On April 14, 1865, America’s triumph in the Civil War turned to tragedy when President Abraham Lincoln was shot in the head by actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre. But this was no random act by a lone madman — it was part of a sweeping conspiracy to overthrow the federal government in one night of terror. In this gripping episode, we uncover the untold story of how Booth’s plot evolved from a desperate scheme to kidnap Lincoln into a coordinated plan to kill the President, Vice President, and Secretary of State simultaneously.
Sean, Eric and Jorge explore how John Wilkes Booth, a charismatic and bitter Confederate sympathizer, gathered a band of conspirators who were fiercely loyal to him personally and driven by rage at the Union’s victory. You’ll meet Lewis Powell, the brutal ex-soldier assigned to assassinate Secretary of State Seward; George Atzerodt, the nervous boatman who was supposed to kill Vice President Johnson but lost his nerve; and Mary Surratt, the boardinghouse owner whose tavern hid Booth’s weapons. walk through the conspirators’ failed kidnapping plans, their meetings at Surratt’s boardinghouse, and the moment Lincoln’s speech on Black suffrage convinced Booth that murder was the only option.
On the night of April 14, Booth executed his plan with chilling precision: he slipped into Lincoln’s box during Our American Cousin and fired a single shot that would forever change the nation. Meanwhile, Powell’s savage attack on Seward nearly succeeded, and Atzerodt’s cowardice spared Johnson’s life. In the chaos that followed, Booth leapt to the stage, shouting “Sic semper tyrannis!” as he fled into the night.
Join us as we unravel the dark conspiracy that sought to decapitate America’s leadership at its most vulnerable moment, and discover how Booth’s twisted vision of heroism ended with the first presidential assassination in U.S. history — and the beginning of a manhunt that would grip the nation.
