John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American actor who is most famous for assassinating Abraham Lincoln. A professional and extremely popular stage actor of his day, Booth was a Confederate sympathizer who was dissatisfied by the outcome of the American Civil War.

Hatching the plot

By 1864, the tide of the war had shifted in the North's favor. The North halted prisoner exchange in an attempt to dwindle the size of the Confederate Army. Booth began devising a plan to kidnap Lincoln from his summer residence at The Soldier's Home outside of Washington, smuggle him across the Potomac and into Richmond. He would be exchanged for the release of Southern soldiers held captive in Northern prisons. He successfully recruited his old friends Samuel Arnold and Michael O'Laughlin as accomplices. At this time, Booth had been also speculating in oil in Pennsylvania.

Related Topics:
Prisoner exchange - The Soldier's Home - Samuel Arnold - Michael O'Laughlin - Pennsylvania

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