On Friday, April 14, 1865, the United States of America was shocked when President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated as he sat in his theater seat in a crowded theater. The president was at Ford\u2019s Theater attending a play called\u00a0Our American Cousin,\u00a0<\/em>and he was assassinated by an actor named John Wilkes Booth. But John Wilkes Booth was no ordinary actor at Ford\u2019s Theater. Booth was a highly respected actor who used his charisma, charm, and good looks to forge a very successful career on stages around the country. The assassination of the president was only one part of a conspiracy that Booth concocted to overthrow the entire United States government. Booth had targeted the vice president and several other members of the federal government for assassination by his cohorts on the same night he was to kill the president, but Booth would be the only person who would succeed in eliminating his target as he enjoyed the play from his theater seat<\/a>.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][image_with_animation image_url=”4278″ image_size=”full” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”Fade In” animation_easing=”default” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_target=”_blank” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” img_link=”https:\/\/ehistory.osu.edu\/articles\/life-mary-todd-lincoln”][vc_column_text max_width=”1000″ css=”.vc_custom_1734113576582{padding-top: 50px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}” text_direction=”default”]\n Prior to the assassination of President Lincoln as he sat in his theater seat (which was indeed not a fancy reclining theater seat<\/a>, but a plain chair) at Ford\u2019s Theater, on March 17, 1865, Booth and his group attempted to kidnap President Lincoln as the president left Campbell Military Hospital after attending a play called\u00a0Still Waters Run Deep.\u00a0<\/em>But the plan was thwarted when the president decided to attend a military ceremony instead of attending the play. It was at that point that Booth indicated that he had plans to kill the president as he gave his inaugural address, but he could not get close enough to pull off his plan. Booth vowed to get the job done, and he chose April 14 as his date.<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][image_with_animation image_url=”4277″ image_size=”full” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”Fade In” animation_easing=”default” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default”][vc_column_text max_width=”1000″ css=”.vc_custom_1734113631928{padding-top: 50px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}” text_direction=”default”]\n The president had a very pleasant day leading up to the assassination, but he had been disappointed when his son decided to stay home for the night and sleep. Lincoln\u2019s son had fought in the Civil War and had just arrived home to the White House a few days earlier. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his wife were supposed to accompany the president to the theater that night, but they had to cancel for personal reasons. In the general\u2019s place was sent Maj. Henry Rathbone and his wife. While the major was not necessarily sent as a security guard, his military experience was thought to offer the president an additional layer of security.<\/p>\n At approximately 10:25 p.m., Booth used his status as a familiar actor to the theater\u2019s staff to gain access to the outer lobby of the president\u2019s box. Booth was surprised to see that there were no security guards anywhere in the lobby, so he slowly opened the door to the president\u2019s box and prepared his Philadelphia Derringer pistol to be fired. Booth waited for a line in the play that elicited a particularly loud round of laughter from the audience, and that is when he lurched forward and shot President Lincoln once in the back of the head.<\/p>\n After firing the fatal shot, Booth leaped from the box to the stage shouting the Virginia state motto, \u201cSic semper tyrannis!\u201d, which is Latin for \u201cThus always the tyrants!\u201d As Booth leaped to the stage, he caught the spur of his boot on the American flag that draped over the president\u2019s box and fell to the stage in an awkward manner. He broke his leg and limped off the stage as quickly as he could.<\/p>\n The entire theater, audience and theater staff included, thought that what had happened was part of the show. But when Mary Todd Lincoln shouted out, \u201cHe\u2019s shot the president!\u201d and Rathbone shouted, \u201cStop that man!\u201d, the audience and actors slowly realized that what had happened was real. By the time everyone was able to grasp the situation and was getting up and out of their theater seats, Booth had escaped and was headed for what he thought was safety in the former Confederate States of America.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text max_width=”1000″ css=”.vc_custom_1734113661649{padding-top: 50px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}” text_direction=”default”]\n To learn more about the Lincoln assassination, look at the following sites:<\/p>\nA Second Attempt on the President: Theater Seating Changes and a Change in Plans<\/h2>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text max_width=”1000″ el_class=”.blogpostfont” css=”.vc_custom_1734113616422{padding-top: 50px !important;padding-bottom: 50px !important;}” text_direction=”default”]\n
On That Day in 1865<\/h2>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text max_width=”1000″ el_class=”.blogpostfont” css=”.vc_custom_1734113644585{padding-top: 50px !important;}” text_direction=”default”]\n
Links and Resources About Lincoln’s Assassination<\/h2>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text max_width=”1000″ el_class=”.blogpostfont”]\n
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