The Civil War: John Wilkes Booth Biography | The Civil War | Ken Burns
Arguably the nation's most famous assassin, John Wilkes Booth was an accomplished actor, southern sympathizer, and likely spy before shooting President Lincoln in April 1865. The ninth of 10 children, Booth grew up outside Bel Air, Maryland. After his father's death in 1852, he abandoned his studies and became an actor. By 1860, he was