Presidential Assassinations: The History of the Killing of Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy

Until April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth was one of the most famous actors of his time, and President Abraham 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...