John Wilkes Booth established a successful acting career before becoming an assassin. A member of a prominent theatrical family, he appeared in touring companies and major American theatres during the late 1850s and early 1860s. His physical energy and dramatic roles won attention, though his brother Edwin achieved the more lasting theatrical reputation. Booth's access to Washington's theatre community later aided his preparations for violence. His public career coincided with the sectional crisis, and he identified strongly with the Confederacy and white supremacy.

During the Civil War he engaged in schemes directed against President Abraham Lincoln. By 1864 he and associates were planning to kidnap Lincoln, hoping to exchange him for Confederate prisoners. Attempts to put the plan into operation failed. The collapse of Confederate military resistance in April 1865 did not reconcile Booth to Union victory. Lincoln's public support for limited Black suffrage intensified his hostility. He moved from abduction to assassination, organizing simultaneous attacks intended to strike the national leadership as war ended.

On 14 April 1865 Booth entered the presidential box at Ford's Theatre while Lincoln watched Our American Cousin. He shot Lincoln at close range, wounded Major Henry Rathbone with a knife and escaped by crossing the stage and leaving through the rear of the building. Lincoln died the next morning. Lewis Powell attacked Secretary of State William Seward, who survived; the assigned attack on Vice President Andrew Johnson was not carried out. Booth injured his leg during the escape, although the exact moment has been disputed. Familiar accounts of his shouted words and movements should be read with attention to conflicting witness recollections.

Booth fled with David Herold through Maryland into Virginia, aided along the route by people whose knowledge and involvement varied. Samuel Mudd treated his leg, and the fugitives later crossed the Potomac. Federal troops found them at the Garrett farm near Port Royal on 26 April. Herold surrendered, while Booth remained in a tobacco barn. After the barn was set on fire, a soldier shot him, and he died shortly afterward. A military commission tried surviving conspirators, executing four and imprisoning others. The assassination profoundly altered the politics of Reconstruction and made Booth's theatrical accomplishments secondary to his role in political murder. Later stories that he survived are unsupported.