Casey Anthony verdict—and he wants everyone to know it. The anchor blasted a juror’s assertion that Caylee’s death could have been accidental. “There’s no evidence—none—that Caylee Anthony died from an accident,” unless, of course, “a Martian came down and put duct tape over Caylee’s mouth,” O’Reilly said. The accident theory was just that—a theory—put forward by the defense, he noted, and “juries have to operate on facts, not irresponsible, unproved theories.” More»

Stewart, O'Reilly Face Off Over White House Rapper

Daily Show host slams Fox 'outrage machine'

(NEWSER) - Jon Stewart accepted Bill O'Reilly's challenge and the pair debated rapper Common's White House appearance on last night's O'Reilly Factor. O'Reilly insisted that it was a mistake to have invited a rapper who "celebrates" a cop killer to a White House poetry night, while the Daily Show host maintained that Fox had hypocritically inflated the issue, Mediaite notes. More»

Dick Morris: Best Seller List at Times Is Rigged

Conservative books shunted to 'Advice'

(NEWSER) - Is the New York Times intentionally sweeping conservative pundits' books under the rug? That's what Dick Morris and Bill O'Reilly alleged last night. “There’s a war going on” between the Times and Fox News, and the Times has "stepped it up," O’Reilly declared last night, in a clip spotted by Mediaite . His beef? In its latest best-seller rankings, the Times has books by Fox contributors Morris, Mike Huckabee, and Frank Luntz on its “Advice and Miscellaneous” list—alongside self-help, dieting, and how-to books—instead of its main nonfiction list. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

O'Reilly's Lincoln Book Slammed for Historical Boo-Boos

Ford's Theatre superintendent writes scathing 4-page letter

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

Bill O'Reilly • Fox News • assassination • history • Abraham Lincoln • historical memory

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

O'Reilly: Lincoln Book Has Just 4 Errors, 2 Typos

Says his enemies are 'full of rage at our success'

Santorum: Fox, O'Reilly Dissed Me

Former senator complains that right-wing media dismissed his candidacy

O'Reilly on Anthony Verdict: So Did a Martian Kill Caylee?

He flips over the outcome of the trial

Stewart, O'Reilly Face Off Over White House Rapper

Daily Show host slams Fox 'outrage machine'

Dick Morris: Best Seller List at Times Is Rigged

Conservative books shunted to 'Advice'

About Us

Site

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?