Years ago there was a TV docudrama on the Lincoln Assassination. It
had a "gimmick," namely it was done in a documentary style as if
newsreels had existed back then. The film was black and white or
perhaps sepia-toned and it had scratches and other debris that
reminded the viewer of old silent movies. I believe this was part of a
larger series that appeared on one of the networks in which historic
events were recreated using this gimmick. I'd like to know the name of
the show (series name) and the date this recreation of the Lincoln
assassination was broadcast.

Hello,

   I also clearly recall such a program when I was a kid, in the early
'70s. It may have been "They've Killed President Lincoln". It aired in
1971, which seems about the time I remember it. There's a very brief
listing for it on IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386823/

I agree, it is most likely "They've Killed President Lincoln,"
--reference this  about the docudrama:

http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/2003/nov/m05-021.shtml
..."Guenette produced and co-wrote the landmark "They've Killed
President Lincoln," which aired on NBC in 1971 and which earned
him and co-writer Theodore H. Strauss an Emmy for outstanding
achievement in cultural documentary programming.

The documentary marked the first of many that Guenette produced
for David L. Wolper's production company.

Wolper told The Times this week that, after a decade of making
documentaries, "we were running out of stock footage to make
shows and I said, 'Why don't we make a show where there wasn't
any stock footage?'

"Guenette took the idea of making a
traditional documentary by presenting history as it might have
been seen if cameras had been available and "brought it to
fruition" with "They've Killed President Lincoln," Wolper said.

"He created a way to do it properly, and we did a whole series
of those shows." Under the umbrella title "Appointment with
Destiny," Wolper's company made seven one-hour documentaries
that aired on CBS.

Guenette produced four of them: "The Crucifixion of Jesus," "The
Plot to Murder Hitler," "Cortez and Montezuma: Conquest of an
Empire" and "Peary's Race to the North Pole."

"We would not film anything unless a camera could have been
there," said Wolper, adding that "we dirtied up the film so it
didn't look like it was brand new. It looked like a newsreel."

When John Wilkes Booth shoots Lincoln in "They've Killed
President Lincoln,"

Wolper said, it was filmed as if a newsreel crew had been
standing right outside the presidential box at Ford's Theater in
Washington, D.C. "They hear the shot, you see the camera running
in, and the camera whips up and sees Booth" jumping down to the
stage, he said. The camera then follows Lincoln's body as it is
carried across the street and interviews are conducted with
bystanders.

As a producer, Wolper said, Guenette "knew exactly what he was
doing, and he didn't waste any time: He did the work, he did it
terrifically, and he did it on time and on budget.".."