8 Famous Political Assassinations That Shook The World
6. Abraham Lincoln (USA)
Honest Abe, the Great Liberator and the 16th President of the United States of all America - Lincolns life was ended on April 15, 1865, while he was four years into his presidency. The Unionist leader during the American Civil War, Lincoln defeated the Confederate States and ensured that the USA remained a united nation going forward. In the process, Lincoln also ensured the abolition of slavery - although whether this was his original intention before the war began is something historians will seemingly forever debate - and increased the power of the federal government, before being made President in March 1861. The name John Wilkes Booth has become commonplace in pub quizzes around the world for one reason and one reason only - he was the man who killed the 16th President of the United States. Booth was a famous actor in Maryland, yet he was also a Confederate spy who made it his sole mission to bring down Lincoln. Originally, Booth intended to kidnap Lincoln and then hold him ransom to ensure the return of Confederate prisoners. However, after witnessing Lincoln speak on voting rights for African-Americans, Booth became determined to kill the Unionist leader. With Lincoln attending an enactment of Our American Cousin at Fords Theatre in Washington DC, Booth crept up behind the unguarded President and shot him from point-blank range, leaving him to bleed to death in the following hours. Booth then stabbed Major Henry Rathbone and went on the run for 12 days before he was tracked down to a farm in Virginia and, after refusing to give himself up, he was killed.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
Honest Abe, the Great Liberator and the 16th President of the United States of all America - Lincolns life was ended on April 15, 1865, while he was four years into his presidency. The Unionist leader during the American Civil War, Lincoln defeated the Confederate States and ensured that the USA remained a united nation going forward. In the process, Lincoln also ensured the abolition of slavery - although whether this was his original intention before the war began is something historians will seemingly forever debate - and increased the power of the federal government, before being made President in March 1861. The name John Wilkes Booth has become commonplace in pub quizzes around the world for one reason and one reason only - he was the man who killed the 16th President of the United States. Booth was a famous actor in Maryland, yet he was also a Confederate spy who made it his sole mission to bring down Lincoln. Originally, Booth intended to kidnap Lincoln and then hold him ransom to ensure the return of Confederate prisoners. However, after witnessing Lincoln speak on voting rights for African-Americans, Booth became determined to kill the Unionist leader. With Lincoln attending an enactment of Our American Cousin at Fords Theatre in Washington DC, Booth crept up behind the unguarded President and shot him from point-blank range, leaving him to bleed to death in the following hours. Booth then stabbed Major Henry Rathbone and went on the run for 12 days before he was tracked down to a farm in Virginia and, after refusing to give himself up, he was killed.