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A drawing of John Wilkes Booth raising a gun to the back of Lincoln's head while his family enjoys Our American Cousin in their private box. (Getty Images)
Early Life & Upbringing
Born in Bel Air, Maryland to the notorious Booth family-- known by generations for their theatrical contributions-- John Wilkes Booth was the ninth of ten children. Junius Brutus Booth, his father, was renowned for his Shakespearean performances, and was said to have wooed audiences with a commandingly emotional stage presence. His mother, Mary Ann Holmes, was a stay at home mother and managed the household while her family would perform. Junius and Mary immigrated to the United States in 1821, bringing his acting legacy with him. They were then married in 1822. Although the Booth family held much weight in the world of theatre, and thus was very illustrious, John Wilkes Booth faced much instability in his upbringing. His father struggled with remarkable alcoholism, causing him to often be abusive towards the family. Additionally, his frequent absences due to his touring created an uneasy and volatile atmosphere at home.
Booth, known for his charismatic attitude and ability to charm an audience, developed these traits early on in his life. His home life and lineage of talent gave him (what those who knew him described as) a passionate and energetic demeanor, which he carried onto the stage. Booth was heavily influenced by his father and their family's ancestry of talented men, looking up to him dearly, though he was shaken by the turmoil he experienced due to his addiction.
At school, Booth was said to have been a subpar student. He showed very little interests in academics, despite attending several acclaimed private schools, such as Milton Boarding School for Boys in Baltimore, MD and St. Timothy's Hall (an Episcopal military academy) in Catonsville, MD. At Timothy's Hall, he was instilled the Southern political ideals that later influenced his actions against President Lincoln. Apart from his academics, he was immensely drawn to the theatre. He, along with two of his older brothers-- Edwin Booth and Junius Brutus Booth Jr.-- all pursued careers in acting.
Booth's ultimate desire in his career was for attention. Many theorize that the lack of affection he received from his father caused him an internal need for fame. Luckily, due to his family's influence, good looks, and endearing personality, he was noted as a natural performer.
Early Career & Rise to Fame
At the age of 17, Booth debuted his acting career in the role of Earl in Shakespeare's Richard III. Performed at Baltimore's Charles Street Theatre, Booth's initial performance was remarked as unsatisfactory. However, he worked on his style to improve in order to continue living his family's legacy. By his adulthood, Booth had developed his own stylistic choices in acting with such an intense energy and physicality. He took on roles such as Brutus (look out for themes of this throughout the show!) and Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, as well as the titular roles in Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. Though Booth eventually became remarkably sought-after in his later years, he was still often overshadowed by his brother Edwin. Those interested in the Booth case often regard this as one of the reasons that Booth mustered up the courage to take out Lincoln.
As Booth continued to gain popularity through his theatrical endeavors, he became more and more vocal about his political views. Having grown up in the south, he was a fervent supporter of slavery. Upon his election in 1860 and campaigning beforehand, Booth saw Abraham Lincoln's abolitionist movement as a breach of the Southern ways of life. He was an avid Confederate and a member of many Southern elite circles.
In the early 1860s before his attempt, he became more and more interested in his political morality, and began to neglect his career.
Political Beliefs and Radicalization
Beginning in 1861, the Civil War was a focal point of Booth's political ideology. He believed that the notion of a war in the first place challenged his idea of the "American dream". When Abraham Lincoln delivered his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, Booth was adamant that Lincoln was an extremist breaching the constitution; he believed that slavery was a part of the natural order.
Through his career, Booth established many connections. He was able to work with those he was close with, along with the resources his acting endeavors provided him, to funnel much support into the Confederacy. He gathered and relayed information easily due to his constant traveling in his job path. Some accounts even suggest that Booth was an undercover courier who relayed messages and gave supplies to Confederates. Booth reportedly connected with secret societies in the South, such as Knights of the Golden Circle, who promoted their Southern ideals covertly in the North. Living in the South his whole life and being associated with the crowd who he chose, he placed himself in an echo chamber of his own believes, which only brought him closer and closer to radicalization.
Upon Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in November if 1863, Lincoln had realized that the South was close to being defeated, and thus he began devising plans to take matters into his own hands.
Assassination
On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. That morning, Booth learned that Lincoln would be attending a performance of Our American Cousin with his family and friends that evening. Booth had originally had plans to kidnap Lincoln, but refined those plans to make his attack that night. He acted fast, renting a horse and scoping out the theatre. He plotted alongside his co-conspirators who, around the same time, were instructed to assassinate other key Union leaders, including (as we know) Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William H. Seward. These attempts were unsuccessful.
Booth arrived at the theatre that night before the show with a Derringer pistol and a knife for backup. In the middle of the play, at a moment Booth defined that he expected to generate laughter, and around 10:15 p.m. he entered the presidential box (which was surprisingly rather unsupervised) and shot Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head point-blank.
Major Henry Rathbone, who was in the box with Lincoln and his acquaintances, reportedly had a struggle with Lincoln. Booth slashed Rathbone with his knife, and then leaped onto the stage mid-show shouting "Sic semper tyrannis", Virginia's state motto meaning "Thus always to tyrants". It's said that he broke his leg during the leap, and fled the theatre on horseback quickly thereafter.
Booth led a dramatic escape, leading to a full-on manhunt for first man to shoot the President of the United States. He traveled quickly through southern Maryland, visiting Dr. Samuel Mudd who treated his leg. David Herold, his accomplice, helped him continue further south, where they hid in various swamps and relied on Confederate sympathizers for refuge. The two avoided the federal forces for almost two weeks, naming the chase of Booth as one of the most extensive manhunts in American history.
On April 26, Union soldiers surrounded the barn that Booth and Herold were hidden in-- the Garrett family farm in Virginia. Herold ended up revealing himself, while Booth remained determined to die for his cause. The soldiers lit the barn ablaze in an attempt to force him out-- though he still did not follow their orders. Shortly thereafter, Sergeant Boston Corbett fired through the barn's wooden slats and hit Booth in the neck. Booth was paralyzed after the bullet went through his spinal corn, leaving him to be dragged out of the barn and linger for a few hours before breathing his final breath. Sources say his last words were "Useless, useless", whispered while gazing at his hands and dying shortly after.
Ford's Theatre today. (Britannica)
A drawing of Booth surrounded inside a burning barn by Union soldiers. (The Smithsonian)
Why He Did It
As mentioned previously, Booth was an avid supporter of slavery and a large voice for the Confederates. He was a white supremacist, and believed that President Lincoln intended to ruin the southern values that had been imposed unto him his entire life.
Booth's exposure to thoughts and ideals that were only similar to his own, through the echo chambers he placed himself in, led him to have more and more intense thoughts of hatred towards Lincoln. Upon his re-election in 1864, Booth believed that Lincoln had made such a tyrannical impact on the American constitution that he believed the only way to make right would be to take him out for good. Booth often looked to Brutus, who assassinated Julius Caesar-- the role of which he played in Shakespeare's rendition. He wanted to follow in Brutus's footsteps and alter the course of history through his act.
"Hunt me down, smear my name, say I did it for the fame.
What I did was kill the man who killed my country."
Additional Resources
Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opxub7ASf_Q
From Booth's Dairy: https://www.nps.gov/foth/learn/historyculture/thoughts-from-an-assassin-the-journal-of-john-wilkes-booth.htm
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