The Life and Death of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) is one of the most famous Americans in history and one of the country’s most revered presidents. Schoolchildren can recite the life story of Lincoln, the “Westerner” who educated himself and became a self made man, rising from lawyer to leader of the new Republican Party before becoming the 16th President of the United States. Lincoln successfully navigated the Union through the Civil War but didn’t live to witness his crowning achievement, becoming the first president assassinated when he was shot at Ford’s Theater by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865.

In the generation after the Civil War, Lincoln became an American deity and one of the most written about men in history. With such a sterling reputation, even historians hesitate to write a critical word; in Team of Rivals Doris Kearns Goodwin casts Lincoln as an almost superhuman puppet master in control of his Cabinet’s political machinations and the war’s direction, juggling the balancing act flawlessly. As a result, Lincoln the man is far less known than Lincoln the myth.

Part of that is because Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated. Until April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth was one of the most famous actors of his time, and President Lincoln had even watched him perform. But his most significant performance at a theater did not take place on the stage. That night, Booth became one of history’s most infamous assassins when he assassinated President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor. But he was also a Confederate sympathizer who dabbled in espionage, and he was increasingly outraged at the Lincoln Administration. Although Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia had surrendered days earlier, Booth believed the war was not yet over because Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston's army was still fighting the Union Army, so he and his group of conspirators plotted to kill Lincoln and other top officials in a bid to decapitate the federal government and help the South.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the actor’s flair for the dramatic came at a cost to the plot. It took almost no time for the shocked public and the federal government to begin unraveling Booth’s conspiracy, which had mostly faltered from the beginning. Following the shooting, America’s most famous manhunt commenced, which itself became the stuff of legends. After the shooting, during which it is believed he broke his leg, Booth fled south on horseback, with authorities hot on his tail. 12 days later, while he was at a farm in rural northern Virginia, Booth was tracked down and shot by Boston Corbett, a Union soldier who acted against orders. Eight others were tried for their alleged involvement in the plot and convicted, and four were hanged shortly thereafter as a result of some of the nation’s most famous trials.

The Life and Death of Abraham Lincoln: The Political Career and Shocking Assassination of the Sixteenth President chronicles the president’s life, and the assassinations that rocked the country. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about Lincoln’s life and death like never before.