# Canonical recap data for Lincoln Assassinated (1865)
# Source: https://recap.at/1865/lincoln-assassination
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: lincoln-assassination
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1865/lincoln-assassination"
title: Lincoln Assassinated
aliases:
- Lincoln's assassination
- Ford's Theatre shooting
- April 14, 1865
subtitle: John Wilkes Booth's assassination of President Lincoln just days after Lee's surrender deepened national tragedy and upended hopes for smooth Reconstruction.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1865-04-15
datePrecision: day
year: 1865
decade: 1860
country:
name: United States
slug: united-states
summaryShort: On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., one month into his second term and towards the conclusion of the American Civil War. Lincoln was watching the play Our American Cousin with his wife Mary Todd, Major Henry Rathbone, and Rathbone'
summaryLong: On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., one month into his second term and towards the conclusion of the American Civil War. Lincoln was watching the play Our American Cousin with his wife Mary Todd, Major Henry Rathbone, and Rathbone's fiancé Clara Harris when John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Confederate sympathizer, shot him in the head. Lincoln was taken to the Petersen House across the street, where he was pronounced dead the following morning.
lede: On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., during a performance of Our American Cousin. Lincoln died the following morning, just days after the Confederacy's surrender and at the moment when his leadership was most needed to guide the nation through Reconstruction.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Lincoln_assassination_slide_c1900_-_Restoration.jpg/1280px-Lincoln_assassination_slide_c1900_-_Restoration.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Assassination of Abraham Lincoln"
importance: 87
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Date of shooting
  value: April 14, 1865
- label: Date of death
  value: April 15, 1865
- label: Location
  value: Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C.
- label: Assassin
  value: John Wilkes Booth, actor
- label: Lincoln's presidency duration
  value: 4 years, 1 month
- label: Lincoln's age at death
  value: 56 years old
- label: Days after Lee's surrender
  value: 6 days
- label: Booth's fate
  value: Killed by Union soldiers, April 26, 1865
timeline:
- date: 1865-04-09
  title: Lee surrenders at Appomattox
  description: General Robert E. Lee surrenders the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending major combat in the Civil War.
- date: 1865-04-11
  title: Lincoln's last public speech
  description: Lincoln delivers remarks from the White House balcony outlining his Reconstruction policy, advocating for limited federal intervention and rapid readmission of Southern states.
- date: 1865-04-14
  title: Shooting at Ford's Theatre
  description: John Wilkes Booth shoots President Lincoln during the third act of Our American Cousin. Lincoln is carried to the Petersen House across the street.
- date: 1865-04-15
  title: Lincoln dies
  description: "Abraham Lincoln dies at 7:22 a.m. at the Petersen House. Vice President Andrew Johnson is sworn in as the 17th president."
- date: 1865-04-21
  title: State funeral begins
  description: Lincoln's body lies in state at the Capitol. An estimated 25,000 people file past the coffin.
- date: 1865-04-26
  title: Booth killed
  description: John Wilkes Booth is cornered by Union cavalry in a tobacco barn in Virginia and killed during capture.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Abraham_Lincoln"
  title: Lincoln was assassinated
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: Lincoln's death during the final days of the Civil War removed the one figure with sufficient political capital and moral authority to shape Reconstruction policy. The presidency passed to Andrew Johnson, whose lenient approach to Southern readmission reversed much of Lincoln's agenda and prolonged the crisis of reunification by a decade.
categories:
- war
taxonomy:
domain: political
eventTypes:
- assassination
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- collapse
- transformation
impactRadius: national
velocity: sudden
predictability: black_swan
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: death
metaDescription: Lincoln assassinated at Ford's Theatre, April 14, 1865. Death reshapes Reconstruction.
wikidataQid: Q1025404
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260610014122/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Abraham_Lincoln"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-10
  label: Lincoln was assassinated
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Abraham_Lincoln"
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The New York Times
  publisherSlug: the-new-york-times
  headline: ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN
  publishedAt: 1865-04-15
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - archive.nytimes.com
  excerpt: President Abraham Lincoln was shot by an assassin at Ford's Theatre last evening and died at the Petersen House early this morning. The nation is plunged into mourning as Vice President Andrew Johnson assumes the presidency.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: The Times (London)
  publisherSlug: the-times-london
  headline: DEATH OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN
  publishedAt: 1865-04-17
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - thetimes.co.uk
  excerpt: Dispatches from America confirm that President Lincoln has fallen by the hand of an assassin at Washington. The shocking event has reverberated across the Atlantic and is received with universal expressions of regret throughout Europe.
  significance: 88
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Harper's Weekly
  publisherSlug: harpers-weekly
  headline: THE NATION'S CALAMITY - The Assassination of President Lincoln
  publishedAt: 1865-04-29
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - harpersweekly.com
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The assassination of Abraham Lincoln, perpetrated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre on the night of April 14th, stands as the blackest crime in American annals. Harper's examines the conspiracy and its implications for the Union's future.
  significance: 85
  type: magazine
  region: United States
- publisher: The Philadelphia Inquirer
  publisherSlug: the-philadelphia-inquirer
  headline: HORRIBLE CATASTROPHE - President Lincoln Shot - His Death
  publishedAt: 1865-04-15
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - inquirer.com
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - A terrible blow has fallen upon the nation. President Lincoln, while attending a theatrical performance, was shot by an assassin and expired this morning. The country mourns the loss of its war-time leader.
  significance: 89
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: Le Moniteur Universel
  publisherSlug: le-moniteur-universel
  headline: ASSASSINAT DU PRESIDENT LINCOLN
  publishedAt: 1865-04-18
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - gallica.bnf.fr
  excerpt: "FR: 'Le president des Etats-Unis a ete assassine' / EN: 'The President of the United States has been assassinated'. France receives news of Lincoln's death with shock, recognizing the magnitude of the tragedy for American reconstruction efforts."
  significance: 82
  type: newspaper
  region: France
