Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln's Presidency Ends

Lincoln's re-election as President changed the racial future of the United States. It also angered a Southern sympathizer named John Wilkes Booth. Booth began planning to kidnap Lincoln and kill him. On April 14, 1865, five days after Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Lincoln attended a performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington.

Booth entered the presidential box and shot him. Lincoln died the next morning at 7:22 at the age of 56. Booth thought that assassinating the President would help the South's cause. However, Lincoln's death had the opposite affect. People loved and admired him. The pastor who preached Lincoln's funeral stated:

"I have said that the people confided in the late lamented President with a full and a loving confidence. Probably no man since the days of Washington was ever so deeply and firmly embedded and enshrined in the very hearts of the people as Abraham Lincoln. Nor was it a mistaken confidence and love. He deserved it well-deserved it all. He merited it by his character, by his acts, and by the whole tenor, and tone, and spirit of his life. He was simple and sincere, plain and honest, truthful and just, benevolent and kind. His perceptions were quick and clear, his judgements were calm and accurate, and his purposes were good and pure beyond a question." (Excerpt from the April 19, 1865 funeral sermon by Dr. Phineas D. Gurley, pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church).

Learn more about Abraham Lincoln:

Life Before the Presidency
Did You Know?
Presidential Accomplishments
A Deadly Premonition
Lincoln's Presidency Ends
Lincoln's Lasting Legacy