John Wilkes Booth: Assassin in the Spotlight

Overview

He was the most popular actor of his day. And with a single shot, he transformed the course of American history. John Wilkes Booth earned an infamous place in history as the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. But Booth was much more than just a desperate devotee to the waning Confederate cause. In this in-depth program, follow Booth’s life from his pastoral childhood in Maryland to his rise to fame as a prominent actor. Discover how he became steadily more committed to the Confederate cause as the Civil War went on and how General Lee’s surrender left him feeling like “a man without a country”—ultimately prompting his fateful visit to Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865. Join Biography for a fascinating journey back to 19th-century America and a compelling look into the life of this most unusual assassin.