The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, A Tribute of the NationsNews of Lincoln's assassination quickly spread across the globe and provoked an unparalleled outpouring of condolences. In the words of the citizens of the French city of Caen: There are crimes which shock and distress not one nation only, but the conscience of mankind. Hundreds of letters expressing this universal sympathy were directed to American ambassadors and envoys, the United States Congress, the newly inaugurated president, Andrew Johnson,