"Mysteries at the Museum" Lincoln Assassination: Mysteries at the Museum Specials

1 00:00:01,668 --> 00:00:03,570 I'm headed back to a time when the American dream 2 00:00:03,670 --> 00:00:07,340 hung in the balance to investigate the killing 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:10,443 of President Abraham Lincoln 4 00:00:10,543 --> 00:00:13,646 and to reexamine the motives and schemes 5 00:00:13,747 --> 00:00:17,083 behind America's first political assassination 6 00:00:17,183 --> 00:00:19,552 and the mastermind behind it all, 7 00:00:19,652 --> 00:00:21,788 the infamous John Wilkes Booth. 8 00:00:21,888 --> 00:00:23,790 They can even hear the cavalry. 9 00:00:23,890 --> 00:00:25,859 And they gotta get out. 10 00:00:25,959 --> 00:00:27,994 There we go. Wow. 11 00:00:28,094 --> 00:00:30,730 Press the trigger. It's an American tragedy... 12 00:00:30,830 --> 00:00:34,034 Fire again. ...filled with conspiracy... 13 00:00:34,134 --> 00:00:35,935 That's incredible. 14 00:00:36,036 --> 00:00:37,270 ...and secrets... 15 00:00:37,370 --> 00:00:38,605 Where are we? 16 00:00:38,705 --> 00:00:40,306 ...that continue to haunt us today. 17 00:00:40,407 --> 00:00:42,742 And this just blows everything out of the water. 18 00:00:42,842 --> 00:00:45,679 I'm Don Wildman. 19 00:00:45,779 --> 00:00:48,481 I've explored the world's greatest mysteries, 20 00:00:48,581 --> 00:00:51,751 examined rare artifacts and epic monuments. 21 00:00:51,851 --> 00:00:53,620 That is unbelievable. 22 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:56,456 Now, I'm digging deeper into some of the most perplexing 23 00:00:56,556 --> 00:00:58,792 and famous cases in history. 24 00:00:58,892 --> 00:01:01,394 My goal? To get closer to the truth. 25 00:01:01,494 --> 00:01:03,630 Let's burn this place down. Let's burn it down. 26 00:01:04,998 --> 00:01:07,867 On this special episode of "Mysteries at the Museum," 27 00:01:07,967 --> 00:01:10,337 the Lincoln Assassination. 28 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:18,074 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm 29 00:01:27,487 --> 00:01:30,623 There may be no more enduring legacy in American politics 30 00:01:30,724 --> 00:01:33,993 than that of the 16th president of the United States. 31 00:01:36,496 --> 00:01:38,932 From his humble beginnings in Hodgenville, Kentucky, 32 00:01:39,032 --> 00:01:41,868 to his victory in America's only Civil War, 33 00:01:41,968 --> 00:01:45,405 Abraham Lincoln was destined to be remembered forever. 34 00:01:49,409 --> 00:01:51,311 When it comes to Lincoln, 35 00:01:51,411 --> 00:01:53,980 it's not just his life that is legendary. 36 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:57,183 Tragically, nothing quite captures the imagination 37 00:01:57,283 --> 00:01:59,419 more than the fact that he was the first 38 00:01:59,519 --> 00:02:01,821 U.S. President to be assassinated. 39 00:02:01,921 --> 00:02:04,891 But what do we really know about Lincoln's assassination, 40 00:02:04,991 --> 00:02:07,961 and why would somebody want to shoot America's 41 00:02:08,061 --> 00:02:10,730 most beloved president? 42 00:02:10,830 --> 00:02:13,433 Was it the work of a deranged lone wolf 43 00:02:13,533 --> 00:02:16,236 or something more? 44 00:02:16,336 --> 00:02:19,673 Part of a deeper conspiracy to topple the U.S. government? 45 00:02:25,145 --> 00:02:27,914 On the evening of April 14, 1865, 46 00:02:28,014 --> 00:02:31,418 President Lincoln was en route to Ford's Theatre. 47 00:02:31,518 --> 00:02:35,422 Imagine Abe Lincoln in a carriage 48 00:02:35,522 --> 00:02:38,458 just like this but a much different city. 49 00:02:42,495 --> 00:02:45,165 The United States was barely 100 years old 50 00:02:45,265 --> 00:02:47,367 when it found itself in the throes 51 00:02:47,467 --> 00:02:50,704 of a bloody civil war that divided the country. 52 00:02:50,804 --> 00:02:52,972 The Union of the North was pitted 53 00:02:53,073 --> 00:02:55,175 against the Confederate South. 54 00:02:55,275 --> 00:02:58,078 The catalyst of this vicious battle? Slavery. 55 00:02:58,178 --> 00:03:00,547 In 1861, 56 00:03:00,647 --> 00:03:03,350 seven slave-holding states wanted to secede 57 00:03:03,450 --> 00:03:06,019 and become independent from the United States 58 00:03:06,119 --> 00:03:09,322 and attacked the fortress of Sumter in South Carolina, 59 00:03:09,422 --> 00:03:12,225 setting off what would become the most violent war 60 00:03:12,325 --> 00:03:14,361 on American soil. 61 00:03:14,461 --> 00:03:16,496 During four years of combat, 62 00:03:16,596 --> 00:03:18,598 nearly 3 million fought, 63 00:03:18,698 --> 00:03:20,867 and more than 600,000 died. 64 00:03:20,967 --> 00:03:24,170 As cities across the South fell to the Union, 65 00:03:24,270 --> 00:03:26,639 the Confederacy lost ground. 66 00:03:28,641 --> 00:03:30,810 By early spring, the South had surrendered, 67 00:03:30,910 --> 00:03:34,047 slavery had been abolished, and Lincoln was looking 68 00:03:34,147 --> 00:03:36,449 forward to serving out his second term. 69 00:03:36,549 --> 00:03:40,620 All that changed on April 14, 1865. 70 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:44,591 First stop-- scene of the crime. 71 00:03:49,596 --> 00:03:51,498 The historic Ford's Theatre, 72 00:03:51,598 --> 00:03:53,600 where it all happened. 73 00:04:10,917 --> 00:04:13,219 The unsuspecting president was enjoying 74 00:04:13,319 --> 00:04:15,221 a night of theater... 75 00:04:17,490 --> 00:04:20,160 when a gunshot altered history. 76 00:04:24,264 --> 00:04:25,999 We've all heard what happened the night 77 00:04:26,099 --> 00:04:28,735 of April 14, 1865, 78 00:04:30,236 --> 00:04:32,639 but do we really know the whole story? 79 00:04:32,739 --> 00:04:35,475 Who was John Wilkes Booth, 80 00:04:35,575 --> 00:04:38,011 and how did he even gain access 81 00:04:38,111 --> 00:04:40,513 to a United States president? 82 00:04:44,884 --> 00:04:46,119 Dr. Guelzo? 83 00:04:46,219 --> 00:04:49,222 Dr. Allen Guelzo is a foremost expert 84 00:04:49,322 --> 00:04:51,057 on the Lincoln story. 85 00:04:51,157 --> 00:04:52,726 Very good. Wow, that's the box! 86 00:04:52,826 --> 00:04:56,196 That is the box, that is where Lincoln sat the evening 87 00:04:56,296 --> 00:04:59,065 of April 14, 1865. Uh-huh. 88 00:04:59,165 --> 00:05:02,135 That production that night was of a British written play 89 00:05:02,235 --> 00:05:04,504 about Americans 90 00:05:04,604 --> 00:05:06,740 called Our American Cousin . 91 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:09,009 It's sort of like the Beverly Hillbillies 92 00:05:09,109 --> 00:05:11,311 but very popular. 93 00:05:17,684 --> 00:05:21,321 I don't know how you may feel as a visitor, Mr. Buddicombe, 94 00:05:21,421 --> 00:05:24,624 but I think this is a most uncomfortable family. 95 00:05:24,724 --> 00:05:26,993 Very uncomfortable. 96 00:05:29,295 --> 00:05:30,864 Being able to sit up in the box 97 00:05:30,964 --> 00:05:33,299 got Lincoln away from the stress, 98 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:35,301 and he could be alone with his own thoughts 99 00:05:35,402 --> 00:05:38,638 and enjoy the play, as well, which he did hugely. 100 00:05:38,738 --> 00:05:42,042 For him, this was a relaxation moment. 101 00:05:42,142 --> 00:05:44,344 Old Solomon has made a crop of it. 102 00:05:44,444 --> 00:05:46,880 Lincoln loved the theater. 103 00:05:46,980 --> 00:05:50,116 He could recite chunks of Shakespeare off by heart. 104 00:05:50,216 --> 00:05:52,952 He loved to meet actors, Really? 105 00:05:53,053 --> 00:05:55,455 and sometimes after a production, he would invite actors 106 00:05:55,555 --> 00:05:57,457 to come up to the box, and they would do 107 00:05:57,557 --> 00:05:59,826 a little professional theater chitchat. 108 00:05:59,926 --> 00:06:03,296 One Ford's Theatre regular was stage actor, 109 00:06:03,396 --> 00:06:05,465 John Wilkes Booth. 110 00:06:07,667 --> 00:06:09,803 John Wilkes Booth, born in 1838. 111 00:06:09,903 --> 00:06:13,973 Youngest son of one of the great actors of his day, 112 00:06:14,074 --> 00:06:16,409 Junius Brutus Booth. 113 00:06:16,509 --> 00:06:20,413 So the Booths were a huge acting family in America. Oh, yeah. Yeah. 114 00:06:20,513 --> 00:06:23,850 They were dashing, they were handsome, they were talented. 115 00:06:23,950 --> 00:06:26,886 By the 1860s, John Booth is pulling in 116 00:06:26,986 --> 00:06:30,657 $20,000 a year as an actor, which, in the 1860s, 117 00:06:30,757 --> 00:06:33,360 that was a lot of money. 118 00:06:37,030 --> 00:06:40,433 He lives nearby here. Yes, he lives at the National Hotel, 119 00:06:40,533 --> 00:06:43,570 and he picks up his mail at Ford's Theatre. 120 00:06:43,670 --> 00:06:46,740 It's there when he stops on the morning 121 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:49,442 of April 14th that John Ford, 122 00:06:49,542 --> 00:06:52,045 the proprietor, seeing Booth there for his mail, 123 00:06:52,145 --> 00:06:54,647 strikes up a little banter and conversation, says, 124 00:06:54,748 --> 00:06:56,649 "Well, you know the President of the United States 125 00:06:56,750 --> 00:06:59,285 "is going to be here this evening 126 00:06:59,386 --> 00:07:01,287 for the performance of Our American Cousin ." 127 00:07:01,388 --> 00:07:04,624 So that's where he gets the news about Lincoln coming tonight 128 00:07:04,724 --> 00:07:07,227 to the theater. Exactly. 129 00:07:07,327 --> 00:07:10,030 At that moment, the powder train 130 00:07:10,130 --> 00:07:12,232 has been ignited. 131 00:07:12,332 --> 00:07:14,534 Hearing of the president's imminent arrival, 132 00:07:14,634 --> 00:07:17,537 Booth put in motion a series of very specific 133 00:07:17,637 --> 00:07:20,240 calculated actions that unfolded 134 00:07:20,340 --> 00:07:22,842 into the infamous events of that evening. 135 00:07:25,412 --> 00:07:27,447 First, he returned to his room at the National 136 00:07:27,547 --> 00:07:29,549 and packed a bag. 137 00:07:29,649 --> 00:07:31,751 He then prepares his weapons-- 138 00:07:31,851 --> 00:07:35,555 his knife, his single shot .44 caliber 139 00:07:35,655 --> 00:07:38,591 Philadelphia-made Deringer. 140 00:07:38,692 --> 00:07:40,760 It's the pocket pistol that's right behind us. 141 00:07:43,229 --> 00:07:45,265 This is the gun that killed Abraham Lincoln. 142 00:07:45,365 --> 00:07:48,368 That, all too sadly, is true. 143 00:07:51,871 --> 00:07:54,107 That night, Lincoln was in his box, 144 00:07:54,207 --> 00:07:56,376 enjoying the play with his wife and friends 145 00:07:56,476 --> 00:07:58,478 while his footman, Charles Forbes, 146 00:07:58,578 --> 00:08:01,147 kept watch on the other side of the door. 147 00:08:01,247 --> 00:08:05,085 On the sofa at the far end of the box 148 00:08:05,185 --> 00:08:07,887 would have been Clara Harris and Major Rathbone, 149 00:08:07,987 --> 00:08:11,591 then Mrs. Lincoln, and in the rocking chair 150 00:08:11,691 --> 00:08:14,260 right here would have been President Lincoln. 151 00:08:16,930 --> 00:08:19,432 Now, the curious thing is in this door, 152 00:08:19,532 --> 00:08:21,968 which originally, of course, was a solid door, 153 00:08:22,068 --> 00:08:24,504 there was a small peephole that had been drilled... 154 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:30,677 ...so that Charles Forbes, Lincoln's footman, 155 00:08:30,777 --> 00:08:33,980 would be able to come to the door here, peek in, 156 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:35,749 make sure everything was fine in the box 157 00:08:35,849 --> 00:08:37,751 without disturbing the Lincolns. 158 00:08:37,851 --> 00:08:40,186 I hate mysteries, sir, 159 00:08:40,286 --> 00:08:42,655 but you see, I have come to the rendezvous. 160 00:08:42,756 --> 00:08:45,592 An hour into the play, John Wilkes Booth 161 00:08:45,692 --> 00:08:48,028 arrived at the theater. 162 00:08:48,128 --> 00:08:50,497 This guy was famous, I mean, these people all recognize him. 163 00:08:50,597 --> 00:08:52,465 Of course, very well known. 164 00:08:52,565 --> 00:08:55,168 People greeted Booth as he entered the main doors 165 00:08:55,268 --> 00:08:57,904 and made his way upstairs to Lincoln's box. 166 00:08:58,004 --> 00:09:01,908 Once there, he encountered Lincoln's footman standing guard. 167 00:09:02,008 --> 00:09:05,578 And Booth produces a calling card, 168 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:07,847 hands it to Forbes, as if to say, 169 00:09:07,947 --> 00:09:10,817 "I'm John Wilkes Booth, the famous actor. 170 00:09:10,917 --> 00:09:13,086 President Lincoln has asked to see me." 171 00:09:13,186 --> 00:09:16,022 Forbes obligingly opens the door, 172 00:09:16,122 --> 00:09:19,259 Booth enters the vestibule, 173 00:09:19,359 --> 00:09:22,529 and...effectively 174 00:09:22,629 --> 00:09:24,931 signs Lincoln's death warrant. 175 00:09:28,101 --> 00:09:30,136 There's now just one door 176 00:09:30,236 --> 00:09:33,506 between John Wilkes Booth and Abraham Lincoln. 177 00:09:33,606 --> 00:09:37,177 To confirm Lincoln's position, Booth used the peephole 178 00:09:37,277 --> 00:09:39,379 designed to check on the president 179 00:09:39,479 --> 00:09:41,414 without disturbing him. 180 00:09:41,514 --> 00:09:43,249 He can hear what's going on in the play, 181 00:09:43,350 --> 00:09:45,952 and he knows that the big line that he is waiting for 182 00:09:46,052 --> 00:09:48,188 is about to be delivered. 183 00:09:48,288 --> 00:09:52,092 I am aware, Mr. Trenchard, you are not 184 00:09:52,192 --> 00:09:54,394 used to the manners of good society... 185 00:09:54,494 --> 00:09:56,663 Booth knew that one specific line 186 00:09:56,763 --> 00:09:59,299 would cause the audience to burst into laughter, 187 00:09:59,399 --> 00:10:01,801 masking the sound of a gunshot. 188 00:10:01,901 --> 00:10:05,572 Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside-out, old gal, 189 00:10:05,672 --> 00:10:09,175 you sockdologizing old man-trap. 190 00:10:14,214 --> 00:10:15,849 When the punch line is given, 191 00:10:15,949 --> 00:10:19,219 he then opens the door, steps right up behind Lincoln... 192 00:10:21,287 --> 00:10:24,424 The ball hits Lincoln, back of the head, 193 00:10:24,524 --> 00:10:27,127 behind he left ear-- Lincoln slumps forward. 194 00:10:27,227 --> 00:10:30,163 Major Rathbone jumps up from the sofa, 195 00:10:30,263 --> 00:10:32,332 grapples with Booth. 196 00:10:32,432 --> 00:10:35,268 Booth has his hunting knife in his hand. Yeah. 197 00:10:35,368 --> 00:10:38,171 He slashes Rathbone, grabs the balustrade, 198 00:10:38,271 --> 00:10:41,307 and leaps over to jump to the stage. 199 00:10:41,408 --> 00:10:44,377 Booth broke his leg in the process, 200 00:10:44,477 --> 00:10:47,881 but fueled by adrenaline, he felt no pain. 201 00:10:47,981 --> 00:10:51,751 Stands up, brandishing the hunting knife, and shouts, 202 00:10:51,851 --> 00:10:55,121 "Sic semper tyrannis! 203 00:10:55,221 --> 00:10:58,158 The South is avenged!" 204 00:11:02,662 --> 00:11:06,399 Sic semper tyrannis is the state motto of Virginia. Okay. 205 00:11:06,499 --> 00:11:10,036 Latin for "Thus always to tyrants." 206 00:11:10,136 --> 00:11:14,074 And with that, he turns, bolts off the stage 207 00:11:14,174 --> 00:11:17,277 to stage right, opens the back door, 208 00:11:17,377 --> 00:11:20,480 walks out, jumps onto his horse, 209 00:11:20,580 --> 00:11:23,616 and gallops off down Baptist Alley 210 00:11:23,717 --> 00:11:25,485 into the night. 211 00:11:25,585 --> 00:11:27,654 But the night's drama was far from over. 212 00:11:27,754 --> 00:11:31,257 What would drive a famous stage actor 213 00:11:31,358 --> 00:11:33,960 to shoot America's most beloved president? 214 00:11:34,060 --> 00:11:37,297 Who really was John Wilkes Booth? 215 00:11:37,397 --> 00:11:39,799 And where was he headed? 216 00:11:42,302 --> 00:11:45,171 April 14, 1865 217 00:11:45,271 --> 00:11:48,541 will forever be marked as one of America's darkest days. 218 00:11:48,641 --> 00:11:52,345 John Wilkes Booth had shot President Lincoln 219 00:11:52,445 --> 00:11:55,281 at point blank range inside Ford's Theatre 220 00:11:55,382 --> 00:11:58,718 and then charged into the back alley where his horse was waiting 221 00:11:58,818 --> 00:12:01,554 and rode unfollowed into the Washington night. 222 00:12:07,794 --> 00:12:09,929 The wounded president was moved across the street 223 00:12:10,030 --> 00:12:12,565 to the Peterson house. 224 00:12:12,665 --> 00:12:15,368 As a vigil formed around Lincoln, 225 00:12:15,468 --> 00:12:18,605 Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, 226 00:12:18,705 --> 00:12:21,107 immediately launched a manhunt. 227 00:12:21,207 --> 00:12:24,010 He knew they were looking for the famous American 228 00:12:24,110 --> 00:12:26,379 stage actor, John Wilkes Booth, 229 00:12:26,479 --> 00:12:30,283 but Booth's whereabouts were as much of a mystery 230 00:12:30,383 --> 00:12:32,385 as his motives. 231 00:12:32,485 --> 00:12:35,789 Secretary Stanton acted fast, 232 00:12:35,889 --> 00:12:37,957 closing the perimeter of the city 233 00:12:38,058 --> 00:12:40,026 and triggering what is considered today to be 234 00:12:40,126 --> 00:12:42,595 the largest manhunt in American history. 235 00:12:42,696 --> 00:12:44,664 Even though Stanton acted quickly, 236 00:12:44,764 --> 00:12:47,600 it still took several hours to lock down the D.C. perimeter, 237 00:12:47,701 --> 00:12:51,137 and by that time, Booth was long gone. 238 00:12:54,341 --> 00:12:56,242 To try and get a better understanding 239 00:12:56,343 --> 00:12:58,578 of what Booth's life was like on the run, 240 00:12:58,678 --> 00:13:00,814 I'm following in his footsteps. 241 00:13:03,516 --> 00:13:05,652 Booth had a multi-step plan in place 242 00:13:05,752 --> 00:13:08,421 to get from Ford's Theatre to freedom. 243 00:13:08,521 --> 00:13:10,824 What we know is his first stop 244 00:13:10,924 --> 00:13:13,626 was 13 miles from the crime scene, 245 00:13:13,727 --> 00:13:16,096 but why there? 246 00:13:16,196 --> 00:13:18,098 Booth's escape route would lead him right here 247 00:13:18,198 --> 00:13:20,233 to a tavern called Surratt House 248 00:13:20,333 --> 00:13:22,836 in what is today Clinton, Maryland. 249 00:13:24,938 --> 00:13:26,873 The Surratt House was a clandestine 250 00:13:26,973 --> 00:13:29,109 Confederate hideaway. 251 00:13:29,209 --> 00:13:30,810 Hey, how you doin'? 252 00:13:30,910 --> 00:13:34,814 Historian Michael Kauffman is a foremost expert on Booth. 253 00:13:37,017 --> 00:13:39,552 The first thing he reveals is that when Booth arrived, 254 00:13:39,652 --> 00:13:41,888 he wasn't alone. 255 00:13:41,988 --> 00:13:43,890 On the way, Booth hooks up 256 00:13:43,990 --> 00:13:46,326 with a guy named David Herold. Okay. 257 00:13:46,426 --> 00:13:49,896 The two had met each other years earlier 258 00:13:49,996 --> 00:13:51,998 through the proprietors of the tavern, 259 00:13:52,098 --> 00:13:54,601 but more importantly, 260 00:13:54,701 --> 00:13:57,937 like Booth, Herold was a known staunch supporter 261 00:13:58,038 --> 00:13:59,906 of the Confederacy. 262 00:14:07,313 --> 00:14:09,916 And from then on, it's Booth and Herold 263 00:14:10,016 --> 00:14:11,918 throughout the escape. 264 00:14:12,018 --> 00:14:15,922 Booth had arranged for some guns to be hidden at this tavern. Okay. 265 00:14:16,022 --> 00:14:18,692 First thing he wanted to do was come out here and get them. 266 00:14:18,792 --> 00:14:20,960 And they stay here how long? 267 00:14:21,061 --> 00:14:23,129 Well, they only stay a few minutes. 268 00:14:23,229 --> 00:14:26,366 Booth stays on his horse outside the door. 269 00:14:26,466 --> 00:14:29,736 David Herold knocks on the door and gets the guns. 270 00:14:29,836 --> 00:14:32,238 He's in a hurry. 271 00:14:32,339 --> 00:14:34,541 He could be pursued by any number of people. 272 00:14:38,211 --> 00:14:40,146 With guns in hand, 273 00:14:40,246 --> 00:14:42,949 the first step of Booth's escape plan was a success. 274 00:14:43,049 --> 00:14:45,552 The next step was to flee South, 275 00:14:45,652 --> 00:14:48,388 but Booth had a problem-- he hadn't expected 276 00:14:48,488 --> 00:14:50,790 traveling with a broken leg. 277 00:14:52,859 --> 00:14:55,428 So instead of heading straight to the Southern border, 278 00:14:55,528 --> 00:14:57,964 Booth needed to find medical attention. 279 00:14:58,064 --> 00:15:01,267 Enter Dr. Samuel Mudd. 280 00:15:01,368 --> 00:15:03,903 While circumstances are unclear, 281 00:15:04,004 --> 00:15:06,539 Booth had previously met the physician. 282 00:15:13,179 --> 00:15:15,148 Booth and Herold rode for four more hours 283 00:15:15,248 --> 00:15:17,350 to reach Mudd's house. 284 00:15:17,450 --> 00:15:19,519 That's Dr. Samuel Mudd's house. 285 00:15:19,619 --> 00:15:22,222 In addition to being a practicing doctor, 286 00:15:22,322 --> 00:15:24,791 Mudd was also a tobacco farmer 287 00:15:24,891 --> 00:15:27,260 and an ardent supporter of slavery. 288 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:30,764 He believed that it was an institution ordained by God, 289 00:15:30,864 --> 00:15:33,566 and his business suffered greatly when the state 290 00:15:33,667 --> 00:15:36,069 of Maryland abolished the practice. 291 00:15:41,241 --> 00:15:43,243 Wow, just as it is. 292 00:15:44,844 --> 00:15:48,248 Dr. Mudd led Booth and Herold into his house. 293 00:15:48,348 --> 00:15:51,451 It's 4 o'clock in the morning 294 00:15:51,551 --> 00:15:53,687 on Saturday, April 15th, 295 00:15:53,787 --> 00:15:56,956 about six hours after President Lincoln was shot. 296 00:15:57,057 --> 00:16:00,460 It's hard to imagine a time before the internet 297 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:03,897 or 24-hour media, but in Lincoln's day, 298 00:16:03,997 --> 00:16:06,166 news only traveled so fast. 299 00:16:06,266 --> 00:16:08,368 The New York Times was only 14 years old. 300 00:16:08,468 --> 00:16:11,371 Outside of D.C., it would take days, 301 00:16:11,471 --> 00:16:14,407 in some cases more than a week, for news to reach 302 00:16:14,507 --> 00:16:16,743 about Abraham Lincoln. 303 00:16:16,843 --> 00:16:19,479 This would be an enormous advantage for Booth. 304 00:16:24,184 --> 00:16:26,152 But the question is, did the doctor know 305 00:16:26,252 --> 00:16:28,321 about the plan to kill Lincoln? 306 00:16:28,421 --> 00:16:30,357 Is Mudd part of this? I mean, this is 307 00:16:30,457 --> 00:16:32,359 the first thing you wonder-- are they talking like 308 00:16:32,459 --> 00:16:35,128 co-conspirators at this point? I don't think there is any 309 00:16:35,228 --> 00:16:38,131 single issue that is more contentious. 310 00:16:38,231 --> 00:16:42,135 He certainly didn't know when Booth showed up here. 311 00:16:42,235 --> 00:16:44,371 Word would not have gotten this far down. 312 00:16:44,471 --> 00:16:46,172 No, word didn't get here in the middle of the night. 313 00:16:46,272 --> 00:16:50,043 I mean, Mudd was probably in bed asleep when it happened in the first place. 314 00:16:55,482 --> 00:16:58,418 How much Mudd may have known is still unclear. 315 00:16:58,518 --> 00:17:01,054 But what we do know is that the doctor treated 316 00:17:01,154 --> 00:17:03,890 the ailing Booth. They came upstairs, 317 00:17:03,990 --> 00:17:06,559 and John Wilkes Booth lay down on a bed, 318 00:17:06,659 --> 00:17:09,129 and then Dr. Mudd makes up a splint 319 00:17:09,229 --> 00:17:12,832 and immobilizes the fracture. Okay. 320 00:17:15,502 --> 00:17:17,470 While Booth was being tended to, 321 00:17:17,570 --> 00:17:19,673 a major new development took place 322 00:17:19,773 --> 00:17:22,042 that changed everything. 323 00:17:22,142 --> 00:17:24,544 At 7:22 a.m. 324 00:17:24,644 --> 00:17:27,647 that same morning, back in the nation's capital, 325 00:17:27,747 --> 00:17:31,818 President Abraham Lincoln was pronounced dead. 326 00:17:41,628 --> 00:17:44,531 Booth was no longer just a wanted fugitive. 327 00:17:44,631 --> 00:17:46,866 He was now an assassin. 328 00:17:49,502 --> 00:17:51,771 With his leg set, Booth was back on the run, 329 00:17:51,871 --> 00:17:54,307 but where was he headed? 330 00:17:54,407 --> 00:17:56,876 That was the question the U.S. cavalry 331 00:17:56,976 --> 00:17:59,913 was trying to answer. 332 00:18:00,013 --> 00:18:02,549 They already interrogated patrons of the Surratt House 333 00:18:02,649 --> 00:18:05,018 and learned that he was there just hours before 334 00:18:05,118 --> 00:18:07,420 on the evening of April 14th. 335 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,690 And through other key witness interviews, 336 00:18:10,790 --> 00:18:14,594 authorities uncovered Booth's fanaticism for the Confederacy. 337 00:18:14,694 --> 00:18:18,365 This gave them a clue as to where he might have gone. 338 00:18:23,069 --> 00:18:25,905 Armed with this information, the cavalry figured 339 00:18:26,006 --> 00:18:28,575 he would head south to the Potomac River, 340 00:18:28,675 --> 00:18:30,610 where he could cross into Virginia, 341 00:18:30,710 --> 00:18:32,879 the home of the Confederacy. 342 00:18:32,979 --> 00:18:35,515 The U.S. Army assumed 343 00:18:35,615 --> 00:18:38,051 Booth and Herold would take one of these regular routes, 344 00:18:38,151 --> 00:18:40,320 and they blocked all of those off. 345 00:18:43,790 --> 00:18:46,893 And they were right. Booth was headed south. 346 00:18:46,993 --> 00:18:49,462 But Booth and Herold were a step ahead. 347 00:18:49,562 --> 00:18:52,098 The two men rode 20 miles 348 00:18:52,198 --> 00:18:54,434 to a thicket near the Potomac River, 349 00:18:54,534 --> 00:18:57,137 where they received assistance from like-minded sympathizers, 350 00:18:57,237 --> 00:19:01,041 part of a vast network called the Confederate Underground. 351 00:19:01,141 --> 00:19:04,811 So he's getting delivered by the Confederate Underground 352 00:19:04,911 --> 00:19:07,981 through different hiding places they've been using for years. 353 00:19:08,081 --> 00:19:09,816 Well, that's right. 354 00:19:09,916 --> 00:19:12,218 The Confederate Underground harbored fugitives, 355 00:19:12,318 --> 00:19:14,921 spied on the Union, and funneled money 356 00:19:15,021 --> 00:19:17,524 into pro-Confederate causes. 357 00:19:17,624 --> 00:19:19,726 They get here about 5 o'clock in the morning 358 00:19:19,826 --> 00:19:22,529 on Easter Sunday, April 16th. 359 00:19:22,629 --> 00:19:25,331 Their plan was to ditch their horses, lay low, 360 00:19:25,432 --> 00:19:28,134 and wait for the Federal troops to pass them by, 361 00:19:28,234 --> 00:19:32,305 and for the next five days, that's exactly what they did. 362 00:19:34,808 --> 00:19:38,111 And sure enough, the cavalry arrived, 363 00:19:38,211 --> 00:19:41,481 but they stayed on the main road and never entered the woods, 364 00:19:41,581 --> 00:19:44,484 not realizing that the assassin they were hunting 365 00:19:44,584 --> 00:19:47,053 was only 200 yards away. 366 00:19:47,153 --> 00:19:49,089 And here they sit, day after day. 367 00:19:49,189 --> 00:19:51,291 They can even hear the cavalry, they can hear the neighing 368 00:19:51,391 --> 00:19:53,727 of the horses, every little snap. Wow. 369 00:19:53,827 --> 00:19:56,496 And they gotta get out. 370 00:19:56,596 --> 00:19:58,832 After laying low for as long as they could, 371 00:19:58,932 --> 00:20:02,569 Booth and Herold decided to go for the final leg of their escape. 372 00:20:02,669 --> 00:20:05,205 Where are we? 373 00:20:05,305 --> 00:20:08,008 Well, we're at a small, unnamed creek 374 00:20:08,108 --> 00:20:11,077 that feeds into the Potomac River. Okay. 375 00:20:11,177 --> 00:20:14,314 And it's about two miles from the pine thicket. 376 00:20:14,414 --> 00:20:18,318 The man who kept Booth and Herold in the thicket, 377 00:20:18,418 --> 00:20:20,520 he owned a little rowboat. 378 00:20:20,620 --> 00:20:23,123 This is right where the boat was hidden. 379 00:20:25,191 --> 00:20:27,127 Booth and Herold's only option 380 00:20:27,227 --> 00:20:29,863 is to cross the powerful currents of the Potomac River. 381 00:20:29,963 --> 00:20:33,800 This is the boundary between freedom and execution. 382 00:20:43,910 --> 00:20:45,812 On April 23rd, 383 00:20:45,912 --> 00:20:48,014 seven days after arriving in the thicket, 384 00:20:48,114 --> 00:20:52,118 Booth and Herold crossed the river to the shores of Virginia. 385 00:20:56,823 --> 00:20:59,392 But by the time they arrived, the news of Lincoln's 386 00:20:59,492 --> 00:21:01,695 assassination had already spread, 387 00:21:01,795 --> 00:21:04,097 and the reaction from the Southerners 388 00:21:04,197 --> 00:21:05,865 wasn't what they'd expected. 389 00:21:10,503 --> 00:21:12,772 Booth assumed he would be greeted as a hero 390 00:21:12,872 --> 00:21:15,008 for murdering Lincoln, but instead, 391 00:21:15,108 --> 00:21:17,410 he was a pariah. 392 00:21:17,510 --> 00:21:19,779 Killing the president in the name of the South 393 00:21:19,879 --> 00:21:23,783 was a reprehensible act and sickened the people of the Confederacy. 394 00:21:26,219 --> 00:21:27,954 Now on their shores, 395 00:21:28,054 --> 00:21:30,990 Booth's presence would only bring trouble. 396 00:21:31,091 --> 00:21:34,127 Everybody he talked to couldn't wait to get rid of him. 397 00:21:34,227 --> 00:21:37,197 They'd unload him on some neighbor somewhere. Yeah. 398 00:21:37,297 --> 00:21:39,299 For the cavalry, the pressure was on 399 00:21:39,399 --> 00:21:42,335 to catch the assassin-- as they raided the area, 400 00:21:42,435 --> 00:21:46,039 Booth tried a different tactic, assuming an alias. 401 00:21:46,139 --> 00:21:49,075 This time, his plea for help worked. 402 00:21:49,175 --> 00:21:52,145 And he ended up here at the home of Richard Garrett. 403 00:21:56,549 --> 00:21:58,852 Garrett was always willing to help someone in need. 404 00:21:58,952 --> 00:22:02,188 He put the men up in his barn. 405 00:22:04,324 --> 00:22:07,160 On the evening of April 26, 1865, 406 00:22:07,260 --> 00:22:09,696 the cavalry arrived at his doorstep. 407 00:22:09,796 --> 00:22:12,732 And they surround the house in the middle of the night. 408 00:22:12,832 --> 00:22:16,036 The Garretts come out and say, "They're over there in the barn." 409 00:22:16,136 --> 00:22:19,439 The cavalry was under strict orders to take 410 00:22:19,539 --> 00:22:22,042 Booth alive so he could be questioned. 411 00:22:22,142 --> 00:22:24,144 Herold surrenders right away. 412 00:22:24,244 --> 00:22:26,413 Booth refuses to come out. 413 00:22:26,513 --> 00:22:29,115 One of the detectives just said, "Enough of this." 414 00:22:29,215 --> 00:22:31,918 And he sets fire to the barn. 415 00:22:32,018 --> 00:22:34,454 The plan was to smoke Booth out. 416 00:22:34,554 --> 00:22:37,524 One of the soldiers saw Booth spin around 417 00:22:37,624 --> 00:22:39,926 like he's going to make for the door, 418 00:22:40,026 --> 00:22:42,128 so he fired at Booth, 419 00:22:42,228 --> 00:22:44,497 and the bullet went right through his neck 420 00:22:44,597 --> 00:22:46,766 and out the other side. 421 00:22:46,866 --> 00:22:49,836 He collapsed, and he suffocated to death. 422 00:22:49,936 --> 00:22:52,272 Believing in his cause until the end, 423 00:22:52,372 --> 00:22:54,874 Booth uttered the words, 424 00:22:54,974 --> 00:22:57,510 "Tell my mother I died for my country." 425 00:23:00,714 --> 00:23:03,550 Twelve days after Lincoln's assassination, 426 00:23:03,650 --> 00:23:05,985 John Wilkes Booth lay dead. 427 00:23:07,887 --> 00:23:10,156 The story might have ended there, 428 00:23:10,256 --> 00:23:12,759 but in reality, it was just the beginning. 429 00:23:12,859 --> 00:23:14,961 Secretary Stanton had caught his man 430 00:23:15,061 --> 00:23:17,864 and avenged Lincoln's death just 12 days after 431 00:23:17,964 --> 00:23:20,567 that fateful night at Ford's Theatre. 432 00:23:20,667 --> 00:23:23,303 But with Booth dead, was the United States 433 00:23:23,403 --> 00:23:25,605 still in danger? 434 00:23:25,705 --> 00:23:27,774 Was Booth a lone wolf? 435 00:23:27,874 --> 00:23:31,044 Or was there a deeper conspiracy behind Lincoln's killing? 436 00:23:35,715 --> 00:23:38,785 On April 14, 1865, 437 00:23:38,885 --> 00:23:41,554 Abraham Lincoln was the first U.S. president 438 00:23:41,654 --> 00:23:43,656 to be assassinated. 439 00:23:43,757 --> 00:23:46,860 Twelve days later, his assassin, John Wilkes Booth, 440 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,562 was shot dead in nearby Virginia, 441 00:23:49,662 --> 00:23:52,966 but was Booth a lone wolf, or was there a deeper 442 00:23:53,066 --> 00:23:56,202 conspiracy behind the killing of President Lincoln? 443 00:24:01,574 --> 00:24:04,244 To fully understand the assassination of one of 444 00:24:04,344 --> 00:24:06,513 America's most cherished presidents, 445 00:24:06,613 --> 00:24:09,149 you have to account for the circumstances preceding it. 446 00:24:09,249 --> 00:24:13,119 So let's rewind to one year before Lincoln was killed. 447 00:24:13,219 --> 00:24:15,822 In the summer of 1864, 448 00:24:15,922 --> 00:24:18,958 even Abraham Lincoln thought his reelection was unlikely. 449 00:24:19,059 --> 00:24:21,394 The Civil War was raging on, 450 00:24:21,494 --> 00:24:24,798 a body count now soaring into the hundreds of thousands. 451 00:24:24,898 --> 00:24:28,134 The North was losing their faith in him, 452 00:24:28,234 --> 00:24:30,470 and the South's contempt for the president 453 00:24:30,570 --> 00:24:32,505 was unbridled, 454 00:24:32,605 --> 00:24:34,507 but on September 2nd, 455 00:24:34,607 --> 00:24:36,643 the tide seemed to shift overnight. 456 00:24:36,743 --> 00:24:40,213 General Sherman and the Union forces took Atlanta. 457 00:24:40,313 --> 00:24:44,117 His telegram to Lincoln-- "Atlanta is ours, fairly won." 458 00:24:49,589 --> 00:24:52,158 This win helped prove to the American people 459 00:24:52,258 --> 00:24:55,061 that Lincoln could finally end the war. 460 00:24:55,161 --> 00:24:57,664 Propelled by this victory, Lincoln was reelected 461 00:24:57,764 --> 00:25:00,000 on November 8th with a promise 462 00:25:00,100 --> 00:25:03,003 to end the bloodshed and reunite the country, 463 00:25:03,103 --> 00:25:07,040 none of which sat well with John Wilkes Booth. 464 00:25:09,042 --> 00:25:10,944 But here's the big question-- 465 00:25:11,044 --> 00:25:13,313 how and where did Booth conceive his plan? 466 00:25:13,413 --> 00:25:16,116 Had he always intended to kill the president? 467 00:25:16,216 --> 00:25:17,784 You must be Kate. Yes. 468 00:25:17,884 --> 00:25:19,719 And did he act alone? 469 00:25:19,819 --> 00:25:23,089 One person as the answers-- historian Kate Larson. 470 00:25:23,189 --> 00:25:26,960 What is now a Chinese restaurant 471 00:25:27,060 --> 00:25:30,563 was once a secret meeting spot for Confederate rebels and spies. 472 00:25:30,663 --> 00:25:33,867 This is Mary Surratt's boarding house. 473 00:25:33,967 --> 00:25:35,568 That's right--it was her boarding house. 474 00:25:37,904 --> 00:25:40,373 Surratt was a well-known area proprietor. 475 00:25:40,473 --> 00:25:43,877 You might remember her name as the owner of the tavern 476 00:25:43,977 --> 00:25:45,979 in Maryland where Booth stopped 477 00:25:46,079 --> 00:25:48,648 after he fled Ford's Theatre. 478 00:25:48,748 --> 00:25:51,451 Both of her establishments were considered safe havens 479 00:25:51,551 --> 00:25:54,120 for supporters of the South. 480 00:25:54,220 --> 00:25:56,423 John Wilkes Booth had become very close friends 481 00:25:56,523 --> 00:25:58,858 with Mary Surratt's son, John Surratt. 482 00:26:00,994 --> 00:26:03,229 He sought John's friendship 483 00:26:03,329 --> 00:26:05,765 precisely because John Surratt and his family were 484 00:26:05,865 --> 00:26:07,901 Confederate sympathizers. Oh, okay. 485 00:26:08,001 --> 00:26:10,303 John Wilkes Booth became much more passionate 486 00:26:10,403 --> 00:26:14,074 about the system of slavery and the social structure 487 00:26:14,174 --> 00:26:17,077 that went along with it. He really found that 488 00:26:17,177 --> 00:26:19,179 it was a system that should be preserved. 489 00:26:24,184 --> 00:26:27,587 Booth organized this co-conspirator crowd. 490 00:26:27,687 --> 00:26:30,423 The core members of Booth's group 491 00:26:30,523 --> 00:26:32,425 were Mary Surratt, 492 00:26:32,525 --> 00:26:34,794 George Atzerodt, 493 00:26:34,894 --> 00:26:38,398 and Lewis Paine, also known as Powell, 494 00:26:38,498 --> 00:26:41,001 a former Confederate soldier. 495 00:26:41,101 --> 00:26:43,870 It was pretty clear that the Union was going to win the war. 496 00:26:43,970 --> 00:26:47,207 But that didn't stop the group from trying to devise a plan 497 00:26:47,307 --> 00:26:50,643 to help tip the war back into the South's favor. 498 00:26:50,744 --> 00:26:53,480 There were a lot of Confederates in prisons, 499 00:26:53,580 --> 00:26:56,783 and Booth felt that if he could just liberate those prisoners, 500 00:26:56,883 --> 00:26:59,819 they would be rallied together to fight back Mmm. 501 00:26:59,919 --> 00:27:01,588 and win the war. 502 00:27:05,325 --> 00:27:07,827 The original plan was not to kill Lincoln 503 00:27:07,927 --> 00:27:10,130 but was equally complicated. 504 00:27:10,230 --> 00:27:13,299 John Wilkes Booth decided that he would kidnap 505 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:17,070 Abraham Lincoln and carry him through southern Maryland, 506 00:27:17,170 --> 00:27:20,340 which was a friendly location, and bring him across 507 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:23,076 the Potomac River into Virginia and ransom him 508 00:27:23,176 --> 00:27:26,713 for the liberation of Confederate prisoners. 509 00:27:26,813 --> 00:27:30,717 And two weeks after Lincoln's second inauguration, 510 00:27:30,817 --> 00:27:34,287 the group of conspirators got their opportunity. 511 00:27:34,387 --> 00:27:37,724 John Wilkes Booth hears that President Lincoln is going 512 00:27:37,824 --> 00:27:40,794 to the soldiers' home on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., 513 00:27:40,894 --> 00:27:43,730 so he plans to have the conspirators located 514 00:27:43,830 --> 00:27:46,533 along the road capture and kidnap Lincoln 515 00:27:46,633 --> 00:27:49,803 on his return, but what Booth did not know 516 00:27:49,903 --> 00:27:52,639 was that Lincoln decided to cancel the trip. 517 00:27:52,739 --> 00:27:56,309 So this whole conspiracy just collapses. It fell apart, 518 00:27:56,409 --> 00:27:59,612 and it drives Booth even further over the edge. Right. 519 00:28:03,316 --> 00:28:06,286 Within a month of Lincoln's second term inauguration, 520 00:28:06,386 --> 00:28:09,456 the city of Richmond, Virginia, fell to the Union. 521 00:28:09,556 --> 00:28:12,726 On April 9th, General Robert E. Lee 522 00:28:12,826 --> 00:28:15,128 surrendered at the Appomattox Courthouse, 523 00:28:15,228 --> 00:28:17,597 bringing an end to the Civil War, 524 00:28:17,697 --> 00:28:19,833 solidifying a victory for the Union, 525 00:28:19,933 --> 00:28:22,035 and putting a final nail in the coffin 526 00:28:22,135 --> 00:28:24,170 of the South's secession. 527 00:28:29,809 --> 00:28:31,711 But Booth wasn't done. 528 00:28:31,811 --> 00:28:35,048 In fact, his ambitions only grew. 529 00:28:35,148 --> 00:28:37,517 Further enraged by the South's surrender, 530 00:28:37,617 --> 00:28:39,519 Booth met with his co-conspirators 531 00:28:39,619 --> 00:28:42,355 and outlined a new plan that, if successful, 532 00:28:42,455 --> 00:28:44,924 would topple the U.S. Government. 533 00:28:48,428 --> 00:28:51,364 George Atzerodt would murder Vice President Andrew Johnson. 534 00:28:53,533 --> 00:28:55,769 Secretary of State William Henry Seward 535 00:28:55,869 --> 00:28:58,405 would be executed by Lewis Paine. 536 00:28:58,505 --> 00:29:02,008 And Booth would assassinate President Lincoln. 537 00:29:05,779 --> 00:29:08,214 On the night of April 14th, 538 00:29:08,314 --> 00:29:10,984 this second plot was put into action. 539 00:29:12,719 --> 00:29:14,954 The results would alter history forever. 540 00:29:21,094 --> 00:29:23,863 John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators 541 00:29:23,963 --> 00:29:26,633 wanted to bring down the United States government. 542 00:29:26,733 --> 00:29:29,703 To make it happen, they intended to murder 543 00:29:29,803 --> 00:29:32,205 Vice President Andrew Johnson, 544 00:29:32,305 --> 00:29:34,841 William Henry Seward, Lincoln's Secretary of State, 545 00:29:34,941 --> 00:29:37,477 and President Lincoln. 546 00:29:42,782 --> 00:29:45,218 On April 14, 1865, 547 00:29:45,318 --> 00:29:47,587 they executed their plan. 548 00:29:51,491 --> 00:29:53,793 While Booth is successful, Atzerodt backs out 549 00:29:53,893 --> 00:29:55,962 of killing Vice President Johnson, 550 00:29:56,062 --> 00:29:59,065 and Seward survives a brutal knife attack by Paine. 551 00:30:06,306 --> 00:30:08,208 Their attempt to topple the American Government 552 00:30:08,308 --> 00:30:10,510 that fateful night failed. 553 00:30:10,610 --> 00:30:13,980 After Booth's death, more information emerged, 554 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:16,716 and details of the plots came to light. 555 00:30:16,816 --> 00:30:19,386 Eight people were brought to trial for treason, 556 00:30:19,486 --> 00:30:21,521 including Dr. Samuel Mudd, 557 00:30:21,621 --> 00:30:23,623 Mary Surratt, 558 00:30:23,723 --> 00:30:26,159 and David Herold. 559 00:30:26,259 --> 00:30:28,595 This is rarely seen, but this is 560 00:30:28,695 --> 00:30:30,864 the courtroom where the trial took place. 561 00:30:30,964 --> 00:30:34,267 In an unusual move, the Attorney General stated 562 00:30:34,367 --> 00:30:37,370 that the assassination of Lincoln was an act of war, 563 00:30:37,470 --> 00:30:41,174 so the civilian conspirators would have a military trial. 564 00:30:41,274 --> 00:30:44,110 The assassination happens on April 14th. 565 00:30:44,210 --> 00:30:46,713 When does the trial begin? Uh, May 10th. 566 00:30:46,813 --> 00:30:48,648 The trial ends June 29th. 567 00:30:48,748 --> 00:30:51,017 The testimony presented was powerful. 568 00:30:51,117 --> 00:30:54,688 Atzerodt and Paine both confessed to parts of the assassination plan. 569 00:30:54,788 --> 00:30:58,224 Their statements combined with other witness accounts 570 00:30:58,324 --> 00:30:59,826 were damning. 571 00:30:59,926 --> 00:31:02,696 They determined by vote that all of them are guilty. 572 00:31:02,796 --> 00:31:05,699 Four of them will go to prison, 573 00:31:05,799 --> 00:31:08,201 and four of them will hang. 574 00:31:15,342 --> 00:31:17,977 On July 7th at 1:22 in the afternoon, 575 00:31:18,078 --> 00:31:21,481 they hang the four conspirators in this yard. Wow. 576 00:31:21,581 --> 00:31:24,551 Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed 577 00:31:24,651 --> 00:31:27,153 by the Federal government, along with Lewis Paine, 578 00:31:27,253 --> 00:31:29,556 George Atzerodt, and David Herold, 579 00:31:29,656 --> 00:31:32,625 all paid for their crime with their lives. 580 00:31:32,726 --> 00:31:35,995 The trial of Booth's conspirators concluded 581 00:31:36,096 --> 00:31:38,932 down here on what is today a set of tennis courts, 582 00:31:39,032 --> 00:31:41,968 where the gallows stood, and they were hung on this spot. 583 00:31:44,371 --> 00:31:47,007 Everyone from the group was now dead... 584 00:31:47,107 --> 00:31:49,976 ...or were they? 585 00:31:50,076 --> 00:31:53,146 Is it possible that the man killed by a single bullet 586 00:31:53,246 --> 00:31:56,649 that night at Garrett Farm wasn't John Wilkes Booth? 587 00:32:06,092 --> 00:32:08,294 Hey, Nate. How you doin'? Hi, Don. Nice to see you. 588 00:32:08,395 --> 00:32:09,629 Thanks for meeting me. 589 00:32:09,729 --> 00:32:11,931 I'm meeting historian, Nate Orlowek, 590 00:32:12,032 --> 00:32:15,568 who believes that Booth's story has a very different ending 591 00:32:15,669 --> 00:32:17,771 than the one in the history books. 592 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:23,343 So the alternative theory about this world-famous 593 00:32:23,443 --> 00:32:25,011 incident is what? 594 00:32:25,111 --> 00:32:28,415 That John Wilkes Booth was not the man killed in Garrett's barn. 595 00:32:28,515 --> 00:32:31,851 That he escaped, 596 00:32:31,951 --> 00:32:34,788 and that he lived for another 38 years 597 00:32:34,888 --> 00:32:38,792 under many different aliases in many different places 598 00:32:38,892 --> 00:32:42,796 and died on January 13, 1903, in Enid, Oklahoma Territory. 599 00:32:42,896 --> 00:32:44,964 No kidding. 600 00:32:45,065 --> 00:32:47,667 And this just blows everything out of the water. 601 00:32:47,767 --> 00:32:51,004 According to Orlowek, this theory has been around 602 00:32:51,104 --> 00:32:54,307 since the 1870s and was first brought to light 603 00:32:54,407 --> 00:32:56,776 by a man named Finis Bates, 604 00:32:56,876 --> 00:32:59,379 who wrote a book about his experience. 605 00:32:59,479 --> 00:33:03,316 Finis Bates was a young attorney in the small town 606 00:33:03,416 --> 00:33:05,919 of Granbury, Texas, in the 1870s, 607 00:33:06,019 --> 00:33:08,521 and he was friendly with a man 608 00:33:08,621 --> 00:33:10,657 who called himself John St. Helen. 609 00:33:14,627 --> 00:33:16,930 And John St. Helen... 610 00:33:17,030 --> 00:33:19,399 got very ill one night 611 00:33:19,499 --> 00:33:21,668 and thought he was about to die, 612 00:33:21,768 --> 00:33:24,337 and he called Bates to his bedside, 613 00:33:24,437 --> 00:33:26,740 he said, "I want to tell you who I really am. 614 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:29,976 Huh. I'm really John Wilkes Booth." 615 00:33:33,079 --> 00:33:36,349 It turns out that St. Helen recuperated, recovered, 616 00:33:36,449 --> 00:33:38,685 and a couple weeks later, he went to Bates, 617 00:33:38,785 --> 00:33:40,720 and he said, "I want to tell you the full story." 618 00:33:43,523 --> 00:33:46,192 He gave him a detailed account of what happened 619 00:33:46,292 --> 00:33:49,796 leading up to the assassination of President Lincoln. Fascinating. 620 00:33:49,896 --> 00:33:52,399 One of the things he told him about was that the original plan 621 00:33:52,499 --> 00:33:54,768 was to kidnap President Lincoln. 622 00:33:54,868 --> 00:33:57,704 Now, this was not known till 1935 623 00:33:57,804 --> 00:34:00,306 when the United States Government finally released 624 00:34:00,407 --> 00:34:02,742 the documents that they had. 625 00:34:02,842 --> 00:34:05,211 The knowledge of classified information about 626 00:34:05,311 --> 00:34:07,547 the proposed kidnapping of Lincoln 627 00:34:07,647 --> 00:34:09,549 was not the only bombshell-- 628 00:34:09,649 --> 00:34:13,586 St. Helen revealed a darker plot than anyone could've imagined. 629 00:34:13,687 --> 00:34:16,289 He told Bates that the man who was really behind 630 00:34:16,389 --> 00:34:19,526 the conspiracy was Vice President Andrew Johnson. 631 00:34:19,626 --> 00:34:20,927 Wow. 632 00:34:21,027 --> 00:34:24,030 Could Vice President Andrew Johnson really 633 00:34:24,130 --> 00:34:27,934 be the architect of the greatest conspiracy in United States history, 634 00:34:28,034 --> 00:34:31,404 and why would he want President Lincoln dead? 635 00:34:34,941 --> 00:34:38,545 Historian, Nate Orlowek, and I are exploring a theory 636 00:34:38,645 --> 00:34:41,448 that Vice President Andrew Johnson was 637 00:34:41,548 --> 00:34:44,984 the mastermind behind the assassination of President Lincoln. 638 00:34:47,787 --> 00:34:50,156 The fact that Johnson was the only one not harmed 639 00:34:50,256 --> 00:34:53,159 in Booth's plan adds credence to the theory. 640 00:34:53,259 --> 00:34:55,662 Lincoln never liked him-- Andrew Johnson showed up 641 00:34:55,762 --> 00:34:57,864 drunk at his own inaugural. Mmhm. 642 00:34:57,964 --> 00:35:00,767 President Lincoln did not allow him to go to cabinet meetings. 643 00:35:00,867 --> 00:35:03,970 The two men disagreed on how to handle the South. 644 00:35:04,070 --> 00:35:07,073 Johnson didn't like that Lincoln wanted to heal 645 00:35:07,173 --> 00:35:09,709 the wounds by simply allowing the Confederacy 646 00:35:09,809 --> 00:35:11,678 back into the Union. 647 00:35:11,778 --> 00:35:13,847 He wanted punitive reconstruction, 648 00:35:13,947 --> 00:35:16,282 and according to Bates, Booth said Johnson 649 00:35:16,383 --> 00:35:18,818 would stop at nothing to obtain it. 650 00:35:18,918 --> 00:35:21,254 Booth told Bates 651 00:35:21,354 --> 00:35:23,556 Johnson said to him, 652 00:35:23,656 --> 00:35:26,059 "You now have to shoot the president." 653 00:35:31,931 --> 00:35:34,734 So this is all very convincing, Nate, but there's also 654 00:35:34,834 --> 00:35:37,537 a lot of convincing evidence on the opposite side. 655 00:35:37,637 --> 00:35:40,106 Okay? I mean, there were pictures taken, 656 00:35:40,206 --> 00:35:42,175 there was an autopsy done. 657 00:35:42,275 --> 00:35:44,644 According to Alexander Gardner, a very famous photographer, 658 00:35:44,744 --> 00:35:47,280 he took one picture-- this is in the document 659 00:35:47,380 --> 00:35:49,416 in the National Archives-- he took one picture 660 00:35:49,516 --> 00:35:51,651 and handed it in to be developed, 661 00:35:51,751 --> 00:35:54,254 and it never saw the light of day. Really? 662 00:35:54,354 --> 00:35:56,923 But what about the autopsy report that is also 663 00:35:57,023 --> 00:35:58,992 in the National Archives? 664 00:35:59,092 --> 00:36:02,262 A doctor who knew Booth performed the post mortem. 665 00:36:02,362 --> 00:36:04,864 The very first sentence he said, 666 00:36:04,964 --> 00:36:07,667 "There is no resemblance of this body to that of 667 00:36:07,767 --> 00:36:10,270 John Wilkes Booth, and I do not believe it to be he." 668 00:36:10,370 --> 00:36:14,207 He goes on to say that the body had a broken right leg. Okay. 669 00:36:14,307 --> 00:36:17,477 We know today, by all accounts, that Booth broke his left leg. 670 00:36:20,780 --> 00:36:22,849 But the story doesn't end there. 671 00:36:22,949 --> 00:36:26,119 When John St. Helen passed away, Bates was notified. 672 00:36:26,219 --> 00:36:28,855 So Bates came from Memphis and identified him, 673 00:36:28,955 --> 00:36:32,592 and because he wanted to some day be able to prove 674 00:36:32,692 --> 00:36:36,629 that this was John Wilkes Booth, he mummified the body. I see. 675 00:36:39,132 --> 00:36:43,036 In 1931, six physicians examine the mummy. 676 00:36:43,136 --> 00:36:47,040 I interviewed one of the doctors. 677 00:36:47,140 --> 00:36:49,576 This is a sworn statement. 678 00:36:53,613 --> 00:36:55,582 Upon their examination, the doctors outlined 679 00:36:55,682 --> 00:36:58,184 some very specific characteristics. 680 00:37:00,820 --> 00:37:02,922 A scar on the right eyebrow. 681 00:37:05,025 --> 00:37:07,127 A deformed right thumb. 682 00:37:07,227 --> 00:37:10,330 And damage to the left ankle. 683 00:37:10,430 --> 00:37:13,033 There was seen to be an apparent slight thickening 684 00:37:13,133 --> 00:37:14,934 over the outside of the left ankle. 685 00:37:15,035 --> 00:37:16,670 Which would've been the broken leg. Exactly. 686 00:37:16,770 --> 00:37:18,038 Huh. Exactly. 687 00:37:18,138 --> 00:37:20,607 John Wilkes Booth today we know had all three of those marks, 688 00:37:20,707 --> 00:37:24,077 and all three of those marks are on the man 689 00:37:24,177 --> 00:37:25,979 who said he was John St. Helen. 690 00:37:29,315 --> 00:37:31,484 There's an easy way to figure this out now. 691 00:37:31,584 --> 00:37:33,286 There's modern technology. 692 00:37:33,386 --> 00:37:35,689 You can exhume the body, which is in Baltimore, 693 00:37:35,789 --> 00:37:37,857 and test the DNA. 694 00:37:37,957 --> 00:37:40,060 Well, back in the '90s, 695 00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:43,730 the Booth family became convinced that we were probably right. 696 00:37:43,830 --> 00:37:47,767 They partnered with us to try to do medical tests 697 00:37:47,867 --> 00:37:50,870 to prove or to disprove whatever the truth is, 698 00:37:50,970 --> 00:37:54,007 and it was all set to be done. 699 00:37:54,107 --> 00:37:56,409 The president of the cemetery board blocked 700 00:37:56,509 --> 00:37:59,079 the exhumation, stating that only the person 701 00:37:59,179 --> 00:38:02,048 who bought the plot could authorization such an action. 702 00:38:02,148 --> 00:38:05,518 That person was John Wilkes Booth's mother. 703 00:38:05,618 --> 00:38:08,221 She passed away in 1885. 704 00:38:08,321 --> 00:38:10,890 A court upheld the decision. 705 00:38:14,594 --> 00:38:17,163 The Booth family has offered DNA tests. 706 00:38:17,263 --> 00:38:19,432 They were hoping to compare Booth's DNA 707 00:38:19,532 --> 00:38:21,534 to his brother, Edwin's. 708 00:38:21,634 --> 00:38:24,137 But the authorities responsible for protecting this critical 709 00:38:24,237 --> 00:38:26,506 piece of American history won't allow the body 710 00:38:26,606 --> 00:38:29,142 to be exhumed-- any tampering, they say, 711 00:38:29,242 --> 00:38:31,644 could destroy Booth's remains. 712 00:38:31,745 --> 00:38:34,414 Without more substantial claims, 713 00:38:34,514 --> 00:38:37,484 there's great reluctance to disrupt the grave 714 00:38:37,584 --> 00:38:40,220 of one of the nation's most notorious killers. 715 00:38:44,858 --> 00:38:47,427 One of the major contributing factors to Lincoln's death 716 00:38:47,527 --> 00:38:50,397 was Booth's easy access to the president. 717 00:38:50,497 --> 00:38:53,133 How has this changed today? 718 00:38:53,233 --> 00:38:56,369 And would Lincoln have survived 719 00:38:56,469 --> 00:38:58,772 if different security measures were in place? 720 00:38:58,872 --> 00:39:00,106 Down! Police, get back! 721 00:39:00,206 --> 00:39:01,875 Get back! 722 00:39:06,780 --> 00:39:09,382 In today's security climate, it seems ridiculous 723 00:39:09,482 --> 00:39:12,152 to even imagine kidnapping a U.S. president, 724 00:39:12,252 --> 00:39:15,088 but in Lincoln's day, it was actually quite feasible. 725 00:39:15,188 --> 00:39:18,124 Lincoln was often unattended with little or no security 726 00:39:18,224 --> 00:39:21,327 and came and went as he pleased without fanfare. 727 00:39:21,428 --> 00:39:23,730 This, of course, would never happen today, 728 00:39:23,830 --> 00:39:25,799 which begs the question, 729 00:39:25,899 --> 00:39:28,735 where was the Secret Service when Abraham Lincoln was shot? 730 00:39:28,835 --> 00:39:32,672 In an ironic twist of fate, the Secret Service 731 00:39:32,772 --> 00:39:36,843 was not formed until 1865, the year of Lincoln's death. 732 00:39:36,943 --> 00:39:40,780 Orders to approve this new agency were awaiting signature 733 00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:43,817 on his desk when he was assassinated. 734 00:39:43,917 --> 00:39:47,020 Still, the Secret Service would not have protected Lincoln 735 00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:49,022 from John Wilkes Booth. 736 00:39:49,122 --> 00:39:51,725 The organization as originally founded as an investigative 737 00:39:51,825 --> 00:39:53,927 unit to combat counterfeiting. 738 00:39:54,027 --> 00:39:56,830 They didn't start protecting presidents until 1901, 739 00:39:56,930 --> 00:40:00,166 after the assassination of President William McKinley. 740 00:40:02,936 --> 00:40:05,705 We secured rare access to this training center 741 00:40:05,805 --> 00:40:08,141 not far from the nation's capital. 742 00:40:08,241 --> 00:40:09,542 Hello! How are you? 743 00:40:09,642 --> 00:40:12,479 My name's Bill Gleddy. Welcome to the Raleigh Training Center. 744 00:40:12,579 --> 00:40:16,116 Recruits spend 18 weeks here, learning and sharpening their skills. 745 00:40:16,216 --> 00:40:20,053 The maximum age to join is 37 years old. 746 00:40:20,153 --> 00:40:22,355 What's the criteria that you're looking for 747 00:40:22,455 --> 00:40:24,257 as far as these recruits go? 748 00:40:24,357 --> 00:40:26,292 Out of a point score of 100, they need to get 749 00:40:26,393 --> 00:40:28,294 at least 80 percent on the pass rates. 750 00:40:28,395 --> 00:40:30,597 That's hard to do. Yes, that is a very high standard. 751 00:40:30,697 --> 00:40:33,033 Down! Police! 752 00:40:33,133 --> 00:40:35,135 The training here is highly specialized. 753 00:40:35,235 --> 00:40:38,238 It's as much about mental acuity as it is prowess. 754 00:40:38,338 --> 00:40:41,841 Press the trigger. 755 00:40:41,941 --> 00:40:43,343 Fire again. 756 00:40:43,443 --> 00:40:45,645 While the presence of the Secret Service does not 757 00:40:45,745 --> 00:40:48,715 prevent assassination attempts on our leaders' lives, 758 00:40:48,815 --> 00:40:50,717 they have saved several. 759 00:40:50,817 --> 00:40:53,720 Since the agency started actively protecting presidents, 760 00:40:53,820 --> 00:40:56,823 13 have survived assassination attempts, 761 00:40:56,923 --> 00:40:59,626 and one, John F. Kennedy, died. 762 00:40:59,726 --> 00:41:03,863 Once can only imagine that if Lincoln had been surrounded 763 00:41:03,963 --> 00:41:06,433 by men and women who were this well trained, 764 00:41:06,533 --> 00:41:09,736 perhaps Booth may never have gained access to the president. 765 00:41:16,376 --> 00:41:18,712 Abraham Lincoln's life came to a tragic end 766 00:41:18,812 --> 00:41:21,614 that night at the Ford's Theatre. 767 00:41:21,715 --> 00:41:25,552 Lincoln was only 56 years old when he was murdered 768 00:41:25,652 --> 00:41:28,421 for his ideology, but his short life 769 00:41:28,521 --> 00:41:31,124 left an indelible mark on the United States. 770 00:41:37,430 --> 00:41:39,366 It is because of his strong leadership 771 00:41:39,466 --> 00:41:42,469 and violent death he has been forever immortalized, 772 00:41:42,569 --> 00:41:46,272 but even more than 150 years since his murder, 773 00:41:46,373 --> 00:41:49,542 President Abraham Lincoln's words and principles 774 00:41:49,642 --> 00:41:52,746 still guide this country, providing inspiration 775 00:41:52,846 --> 00:41:54,881 and solace. 775 00:41:55,305 --> 00:42:55,492 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm