John Wilkes Booth – Actor to Assassin
John Wilkes Booth, a name forever etched in the annals of American history, embodies a tragic paradox. He was a celebrated actor, admired for his talent and charisma, yet he is remembered primarily for his role in one of the nation’s most devastating events: the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. This article delves into the life of John Wilkes Booth, tracing his journey from a promising stage performer to the perpetrator of a crime that shook the nation to its core.
Born on May 10, 1838, in Maryland, John Wilkes Booth hailed from a prominent theatrical family. His father, Junius Brutus Booth, was a renowned, albeit eccentric, actor, a figure of considerable fame in his own right. Junius had a complex personal life; he had emigrated to the United States from England in 1821 with Mary Ann Holmes, who became his mistress. They would not officially marry until 1851, coinciding with John’s thirteenth birthday. John was the ninth of ten children in the Booth family.
Young John displayed an aptitude for athletics and possessed a natural charm that made him popular among his peers. He excelled in horsemanship and fencing, skills that would later contribute to his daring persona. He attended an Episcopal military academy in Catonsville, Maryland, following his legitimization through his parents’ marriage. However, his formal education was cut short at the age of 14 due to his father’s passing.
In his mid-teens, John Wilkes Booth discovered two passions that would shape his life: the theater and politics. Inspired by his father and older brothers, Edwin and Junius Jr., who had already embarked on successful acting careers, John dedicated himself to honing his theatrical skills. He practiced formal speaking exercises daily and immersed himself in the works of William Shakespeare. Simultaneously, he became involved in the political arena, aligning himself with the "Know-Nothing Party," an anti-immigrant political movement, even becoming a young delegate to a rally for the anti-immigrant candidate Henry Winter Davis in his congressional run of 1854.
At the age of seventeen, Booth made his stage debut in Baltimore, performing in Richard III. While his initial performance was not particularly well-received, he persevered, continuing to act at Baltimore’s Holliday Street Theatre, a venue frequently graced by the Booth family. In 1857, he joined the Arch Street Theatre stock company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he performed for a full season. By 1858, he had become a stock company actor at the Richmond Theatre in Virginia, appearing in an impressive 83 plays that year. It is said that his favorite role was that of Brutus in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, a character who assassinates a tyrant.
Booth’s striking physique and undeniable charisma made him a favorite among female audiences. By the late 1850s, he had achieved considerable fame and financial success, earning an annual income of $20,000, a substantial sum for the time. Alongside his burgeoning acting career, Booth remained actively engaged in politics. A staunch supporter of slavery, he joined a Virginia company that assisted in the capture of John Brown following his raid on Harpers Ferry. Booth was also present as an eyewitness to Brown’s execution, an event that likely fueled his growing political extremism.
The year 1860 saw Booth’s acting career take him on a tour of the Deep South, where he received widespread acclaim. Simultaneously, his animosity toward President Abraham Lincoln intensified. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Booth began smuggling medicines to the Confederacy during his travels. His fervent support for the South created a rift within his own family, as his brother Edwin, a staunch Unionist, refused to perform in the South.
Booth’s outspoken advocacy for the Confederacy often clashed with audiences in the North, particularly in New York, where some called for his arrest on charges of treason. However, these controversies did not appear to diminish his popularity among critics, who continued to regard him as "the most promising young actor on the American stage."
In 1863, while on tour in St. Louis, Booth was arrested after expressing his wish that the President and the entire government would "go to hell." He was charged with treasonous remarks but was released after swearing an oath of allegiance to the Union and paying a significant fine. Later that year, John T. Ford, a family friend, opened Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., and John Wilkes Booth became one of the first leading men to grace its stage. During one performance, attended by President Lincoln, Booth reportedly pointed his finger at the President while delivering a line of dialogue.
In November 1864, Booth had the rare opportunity to perform alongside both of his actor brothers, Edwin and Junius Jr., in a single benefit performance of Julius Caesar in New York. He played Mark Antony, while Edwin portrayed Brutus. The performance was hailed as a theatrical triumph, and the proceeds were used to fund a statue of William Shakespeare in Central Park, which stands to this day.
That same month, Lincoln’s re-election further fueled Booth’s rage. In a letter to his mother, he wrote, "I have begun to deem myself a coward and to despise my own existence." Indeed, Booth had already begun formulating a plan to kidnap Lincoln and smuggle him to Richmond, hoping to exchange the President for Confederate prisoners. He believed this act would embolden opposition to the war in the North or force Union recognition of the Confederate government, thus bringing the war to an end.
While conclusive evidence remains elusive, some historians maintain that John Wilkes Booth was acting as a Confederate spy. They point to a trip he made to Montreal in October 1864, a known hub for Confederate clandestine activities. He reportedly spent ten days in the city, staying at St. Lawrence Hall, a known rendezvous point for the Confederate Secret Service.
Lincoln’s re-election on a platform advocating the abolition of slavery through the 13th Amendment prompted Booth to dedicate increasing energy and resources to his scheme. He enlisted Southern sympathizers into the plot, including David Herold, George Atzerodt, Lewis Powell (also known as Lewis Payne), and John Surratt, a rebel agent. Booth’s increasing obsession with his political agenda led to further conflicts with his brother Edwin, who ultimately barred him from his home in New York. Of Lincoln, Booth told his sister, Asia, "That man’s appearance, his pedigree, his coarse low jokes and anecdotes, his vulgar similes, and his policy are a disgrace to the seat he holds. He is made the tool of the North to crush out slavery." Asia later wrote that as a Union victory became increasingly certain in 1865, Booth would launch into furious tirades against Lincoln.
In February 1865, Booth became secretly engaged to Lucy Hale, the daughter of U.S. Senator John Hale of New Hampshire. Unaware of Booth’s deep-seated hatred for Lincoln, Hale invited him to Lincoln’s second inauguration on March 4. Booth’s co-conspirators were also present in the crowd, but no attempt was made against the President. Booth later remarked on the excellent opportunity he had to kill the President had he desired. An attempt to kidnap Lincoln later that month failed when the President’s plans changed, leading him away from the stretch of road where Booth and his men lay in wait.
Following Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender on April 9, Booth’s kidnapping plan became irrelevant. He reportedly told a friend of John Surratt that he was finished with acting and that the only play he wanted to present was Venice Preserv’d. While the meaning was lost on Surratt’s friend, the play he referenced was about an assassination plot.
On the morning of Good Friday, April 14, while Booth was at Ford’s Theatre retrieving his mail, John Ford’s brother informed him that Lincoln and his wife, along with General and Mrs. Ulysses Grant, would be attending the play Our American Cousin that evening. Booth immediately summoned his co-conspirators and devised a plan to assassinate not only the President but also General Grant, Secretary of State William Seward, and Vice President Andrew Johnson. His aim was to plunge the Union into chaos by decapitating the government, thus allowing the Confederate government to reorganize, or at least avenge the South’s defeat.
Booth’s plan unfolded that evening. Lewis Powell was assigned to assassinate Seward, who was bedridden due to a carriage accident. Powell stabbed Seward, but the Secretary of State survived. Atzerodt, tasked with assassinating Vice President Johnson, lost his nerve and spent the night drinking, never attempting the assassination. General Grant altered his plans and did not attend the play with the President, instead leaving Washington D.C. to visit relatives in New Jersey. However, the President and First Lady proceeded with their plans to attend the performance at Ford’s Theatre, to which Booth had full access due to his association with John Ford.
Around 10 p.m., as the play progressed, Booth entered the Presidential Box and shot Lincoln in the back of the head. Major Henry Rathborne, who was with the President, lunged at Booth, but Booth stabbed him before jumping from the box to the stage, shouting "Sic semper tyrannis," Latin for "Thus always to tyrants." Booth fled the stage through a door leading to the alley, where a getaway horse awaited. During his escape, he injured his leg. While Booth claimed the injury occurred during his jump to the stage, others suggest he was injured when the horse tripped and fell on him. Regardless, Booth and David Herold made their way to southern Maryland, en route to rural Virginia.
After stopping at Surratt’s Tavern, where they had stored guns and equipment during their kidnapping plot, the fugitives continued to the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd, who treated Booth’s leg fracture in the early morning of April 15. Later that morning, shortly after 7 a.m., President Lincoln succumbed to his injuries.
Booth and Herold sought refuge at Samuel Cox’s home and hid in the woods the following day. Cox then contacted his foster brother, Confederate agent Thomas Jones. By this time, Federal troops were scouring southern Maryland, and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Booth and his accomplices.
As Booth and Herold remained hidden in the Maryland woods, some of their co-conspirators were captured, including Mary Surratt, John Surratt’s mother, Lewis Powell, Samuel Arnold, and Michael O’Laughlen, who Booth had previously recruited as underground operators for the Confederacy. Booth learned of their arrests through newspapers brought to him daily by Jones. He was dismayed to find that even anti-Lincoln newspapers expressed little sympathy for him.
On April 21, Booth and Herold decided to cross the Potomac River into Virginia. After a failed attempt that landed them back in Maryland, they finally succeeded on April 23. Another Confederate agent provided them with horses, and the pair sought refuge at Richard H. Garrett’s farm just south of Port Royal on April 24. They told the Garretts that Booth was James Boyd, a Confederate soldier returning home, and the family was unaware of the President’s assassination.
Federal soldiers tracked the pair to Garrett’s farm, and on the morning of April 26, they were found hiding in the barn. Herold surrendered, but Booth refused. After the soldiers set the barn ablaze, Booth was shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett, who claimed that Booth had raised his pistol at him. Booth was fatally wounded in the neck and dragged from the barn to Garrett’s porch, where he died three hours later. His body was identified by a doctor who had operated on him the previous year and was secretly buried, then re-interred four years later. Despite numerous theories suggesting that Booth escaped, there is no credible evidence to support these claims.
Eight individuals were implicated in the assassination plot and were tried by a military tribunal in Washington, D.C. All were found guilty on June 30, 1865. Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt, Mary Surratt, and David Herold were executed on July 7. Samuel Mudd, Samuel Arnold, and Michael O’Laughlen were sentenced to life in prison. While O’Laughlen died of yellow fever in 1867, the others were eventually pardoned by President Andrew Johnson in 1869.
The life of John Wilkes Booth serves as a stark reminder of the destructive power of political extremism and the enduring impact of a single act of violence on the course of history.