Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the Union Army through the Civil War and championed the abolishment of slavery.
Booth was a well-known actor and Confederate sympathizer who had been plotting to kill Lincoln for some time. He took advantage of his position as an actor to gain access to Ford’s Theatre, where he waited for the right moment to shoot the president. Lincoln was watching a play when Booth shot him in the head. In addition to being assassinated, Lincoln was also the first U.S. president to be assassinated.
Booth’s assassination attempt came after he had been in contact with several Confederate sympathizers, including George Atzerodt, Lewis Powell and David Herold, who were all involved in kidnapping plans to free Confederate prisoners held at Fort Lafayette on an island near New York City (Fort Jefferson). A fourth conspirator, John Surratt, helped Booth escape from Washington D.C., but later fled to Montreal where he continued living under an assumed name until 1867 when he moved back to Virginia where he lived for another two years before being arrested for his involvement in Lincoln’s assassination (Surratt would be convicted at trial and executed along with others involved in Lincoln’s killing).
Lincoln died from blood loss at 7:22 am on April 15th at Petersen House across from Ford’s Theater.
