1 00:00:01,917 --> 00:00:03,875 [dramatic music] 2 00:00:04,625 --> 00:00:07,167 - [Laurence] Tonight, the conspiracy that led 3 00:00:07,167 --> 00:00:10,708 to the first assassination of an American president. 4 00:00:10,708 --> 00:00:13,208 - [Sami] A single gunshot rings out through the theater, 5 00:00:13,208 --> 00:00:15,708 [gunshot pops] followed by screaming. 6 00:00:15,708 --> 00:00:19,292 - [Michael] A man in black lands on the stage and before they 7 00:00:19,292 --> 00:00:22,375 know it, he's ridden off into the night. 8 00:00:22,375 --> 00:00:23,792 - [Barton] By the next morning, 9 00:00:23,792 --> 00:00:25,125 John Wilkes Booth is a wanted man. 10 00:00:25,125 --> 00:00:27,875 He's a national fugitive, 11 00:00:27,875 --> 00:00:28,917 - [Laurence] But it's soon apparent 12 00:00:28,917 --> 00:00:30,500 that this assassination is more 13 00:00:30,500 --> 00:00:33,000 than just the act of a lone gunman. 14 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:36,125 - [Sami] There are some basic facts that are absolutely known. 15 00:00:36,125 --> 00:00:38,375 Booth was the gunman that killed Lincoln. 16 00:00:38,375 --> 00:00:40,625 There was also a conspirator who attempted 17 00:00:40,625 --> 00:00:43,875 to kill the Secretary of State William Seward. 18 00:00:43,875 --> 00:00:46,500 - [Vaughn] And this starts not only the largest manhunt in 19 00:00:46,500 --> 00:00:48,208 American history, but it also sparks off one 20 00:00:48,208 --> 00:00:50,417 of the largest conspiracies. 21 00:00:50,417 --> 00:00:54,083 - Now we explore the top theories surrounding the plot 22 00:00:54,083 --> 00:00:56,583 to kill Abraham Lincoln. 23 00:00:56,583 --> 00:00:58,375 - [Barton] Now many people believe that someone more 24 00:00:58,375 --> 00:01:00,708 powerful than Booth was giving the orders. 25 00:01:00,708 --> 00:01:03,125 - [Christy] She believed that Johnson was in on it 26 00:01:03,125 --> 00:01:06,625 because he had the most to gain by her husband's death. 27 00:01:06,625 --> 00:01:09,250 - [Vaughn] They saw Lincoln as enemy number one. 28 00:01:09,250 --> 00:01:11,000 - Was there a mastermind 29 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,833 or secret organization behind the plan 30 00:01:13,833 --> 00:01:15,667 to kill Abraham Lincoln? 31 00:01:15,667 --> 00:01:17,458 And if so, who was it? 32 00:01:17,458 --> 00:01:20,292 [dramatic music] 33 00:01:32,875 --> 00:01:35,375 - [Laurence] It's a pleasant 70 degree spring day in 34 00:01:35,375 --> 00:01:36,667 the nation's capitol. 35 00:01:36,667 --> 00:01:39,792 Good Friday, the start of Easter weekend. 36 00:01:41,208 --> 00:01:45,708 - Good Friday, Washington DC is a jubilant place. 37 00:01:47,125 --> 00:01:50,125 First, they get news that Richmond, the capital 38 00:01:50,125 --> 00:01:54,042 of the Confederacy has fallen to US troops. 39 00:01:54,042 --> 00:01:57,875 Then as Lee makes his way south, 40 00:01:57,875 --> 00:02:02,167 he surrenders to Grant at Appomattox on April 9th. 41 00:02:03,542 --> 00:02:07,375 - Even though the war isn't technically, completely over, 42 00:02:07,375 --> 00:02:10,167 everybody knows it's just a matter of time now. 43 00:02:10,167 --> 00:02:13,208 The Confederacy is defeated. 44 00:02:14,042 --> 00:02:15,375 There's peace ahead. 45 00:02:18,083 --> 00:02:20,458 - [Sami] On April 14th, 1865, it's said 46 00:02:20,458 --> 00:02:23,333 that Lincoln awakens in probably one 47 00:02:23,333 --> 00:02:26,250 of the best moods he's ever been in. 48 00:02:26,250 --> 00:02:28,167 That evening, he's going to be going 49 00:02:28,167 --> 00:02:30,375 to a play at Ford's Theater in 50 00:02:30,375 --> 00:02:33,042 Washington DC called "Our American Cousin". 51 00:02:33,042 --> 00:02:35,208 - There's just a moment of national release 52 00:02:35,208 --> 00:02:38,333 that's playing out in microcosm in the theater there. 53 00:02:38,333 --> 00:02:41,375 This is Lincoln's highest moment in some ways in terms 54 00:02:41,375 --> 00:02:46,375 of joy of celebration, it sort of peaks. 55 00:02:46,375 --> 00:02:48,333 - [Laurence] But the spirit of celebration 56 00:02:48,333 --> 00:02:49,667 will be short lived. 57 00:02:51,500 --> 00:02:53,958 - [Marvin] Around 10:00 PM an audience member looks up 58 00:02:53,958 --> 00:02:57,708 at the president's box and notices a man with dark hair 59 00:02:57,708 --> 00:03:00,917 and a nicely groomed mustache making his way 60 00:03:00,917 --> 00:03:03,583 towards the president's box. 61 00:03:03,583 --> 00:03:07,708 - [Michael] There was a funny line on the stage, a big 62 00:03:07,708 --> 00:03:10,167 swelling of laughter, and in the middle of it all, 63 00:03:10,167 --> 00:03:12,667 there's this very loud popping sound. 64 00:03:14,500 --> 00:03:16,500 - The first lady lets out a terrible scream. 65 00:03:16,500 --> 00:03:18,208 Something bad has happened to the President. 66 00:03:18,208 --> 00:03:19,708 He's clearly unconscious, 67 00:03:19,708 --> 00:03:22,542 but nobody at first can tell how he has been injured. 68 00:03:23,917 --> 00:03:26,458 - [Sami] According to Harry Hawk, a stage actor who's 69 00:03:26,458 --> 00:03:27,958 performing that night, he hears the assailant yell 70 00:03:27,958 --> 00:03:29,542 "Sic semper tyrannus", 71 00:03:29,542 --> 00:03:32,792 which in Latin stands for thus always to tyrants. 72 00:03:32,792 --> 00:03:36,250 The assailant then jumps from the president's box 73 00:03:36,250 --> 00:03:38,375 onto the stage, but as he's jumping, 74 00:03:38,375 --> 00:03:40,542 he catches his foot on a bunting 75 00:03:40,542 --> 00:03:43,417 and he lands a bit awkwardly on stage. 76 00:03:43,417 --> 00:03:46,333 - [Martin] He then shouts that the South shall be free 77 00:03:46,333 --> 00:03:49,042 before running off the stage out a side exit 78 00:03:49,042 --> 00:03:51,042 and disappearing from the theater. 79 00:03:51,042 --> 00:03:52,708 A doctor rushes to the booth 80 00:03:52,708 --> 00:03:56,375 and initially he believes that the president's been stabbed. 81 00:03:56,375 --> 00:03:57,667 - But then the doctor is able 82 00:03:57,667 --> 00:04:00,625 to find a small wound in the back of his head. 83 00:04:00,625 --> 00:04:03,083 Then they know that this is a gunshot wound. 84 00:04:03,083 --> 00:04:05,375 - [Heather] People notice the moment 85 00:04:05,375 --> 00:04:07,542 that this assassin jumps onto the stage who he is 86 00:04:07,542 --> 00:04:09,417 and they realize he's an actor. 87 00:04:09,417 --> 00:04:10,958 He is a very well known actor 88 00:04:12,333 --> 00:04:14,750 that is none other than John Wilkes Booth. 89 00:04:16,542 --> 00:04:18,542 - [Laurence] While the stunned audience tries 90 00:04:18,542 --> 00:04:22,167 to make sense of what just happened, there's more chaos, 91 00:04:22,167 --> 00:04:23,917 less than a mile away. 92 00:04:23,917 --> 00:04:26,500 - [Vaughn] Across town, you have a man knock at the Secretary 93 00:04:26,500 --> 00:04:28,333 of State William Seward's house, 94 00:04:28,333 --> 00:04:29,625 and when he gets close to Seward's room, 95 00:04:29,625 --> 00:04:32,375 he pulls out a knife and he starts slashing. 96 00:04:32,375 --> 00:04:34,500 He stabbed and slashes Seward multiple times 97 00:04:34,500 --> 00:04:36,875 and then runs out of the house himself. 98 00:04:36,875 --> 00:04:39,375 - [Sami] Remarkably Seward survives the attack 99 00:04:39,375 --> 00:04:41,333 because he's wearing a metal neck brace, 100 00:04:41,333 --> 00:04:46,333 which stops the assailant from outright killing him. 101 00:04:47,583 --> 00:04:48,250 - [Martin] The president is carried across the street 102 00:04:48,250 --> 00:04:49,583 to a boarding house 103 00:04:49,583 --> 00:04:51,208 and he's brought there so that physicians can 104 00:04:51,208 --> 00:04:52,833 provide care for him. 105 00:04:52,833 --> 00:04:55,208 The bullet has passed through his brain 106 00:04:55,208 --> 00:04:57,583 and lodged itself at the back of his right eye. 107 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:01,375 - [Laurence] Lincoln never regains consciousness 108 00:05:01,375 --> 00:05:05,125 and at 7:22 AM on April 15th, 109 00:05:05,125 --> 00:05:07,875 the president is declared dead. 110 00:05:07,875 --> 00:05:09,583 - [Martin] Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton swings 111 00:05:09,583 --> 00:05:10,875 into action very quickly 112 00:05:10,875 --> 00:05:13,417 and he orders that the city is sealed off. 113 00:05:13,417 --> 00:05:15,875 He also orders the arrest of any man, woman, 114 00:05:15,875 --> 00:05:18,167 or child attempting to cross a bridge 115 00:05:18,167 --> 00:05:20,125 to escape from the city. 116 00:05:20,125 --> 00:05:22,833 - [Sami] The news of Lincoln's assassination spreads across 117 00:05:22,833 --> 00:05:25,458 the country by both newspaper and telegraph 118 00:05:25,458 --> 00:05:29,292 and millions in the country are reeling. 119 00:05:29,292 --> 00:05:31,500 - [Christy] What is absolutely clear is 120 00:05:31,500 --> 00:05:35,875 that John Wilkes Booth was the man responsible 121 00:05:35,875 --> 00:05:39,333 and that there was another attack taking place at the exact 122 00:05:39,333 --> 00:05:42,500 same time, and that could not be a coincidence. 123 00:05:43,875 --> 00:05:45,375 - [Martin] Attention is directed toward the state of Maryland. 124 00:05:45,375 --> 00:05:46,875 This is where Booth is from. 125 00:05:46,875 --> 00:05:50,458 Investigators quickly run down Sam Arnold, 126 00:05:50,458 --> 00:05:53,042 who was a known confidant of John Wilkes Booth 127 00:05:53,042 --> 00:05:54,708 and a previous conspiracy 128 00:05:54,708 --> 00:05:58,625 to strike out against the president, but he then bowed out 129 00:05:58,625 --> 00:06:00,833 because he didn't wanna be associated with it. 130 00:06:02,208 --> 00:06:05,958 - [Barton] In the aftermath of the attack on Lincoln, they 131 00:06:05,958 --> 00:06:10,042 discovered that Booth had frequented a local boarding 132 00:06:10,042 --> 00:06:13,625 house that was owned and operated by Mary Surratt 133 00:06:13,625 --> 00:06:16,208 and Mary Surratt was Confederate sympathizing 134 00:06:16,208 --> 00:06:17,875 woman from Maryland. 135 00:06:17,875 --> 00:06:21,125 - [Vaughn] So as authorities are interviewing Mary Surratt, 136 00:06:21,125 --> 00:06:22,792 she's saying she doesn't know anyone. 137 00:06:22,792 --> 00:06:24,458 She doesn't know anything about this. 138 00:06:24,458 --> 00:06:27,125 There's a knock on the door 139 00:06:27,125 --> 00:06:29,375 and when they open the door, there's a man standing there 140 00:06:29,375 --> 00:06:31,292 with a pickax in his hand, a man 141 00:06:31,292 --> 00:06:32,875 by the name of Lewis Powell. 142 00:06:32,875 --> 00:06:36,042 Powell also matches the physical description for the man 143 00:06:36,042 --> 00:06:39,542 who violently attacked Seward a few days earlier. 144 00:06:39,542 --> 00:06:40,875 - [Martin] So the big question is who's responsible 145 00:06:40,875 --> 00:06:43,333 for this conspiracy and a good place to start is 146 00:06:43,333 --> 00:06:46,500 with the man who fired a shot that night 147 00:06:46,500 --> 00:06:48,542 and who is also still on the run. 148 00:06:48,542 --> 00:06:51,500 [dramatic music] 149 00:06:52,875 --> 00:06:57,250 - [Sami] Booth is a major Confederate sympathizer. 150 00:06:57,250 --> 00:07:00,708 On top of that booth is a staunch advocate for slavery 151 00:07:00,708 --> 00:07:02,542 and believes that all abolitionists 152 00:07:02,542 --> 00:07:04,625 are treasonous individuals. 153 00:07:04,625 --> 00:07:08,833 - [Christy] What makes Booth different is he uses his 154 00:07:08,833 --> 00:07:12,250 platform from the stage to eventually denounce everything 155 00:07:12,250 --> 00:07:14,125 that Lincoln stands for. 156 00:07:14,125 --> 00:07:17,375 Basically calls for the death of abolitionists. 157 00:07:17,375 --> 00:07:19,958 He does all of this from the stage. 158 00:07:19,958 --> 00:07:22,625 - [Laurence] Booth comes from a famous acting family, 159 00:07:22,625 --> 00:07:25,792 and over the last decade he's become a star. 160 00:07:25,792 --> 00:07:30,083 He's toured extensively even during the war, almost always 161 00:07:30,083 --> 00:07:31,667 to critical acclaim. 162 00:07:32,917 --> 00:07:34,708 - [Vaughn] As the alleged conspirators are rounded up, 163 00:07:34,708 --> 00:07:36,208 they start to talk of course. 164 00:07:36,208 --> 00:07:40,042 All of them start to point the finger at Booth. 165 00:07:40,042 --> 00:07:43,417 Given all of Booth's actions, his words up to this point, 166 00:07:43,417 --> 00:07:45,375 he almost surely appears to be the ringleader. 167 00:07:45,375 --> 00:07:48,667 - [Michael] John Wilkes Booth told people when he was trying 168 00:07:48,667 --> 00:07:52,708 to enlist their help in this plot, he said, 169 00:07:52,708 --> 00:07:56,000 we are just going to capture the president. 170 00:07:57,333 --> 00:08:00,292 - [Vaughn] Shortly thereafter, booth attends a speech of 171 00:08:00,292 --> 00:08:03,708 Lincoln's where Lincoln's really espousing these notions of the 172 00:08:03,708 --> 00:08:05,542 future of free black people in America, 173 00:08:05,542 --> 00:08:07,958 all the rights that they should have. 174 00:08:07,958 --> 00:08:10,750 - [Michael] That sort of keyed into Booth's mind 175 00:08:10,750 --> 00:08:13,958 and he said, that's the last speech he will ever make. 176 00:08:15,208 --> 00:08:18,292 It is often said that that's the turning point. 177 00:08:18,292 --> 00:08:22,042 From that moment on, there is no doubt in Booth's mind 178 00:08:22,042 --> 00:08:24,208 that he's not gonna capture the President, 179 00:08:26,125 --> 00:08:27,500 he's going to kill him. 180 00:08:29,250 --> 00:08:31,708 - [Vaughn] So as Booth decides he needs to kill Lincoln, 181 00:08:31,708 --> 00:08:34,167 the plot turns to not just killing Lincoln, 182 00:08:34,167 --> 00:08:36,875 but also to killing Lincoln's main cabinet. 183 00:08:38,292 --> 00:08:40,792 So he wants to kill Lincoln's Vice President Andrew Johnson, 184 00:08:40,792 --> 00:08:43,000 his secretary of State William Seward 185 00:08:44,208 --> 00:08:46,875 and one of his major generals, General Grant. 186 00:08:46,875 --> 00:08:49,292 - [Martin] Vice President Johnson is spared that night 187 00:08:49,292 --> 00:08:51,458 and that's simply because of the man who was assigned 188 00:08:51,458 --> 00:08:53,083 to carry out his assassination, 189 00:08:53,083 --> 00:08:56,667 gets cold feet at the last minute and abandons the plot. 190 00:08:58,375 --> 00:09:00,833 If the effort had not been abandoned, the idea 191 00:09:00,833 --> 00:09:04,042 of decapitating the US government so 192 00:09:04,042 --> 00:09:06,000 that the Confederacy would have a chance 193 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:07,708 to resurrect itself, that might have 194 00:09:07,708 --> 00:09:09,042 actually become a reality. 195 00:09:10,375 --> 00:09:14,708 - [Laurence] Federal officials offer a $100,000 reward, 196 00:09:14,708 --> 00:09:17,208 but 10 days after the assassination, 197 00:09:17,208 --> 00:09:18,708 there's still no sign 198 00:09:18,708 --> 00:09:20,958 of John Wilkes booth. 199 00:09:20,958 --> 00:09:23,042 - [Sami] After Booth jumps from the president's box, 200 00:09:23,042 --> 00:09:24,958 he's still able to escape the theater 201 00:09:24,958 --> 00:09:28,333 and then ride out of DC on horseback that night. 202 00:09:28,333 --> 00:09:29,792 - [Vaughn] Shortly thereafter, he rendezvous 203 00:09:29,792 --> 00:09:32,750 with another co-conspirator named David Herold. 204 00:09:32,750 --> 00:09:34,167 They'd met a few years earlier 205 00:09:34,167 --> 00:09:38,333 after his show, he's swept into the web of Booth. 206 00:09:38,333 --> 00:09:41,042 - [Michael] 12 days after the assassination, 207 00:09:41,042 --> 00:09:44,375 a detachment from the 16th New York cavalry finally caught 208 00:09:44,375 --> 00:09:45,958 up with Booth 209 00:09:46,083 --> 00:09:50,958 and Herold at a farm just outside of Port Royal, Virginia. 210 00:09:52,375 --> 00:09:55,875 - [Sami] When the soldiers and detectives arrive at the barn 211 00:09:55,875 --> 00:09:58,000 and tell the men that they've got them surrounded, 212 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,708 Herold gives up and walks right out of the barn, 213 00:10:01,708 --> 00:10:04,250 but Booth refuses and stays in the barn. 214 00:10:05,417 --> 00:10:07,042 The barn is then lit on fire, 215 00:10:07,042 --> 00:10:09,750 but within all of the commotion, a soldier fires his weapon 216 00:10:09,750 --> 00:10:12,167 and shoots Booth in the neck. 217 00:10:13,167 --> 00:10:15,042 - [Michael] He died about the same time of day 218 00:10:15,042 --> 00:10:18,708 that Lincoln had died 12 days earlier, 219 00:10:18,708 --> 00:10:20,792 and that was the end of John Wilkes Booth. 220 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,167 - [Laurence] Investigators must now piece together 221 00:10:24,167 --> 00:10:25,583 the conspiracy puzzle, 222 00:10:25,583 --> 00:10:28,333 without the most prominent suspect. 223 00:10:28,333 --> 00:10:31,167 - [Marvin] The man who shot Lincoln is now dead, 224 00:10:31,167 --> 00:10:34,167 but this hydra 225 00:10:34,167 --> 00:10:38,875 of conspirators is still alive and in captivity. 226 00:10:38,875 --> 00:10:41,708 - [Christy] By the end of April, 1865, 227 00:10:41,708 --> 00:10:45,208 eight people had been publicly identified 228 00:10:45,208 --> 00:10:49,042 and were preparing to stand trial as co-conspirators 229 00:10:49,042 --> 00:10:51,833 to the Lincoln assassination. 230 00:10:52,958 --> 00:10:54,792 - [Marvin] Unlike most crimes committed by civilians, 231 00:10:54,792 --> 00:10:56,708 these conspirators would not be tried 232 00:10:56,708 --> 00:10:58,625 in front of a civilian court. 233 00:10:58,625 --> 00:11:00,625 This would be a military tribunal. 234 00:11:00,625 --> 00:11:04,417 - [Sami] This includes people like Sam Arnold, Lewis Powell, 235 00:11:04,417 --> 00:11:08,250 Mary Surratt, David Herold, Dr. Samuel Mudd. 236 00:11:08,250 --> 00:11:10,417 You also have a man by the name of George Atzerodt. 237 00:11:10,417 --> 00:11:13,208 George Atzerodt was the man who was tasked to kill 238 00:11:13,208 --> 00:11:15,375 the vice, President Andrew Johnson that night. 239 00:11:16,667 --> 00:11:19,667 - [Marvin] At this point in time, all of the evidence points 240 00:11:19,667 --> 00:11:21,750 to John Wilkes Booth. 241 00:11:21,750 --> 00:11:23,542 One of Booth's friends, Sam Arnold, 242 00:11:23,542 --> 00:11:28,583 who was part of the plot to kidnap Lincoln fingered Booth 243 00:11:28,583 --> 00:11:30,708 as the leader of the party. 244 00:11:31,833 --> 00:11:34,167 - [Christy] The key point about this conspiracy is 245 00:11:34,167 --> 00:11:37,500 that the prosecution set forth the idea 246 00:11:37,500 --> 00:11:40,333 that John Wilkes Booth put all these people together. 247 00:11:40,333 --> 00:11:44,125 He's the one who managed to rally their support, 248 00:11:44,125 --> 00:11:47,125 but there was always speculation as to whether 249 00:11:47,125 --> 00:11:49,625 or not he really was the mastermind 250 00:11:49,625 --> 00:11:52,208 or was he merely the puppet? 251 00:11:56,500 --> 00:11:59,750 - [Laurence] On May 12th, 1865 testimony begins in the trial 252 00:11:59,750 --> 00:12:02,833 of eight defendants accused of conspiring 253 00:12:02,833 --> 00:12:06,333 to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. 254 00:12:06,333 --> 00:12:10,333 In the coming weeks, over 300 witnesses will take the stand 255 00:12:10,333 --> 00:12:12,708 and the stakes are high. 256 00:12:12,708 --> 00:12:15,000 Guilty verdicts could mean the gallows. 257 00:12:16,833 --> 00:12:18,167 - [Sami] Prosecutors start laying out their case 258 00:12:18,167 --> 00:12:20,375 for each person one at a time. 259 00:12:20,375 --> 00:12:23,375 When it comes to Lewis Powell, the argument made 260 00:12:23,375 --> 00:12:27,625 by his lawyer is not that he's not guilty, 261 00:12:27,625 --> 00:12:30,208 but it's that he's so passionate 262 00:12:30,208 --> 00:12:34,875 and so moved by the idea of a confederacy 263 00:12:34,875 --> 00:12:38,167 that it literally drove him to insanity. 264 00:12:38,167 --> 00:12:40,250 - [Martin] George Atzerodt, who is assigned 265 00:12:40,250 --> 00:12:41,833 to assassinate Vice President Johnson, 266 00:12:41,833 --> 00:12:44,958 he eventually abandons the mission, gets drunk 267 00:12:44,958 --> 00:12:46,708 and stumbles around the streets of the city, 268 00:12:46,708 --> 00:12:49,417 and his argument is that he was too cowardly 269 00:12:49,417 --> 00:12:51,375 to carry out the crime. 270 00:12:51,375 --> 00:12:54,208 - [Sami] David Herold, the man who assisted Booth's escape, 271 00:12:54,208 --> 00:12:56,333 he stands very little chance in trials considering 272 00:12:56,333 --> 00:12:59,917 that he was found in the barn with John Wilkes Booth. 273 00:13:01,208 --> 00:13:04,208 - [Martin] Mary Surratt is presented as being a ringleader 274 00:13:04,208 --> 00:13:08,333 by providing a place for the co-conspirators to assemble. 275 00:13:09,583 --> 00:13:12,542 She denies her guilt in the conspiracy throughout 276 00:13:12,542 --> 00:13:14,167 all of this. 277 00:13:14,167 --> 00:13:15,958 Her son, John Surratt, is one of the co-conspirators, 278 00:13:15,958 --> 00:13:18,208 but the only one who manages to escape the country 279 00:13:18,208 --> 00:13:19,875 after the crime is committed. 280 00:13:22,292 --> 00:13:26,042 - [Laurence] David Herold, Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt 281 00:13:26,042 --> 00:13:30,333 and Mary Surratt are all found guilty and hanged. 282 00:13:30,333 --> 00:13:32,333 Three other conspirators are sentenced 283 00:13:32,333 --> 00:13:35,667 to life in prison in including Dr. Samuel Mudd 284 00:13:35,667 --> 00:13:40,917 and Sam Arnold, but Arnold is pardoned in 1869. 285 00:13:42,250 --> 00:13:44,208 - All told we have 10 total conspirators who are civilians. 286 00:13:44,208 --> 00:13:45,500 So you have the eight who have been tried. 287 00:13:45,500 --> 00:13:47,667 We have John Wilkes Booth who of course is dead, 288 00:13:47,667 --> 00:13:49,208 and then you have John Surratt, 289 00:13:49,208 --> 00:13:51,292 who at this point is on the lam in Canada, 290 00:13:51,292 --> 00:13:53,292 soon to make his way to Europe. 291 00:13:53,292 --> 00:13:54,833 - [Laurence] But federal authorities 292 00:13:54,833 --> 00:13:59,458 and northern newspapers have their eye on a bigger target. 293 00:13:59,458 --> 00:14:02,500 - [Martin] The conspirators who were on trial are asked about 294 00:14:02,500 --> 00:14:05,083 not only just their role in the conspiracy, but whether 295 00:14:05,083 --> 00:14:07,208 or not it went all the way up to the heights 296 00:14:07,208 --> 00:14:09,708 of the Confederate government. 297 00:14:09,708 --> 00:14:13,667 - [Barton] April 2nd, 1865, Jefferson Davis flees the city 298 00:14:13,667 --> 00:14:16,500 of Richmond and the city falls the next day 299 00:14:16,500 --> 00:14:17,875 to the Union Army. 300 00:14:19,125 --> 00:14:21,833 He makes his way down into North Carolina with part 301 00:14:21,833 --> 00:14:23,708 of the Confederate government. 302 00:14:23,708 --> 00:14:27,042 - Unlike Robert E. Lee who told his soldiers just to go home 303 00:14:27,042 --> 00:14:29,417 and be citizens, Jefferson Davis is 304 00:14:29,417 --> 00:14:31,292 wanting to keep this fight alive. 305 00:14:33,292 --> 00:14:34,833 - [Sami] After Lincoln's assassination, 306 00:14:34,833 --> 00:14:37,542 the pressure on the Confederate leadership increases. 307 00:14:37,542 --> 00:14:41,917 In fact, President Johnson offers a $100,000 reward 308 00:14:41,917 --> 00:14:44,583 for the capture of Jefferson Davis. 309 00:14:44,583 --> 00:14:46,500 So while Booth was a trigger man, you have members 310 00:14:46,500 --> 00:14:48,333 of the media, members of the government 311 00:14:48,333 --> 00:14:52,792 and American citizens firmly believing that the mastermind 312 00:14:52,792 --> 00:14:54,792 behind the plot was none other 313 00:14:54,792 --> 00:14:57,042 than the Confederate president. 314 00:15:01,042 --> 00:15:05,042 - [Laurence] By the summer of 1864, nearly a year 315 00:15:05,042 --> 00:15:07,208 before the Lincoln assassination, 316 00:15:07,208 --> 00:15:09,875 the Confederate government is in dire straits, 317 00:15:09,875 --> 00:15:12,667 both militarily and financially. 318 00:15:12,667 --> 00:15:15,250 - [Vaughn] A lot of people think that in Jefferson Davis' mind 319 00:15:15,250 --> 00:15:16,708 by this point, especially 320 00:15:16,708 --> 00:15:19,333 after Lee surrenders as if he's gonna win this, 321 00:15:19,333 --> 00:15:21,250 he's gotta make a huge swing. 322 00:15:21,250 --> 00:15:24,708 He has to take out the head of the Union Government. 323 00:15:26,167 --> 00:15:28,792 - [Laurence] Author and researcher, John C. Fazio argues 324 00:15:28,792 --> 00:15:32,583 that if one follows Booth's movements in the months leading 325 00:15:32,583 --> 00:15:36,083 up to the assassination, the trail leads directly 326 00:15:36,083 --> 00:15:37,375 to Jefferson Davis. 327 00:15:38,208 --> 00:15:40,167 - [Sami] John C. Fazio maintains 328 00:15:40,167 --> 00:15:43,250 that Booth was actually a part 329 00:15:43,250 --> 00:15:47,542 of the Confederate secret service, that he was a spy, 330 00:15:47,542 --> 00:15:52,375 and Fazio talks about booth making trips to places 331 00:15:52,375 --> 00:15:54,625 to drum up support for the Confederacy, 332 00:15:54,625 --> 00:15:56,500 including places like Montreal, 333 00:15:56,500 --> 00:15:58,000 Boston, New York, 334 00:15:58,000 --> 00:15:59,875 Philadelphia, Baltimore, 335 00:15:59,875 --> 00:16:02,292 and Washington DC as well. 336 00:16:02,292 --> 00:16:04,375 - [Vaughn] He makes this trip to Montreal in late 1864, 337 00:16:04,375 --> 00:16:06,208 which on the surface, okay, 338 00:16:06,208 --> 00:16:08,208 but when he returns to Washington DC 339 00:16:08,208 --> 00:16:10,375 he deposits $1,500 in 340 00:16:10,375 --> 00:16:12,542 the bank, which would be $30,000 today, 341 00:16:12,542 --> 00:16:15,542 and there's no really accounting for where he got this. 342 00:16:15,542 --> 00:16:17,542 - [Sami] Fazio claims that the movement of money 343 00:16:17,542 --> 00:16:18,833 and meetings with all 344 00:16:18,833 --> 00:16:21,375 of these high ranking Confederate officials indicates 345 00:16:21,375 --> 00:16:25,375 that there was an operation that was known about 346 00:16:25,375 --> 00:16:28,500 and that was also approved by the heads of the Confederacy. 347 00:16:29,625 --> 00:16:31,750 - [Laurence] According to Fazio's research, 348 00:16:31,750 --> 00:16:35,875 Booth's co-conspirator John Surratt went to Richmond, 349 00:16:35,875 --> 00:16:37,500 the Confederate capitol 350 00:16:37,500 --> 00:16:42,292 and met with top leaders in March, 1865, perhaps even 351 00:16:42,917 --> 00:16:44,500 with Davis himself. 352 00:16:44,500 --> 00:16:47,833 - [Martin] Fazio finds evidence of John Surratt returning 353 00:16:47,833 --> 00:16:50,375 to Mary Surratt's boarding house with a large quantity 354 00:16:50,375 --> 00:16:54,292 of money, and he believes that what this indicates is that 355 00:16:54,292 --> 00:16:58,542 Surratt had gone to Richmond, he came back to Washington DC 356 00:16:58,542 --> 00:17:01,125 to the boarding house with instructions 357 00:17:01,125 --> 00:17:02,958 to carry out the assassinations 358 00:17:02,958 --> 00:17:05,750 and the money to get the job done. 359 00:17:05,750 --> 00:17:07,917 - [Vaughn] We know that Lincoln was killed in 1865, 360 00:17:07,917 --> 00:17:10,292 but what starts to come out is that the death of Lincoln, 361 00:17:10,292 --> 00:17:11,792 the attack on Lincoln could have been a part 362 00:17:11,792 --> 00:17:15,708 of a larger plot to take out the Union Government. 363 00:17:17,458 --> 00:17:21,792 - [Laurence] In early 1865 before the trial, 364 00:17:21,792 --> 00:17:25,250 President Johnson himself issues a proclamation claiming 365 00:17:25,250 --> 00:17:28,375 the crimes of April 14th were incited 366 00:17:28,375 --> 00:17:31,625 and procured by Jefferson Davis. 367 00:17:33,042 --> 00:17:34,500 - [Vaughn] Union Force has finally captured Jefferson Davis 368 00:17:34,500 --> 00:17:38,042 on May 10th, just a couple days 369 00:17:38,042 --> 00:17:40,167 before they're gonna try these conspirators. 370 00:17:41,333 --> 00:17:43,875 - [Martin] Although some people at trial indicate 371 00:17:43,875 --> 00:17:46,167 that Jefferson Davis was the ultimate authority 372 00:17:46,167 --> 00:17:47,875 for this operation, 373 00:17:47,875 --> 00:17:50,417 the government's case against him fizzles when some 374 00:17:50,417 --> 00:17:53,042 of the details that these witnesses provide prove 375 00:17:53,042 --> 00:17:57,250 to go nowhere and they're contradicted by other evidence. 376 00:17:58,500 --> 00:18:01,042 - [Laurence] None of Davis's closest associates 377 00:18:01,042 --> 00:18:04,583 believe he would've ordered Lincoln's assassination. 378 00:18:04,583 --> 00:18:07,208 - On the surface, it may be very easy to believe 379 00:18:07,208 --> 00:18:10,458 that Jefferson Davis would've wanted Lincoln killed, 380 00:18:10,458 --> 00:18:13,958 but when you look at their personalities, you see 381 00:18:13,958 --> 00:18:18,750 that there's a good deal of mutual respect between them. 382 00:18:18,750 --> 00:18:22,542 - [Vaughn] But there's also the hard fact that if Lincoln dies, 383 00:18:22,542 --> 00:18:24,375 his vice president Andrew Johnson is gonna come in 384 00:18:24,375 --> 00:18:27,708 and it's well known that Jefferson Davis 385 00:18:27,708 --> 00:18:30,333 and so many other southerners cannot stand Andrew Johnson 386 00:18:30,333 --> 00:18:32,542 because Andrew Johnson is a southern unionist, 387 00:18:32,542 --> 00:18:33,750 they see him as a traitor. 388 00:18:33,875 --> 00:18:36,542 They don't want him to be their new president, 389 00:18:36,542 --> 00:18:39,375 - [Sami] But there are still those who believe that Davis 390 00:18:39,375 --> 00:18:42,625 and his men are responsible, given Booth 391 00:18:42,625 --> 00:18:45,375 and Surratt's suspicious activities, 392 00:18:45,375 --> 00:18:47,208 a lot of people continue to speculate 393 00:18:47,208 --> 00:18:53,917 and point the fingers at Jefferson Davis. 394 00:18:53,917 --> 00:18:56,625 - [Laurence] 19th century newspaper editor 395 00:18:56,625 --> 00:19:00,083 Horace Greeley once estimated that Abraham Lincoln 396 00:19:00,083 --> 00:19:02,792 received more than 10,000 death threats 397 00:19:02,792 --> 00:19:05,333 over his four years as president. 398 00:19:05,333 --> 00:19:07,208 For Lincoln, the specter 399 00:19:07,208 --> 00:19:09,792 of assassination was always present. 400 00:19:11,250 --> 00:19:13,542 - The hate for Lincoln ran deep in the South, 401 00:19:13,542 --> 00:19:15,917 you have Southerners taking out newspaper ads 402 00:19:15,917 --> 00:19:17,750 where they're offering money to kill Lincoln. 403 00:19:17,750 --> 00:19:19,750 You have Southerners actually sending candied 404 00:19:19,750 --> 00:19:23,042 fruits to the White House, they're poisoned. 405 00:19:23,042 --> 00:19:24,250 - [Laurence] Assassination attempts 406 00:19:24,250 --> 00:19:26,292 begin almost immediately 407 00:19:26,292 --> 00:19:30,542 after Lincoln's victory in the election of 1860. 408 00:19:30,542 --> 00:19:34,333 These include a plot to kill him as he travels from Illinois 409 00:19:34,333 --> 00:19:36,875 to Washington for his inauguration. 410 00:19:36,875 --> 00:19:40,000 This trip requires changing trains in a city rife 411 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:44,542 with confederate sympathizers, Baltimore, Maryland. 412 00:19:44,542 --> 00:19:46,667 - At that time in our nation's past, 413 00:19:47,792 --> 00:19:50,042 we did not have a deep security apparatus 414 00:19:50,042 --> 00:19:51,792 around the president. 415 00:19:51,792 --> 00:19:53,208 - [Vaughn] His allies and his advisors are so worried 416 00:19:53,208 --> 00:19:54,958 about Lincoln. 417 00:19:54,958 --> 00:19:56,917 They bring in this guy named Alan Pinkerton. 418 00:19:56,917 --> 00:19:59,542 They bring him in to really watch out for Lincoln 419 00:19:59,542 --> 00:20:02,750 and try to root out any attempts on Lincoln's life. 420 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:05,792 - [Sami] Pinkerton finds out that there's a group 421 00:20:05,792 --> 00:20:08,042 of conspirators in Baltimore who are planning 422 00:20:08,042 --> 00:20:11,875 to assassinate Lincoln when he makes it to the city, 423 00:20:11,875 --> 00:20:14,708 but his operatives infiltrate the group, 424 00:20:14,708 --> 00:20:17,833 including a young woman by the name of Kate Warne, 425 00:20:17,833 --> 00:20:20,208 who's considered to be the first female private detective 426 00:20:20,208 --> 00:20:22,542 in US history. 427 00:20:22,542 --> 00:20:25,417 - [Laurence] Pinkerton and Warne learned that the assassins 428 00:20:25,417 --> 00:20:28,125 who are using Lincoln's published schedule, 429 00:20:28,125 --> 00:20:30,875 plan to form a mob to ambush him 430 00:20:30,875 --> 00:20:33,208 when he changes trains in Baltimore. 431 00:20:33,208 --> 00:20:36,750 - [Martin] The ruse becomes that Lincoln is posing as a sick 432 00:20:36,750 --> 00:20:39,958 and older person who's dependent on a caretaker, 433 00:20:39,958 --> 00:20:41,500 and that's Kate Warne. 434 00:20:41,500 --> 00:20:45,000 Kate Warne has him abandon his characteristic hat in favor 435 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:47,125 of a beaver hat and they change 436 00:20:47,125 --> 00:20:49,625 to a different train station. 437 00:20:49,625 --> 00:20:51,208 - [Laurence] The disguised Lincoln arrives 438 00:20:51,208 --> 00:20:53,583 in Baltimore at 3:30 AM 439 00:20:53,583 --> 00:20:56,417 and makes the mile long trip across town 440 00:20:56,417 --> 00:20:58,375 to his connecting train. 441 00:20:58,375 --> 00:21:02,042 He arrives safely in Washington at 6:00 AM. 442 00:21:02,042 --> 00:21:03,875 - [Sami] The group that was supposedly gonna carry 443 00:21:03,875 --> 00:21:06,625 out this assassination attempt are now foiled. 444 00:21:06,625 --> 00:21:09,083 However, there are some researchers who do suggest 445 00:21:09,083 --> 00:21:11,708 that this same group will try 446 00:21:11,708 --> 00:21:13,917 to take Lincoln out once again. 447 00:21:13,917 --> 00:21:15,542 - [Vaughn] An even deeper current 448 00:21:15,542 --> 00:21:18,583 of this, is these conspirators were supposedly a part 449 00:21:18,583 --> 00:21:20,958 of this much larger organization 450 00:21:22,583 --> 00:21:25,583 that had deep roots throughout the south and the north, 451 00:21:25,583 --> 00:21:29,292 and some people argued that Booth was actually a part 452 00:21:29,292 --> 00:21:31,500 of their ranks and that when he fired 453 00:21:31,500 --> 00:21:33,583 that bullet in the Lincoln's head, he was doing 454 00:21:33,583 --> 00:21:36,542 so under their orders. 455 00:21:40,375 --> 00:21:44,542 - [Michael] In the 1850's, the idea 456 00:21:44,542 --> 00:21:47,417 of a secret society was all the rage 457 00:21:47,417 --> 00:21:48,750 and there was a man 458 00:21:48,750 --> 00:21:51,375 named George Washington Lafayette Bickley. 459 00:21:51,375 --> 00:21:55,042 He hit upon the idea of creating an organization 460 00:21:55,042 --> 00:21:57,875 that he would call the Knights of the Golden Circle. 461 00:21:59,542 --> 00:22:03,500 - [Christy] These folks were absolutely dedicated to two 462 00:22:03,500 --> 00:22:04,875 things, preservation of slavery 463 00:22:04,875 --> 00:22:08,583 and the establishment of a perpetual slave society 464 00:22:08,583 --> 00:22:11,375 that would unite Mexico, the Caribbean, 465 00:22:11,375 --> 00:22:12,792 and the American South. 466 00:22:12,792 --> 00:22:14,875 Their plan was to invade Mexico 467 00:22:14,875 --> 00:22:18,375 and make Mexico a part of the confederate states of America 468 00:22:18,375 --> 00:22:19,792 and continue to push forward 469 00:22:19,792 --> 00:22:21,708 and then they would align with the Caribbean nations 470 00:22:21,708 --> 00:22:23,417 that had not yet abolished slavery 471 00:22:23,417 --> 00:22:26,375 and together they would create a superpower. 472 00:22:26,375 --> 00:22:27,708 - [Marvin] Bickley is quite successful. 473 00:22:27,708 --> 00:22:29,208 Thousands of young men sign up 474 00:22:29,208 --> 00:22:30,542 and are recruited by him 475 00:22:30,542 --> 00:22:33,042 to join the Knights of the Golden Circle. 476 00:22:33,042 --> 00:22:36,042 - [Vaughn] It's easy to just assume groups like this 477 00:22:36,042 --> 00:22:37,583 were relegated to the south. 478 00:22:37,583 --> 00:22:40,250 That wasn't the case. People in the north felt this way too. 479 00:22:40,250 --> 00:22:41,667 - [Laurence] In his 2013 book, 480 00:22:41,667 --> 00:22:45,042 "The Knights of the Golden Circle", researcher, 481 00:22:45,042 --> 00:22:48,958 David Keen describes this secret society also known 482 00:22:48,958 --> 00:22:51,042 as the KGC. 483 00:22:51,042 --> 00:22:54,125 In 1859, a group of actors in Richmond, 484 00:22:54,125 --> 00:22:58,583 Virginia is captivated by this clandestine organization. 485 00:22:58,583 --> 00:23:03,208 One of them is 20-year-old John Wilkes Booth. 486 00:23:03,208 --> 00:23:05,583 - [Vaughn] It's not beyond pale to wonder whether he was one 487 00:23:05,583 --> 00:23:07,750 of these conspirators who actually helped 488 00:23:07,750 --> 00:23:10,292 with this 1861 attempt in Baltimore, 489 00:23:10,292 --> 00:23:12,458 Maryland, his home state. 490 00:23:12,458 --> 00:23:14,542 - [Sami] But once the Civil War starts, 491 00:23:14,542 --> 00:23:16,500 the mission of the KGC changes, 492 00:23:16,500 --> 00:23:19,083 it's no longer about invading a foreign nation. 493 00:23:19,083 --> 00:23:22,583 It's now about protecting southern secession 494 00:23:22,583 --> 00:23:24,458 and the right to own slaves. 495 00:23:24,458 --> 00:23:26,708 - [Vaughn] At the end of the war, they imprisoned Bickley 496 00:23:26,708 --> 00:23:29,250 because they had found evidence that 497 00:23:29,250 --> 00:23:32,708 the KGC members knew about this plot to kill Lincoln 498 00:23:32,708 --> 00:23:34,375 before it even happened. 499 00:23:34,375 --> 00:23:37,542 - [Martin] Judge Henry Burnett, who presides over the trial 500 00:23:37,542 --> 00:23:39,375 of the co-conspirators, he'll go on to say 501 00:23:39,375 --> 00:23:40,708 that the footprints of the Knights 502 00:23:40,708 --> 00:23:42,875 of the Golden Circle is all over the trial. 503 00:23:42,875 --> 00:23:45,417 - [Laurence] It's believed that before 1865, 504 00:23:45,417 --> 00:23:49,375 the KGC actually incorporates its intent 505 00:23:49,375 --> 00:23:51,125 to assassinate the president 506 00:23:51,125 --> 00:23:55,958 and his cabinet into the oath sworn by its members. 507 00:23:55,958 --> 00:23:59,292 But whether or not this secret society was the driving force 508 00:23:59,292 --> 00:24:03,375 behind Lincoln's assassination remains an open question. 509 00:24:03,375 --> 00:24:05,875 - [Martin] If Booth is actually receiving instructions from the 510 00:24:05,875 --> 00:24:08,083 Knights of the Golden Circle, it would suggest 511 00:24:08,083 --> 00:24:10,792 that the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln is not 512 00:24:10,792 --> 00:24:13,875 just some wanton act of revenge, 513 00:24:13,875 --> 00:24:17,542 but it's part of a coherent plot to secure the interests 514 00:24:17,542 --> 00:24:18,750 of the Knights of the Golden Circle 515 00:24:18,750 --> 00:24:20,792 and the future of the South. 516 00:24:20,792 --> 00:24:24,042 - [Sami] Given their secrecy, it's really hard to truly know 517 00:24:24,042 --> 00:24:27,500 all of the KGC's activities in the spring of 1865 518 00:24:27,500 --> 00:24:30,375 and their true size for that matter. 519 00:24:30,375 --> 00:24:32,208 While it is tantalizing to want 520 00:24:32,208 --> 00:24:35,208 to pin the assassination plot on a group like this, 521 00:24:35,208 --> 00:24:38,917 without proper and true evidence to prove it, 522 00:24:38,917 --> 00:24:42,000 it's all circumstantial at best. 523 00:24:45,708 --> 00:24:47,292 - [Laurence] November, 1864. 524 00:24:47,292 --> 00:24:50,542 A meeting allegedly takes place in New York City at the 525 00:24:50,542 --> 00:24:52,917 opulent fifth Avenue mansion 526 00:24:52,917 --> 00:24:56,750 of super rich financier, August Belmont. 527 00:24:56,750 --> 00:25:01,458 In his 2004 book "Murdering Mr. Lincoln" biographer, 528 00:25:01,458 --> 00:25:05,750 Charles Higham argues that the main agenda of the meeting is 529 00:25:05,750 --> 00:25:08,708 to plot the assassination of the president, 530 00:25:08,708 --> 00:25:12,208 and among those in attendance is John Wilkes Booth. 531 00:25:13,583 --> 00:25:15,167 - [Sami] While the majority 532 00:25:15,167 --> 00:25:19,708 of hatred towards Lincoln comes primarily from Southerners 533 00:25:19,708 --> 00:25:23,958 in places like New York, you have groups of people 534 00:25:23,958 --> 00:25:27,833 that are called Peace Democrats. 535 00:25:27,833 --> 00:25:30,583 They're nicknamed Copperheads after the snake 536 00:25:30,583 --> 00:25:32,708 because many on the union side consider them 537 00:25:32,708 --> 00:25:35,042 to be treacherous snakes. 538 00:25:36,375 --> 00:25:38,958 - They didn't think Lincoln was doing things right. 539 00:25:38,958 --> 00:25:40,917 They thought that the war needed to end, 540 00:25:40,917 --> 00:25:43,208 and if that meant that the South should be able 541 00:25:43,208 --> 00:25:44,958 to secede, so be it. 542 00:25:46,375 --> 00:25:48,875 - [Heather] Others argue that they're racist 543 00:25:48,875 --> 00:25:52,000 because part of the secession is 544 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:54,208 to keep slavery, 545 00:25:54,208 --> 00:25:57,500 and so there's dual arguments as to 546 00:25:57,500 --> 00:26:01,708 who were these peace quote Democrats. 547 00:26:01,708 --> 00:26:03,792 - [Sami] Another massive problem 548 00:26:03,792 --> 00:26:06,792 that these northern Peace Democrats have 549 00:26:06,792 --> 00:26:09,833 with Lincoln is a financial one, 550 00:26:09,833 --> 00:26:13,250 and this is where we get into August Belmont. 551 00:26:13,250 --> 00:26:16,958 - [Barton] August Belmont is a fascinating individual. 552 00:26:16,958 --> 00:26:21,125 He was born Aaron Schonburg in what is today Germany. 553 00:26:21,125 --> 00:26:22,542 He becomes the agent 554 00:26:22,542 --> 00:26:25,708 of the Rothschild International Banking Operation 555 00:26:25,708 --> 00:26:27,917 and then eventually immigrates to the United States 556 00:26:27,917 --> 00:26:29,375 before the American Civil War 557 00:26:29,375 --> 00:26:32,000 and becomes a member of the Democratic Party. 558 00:26:33,250 --> 00:26:36,500 - [Sami] When Belmont moved to America, he remained aligned 559 00:26:36,500 --> 00:26:37,500 with the Rothschilds 560 00:26:37,500 --> 00:26:39,083 and some suggests that that's 561 00:26:39,083 --> 00:26:41,833 where his anti-Lincoln sentiment begins, 562 00:26:41,833 --> 00:26:45,500 because apparently when the Rothschilds offer up these high 563 00:26:45,500 --> 00:26:49,917 interest loans as a way to fund the war, Lincoln said no. 564 00:26:51,042 --> 00:26:52,417 There are also people that are affiliated 565 00:26:52,417 --> 00:26:53,958 with the cotton industry that have it out for Lincoln 566 00:26:53,958 --> 00:26:56,833 as well because they believe that he is messing 567 00:26:56,833 --> 00:26:59,042 with their finances. 568 00:27:00,167 --> 00:27:01,792 - [Vaughn] Historian Charles Higham has argued 569 00:27:01,792 --> 00:27:03,042 that there was this meeting 570 00:27:03,042 --> 00:27:05,708 that Belmont held in 1864 at his home 571 00:27:05,708 --> 00:27:07,125 and at this meeting, a lot 572 00:27:07,125 --> 00:27:10,375 of wealthy men in the north had a real ax to grind. 573 00:27:10,375 --> 00:27:12,958 - [Sami] The meeting is described in a letter that's 574 00:27:12,958 --> 00:27:15,583 sent to the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton six months 575 00:27:15,583 --> 00:27:17,042 after it takes place. 576 00:27:17,042 --> 00:27:19,542 The letter points to the idea that the plot 577 00:27:19,542 --> 00:27:22,667 to assassinate Lincoln doesn't come from a Confederate 578 00:27:22,667 --> 00:27:25,042 sympathizer or even the Confederate side, 579 00:27:25,042 --> 00:27:26,833 that it comes from the union side. 580 00:27:26,833 --> 00:27:29,833 [dramatic music] 581 00:27:31,583 --> 00:27:34,042 - [Laurence] According to this letter, the meeting is attended 582 00:27:34,042 --> 00:27:38,333 by some of America's richest and most influential power players. 583 00:27:39,458 --> 00:27:40,792 - [Barton] August Belmont's one 584 00:27:40,792 --> 00:27:43,333 of the richest people in the United States. 585 00:27:43,333 --> 00:27:45,083 He's a racehorse owner. 586 00:27:45,083 --> 00:27:49,375 He is the namesake for the Belmont Stakes, 587 00:27:49,375 --> 00:27:52,542 which is run at Belmont Park in New York. 588 00:27:52,542 --> 00:27:53,833 - [Vaughn] Allegedly George McClellan was at the 589 00:27:53,833 --> 00:27:55,375 same meeting. 590 00:27:55,375 --> 00:27:57,708 Now, George McClellan definitely has an ax to grind 591 00:27:57,708 --> 00:27:59,708 with Lincoln, but for different reasons. 592 00:27:59,708 --> 00:28:02,500 After the Battle of Antietam in 1862, 593 00:28:02,500 --> 00:28:04,125 Lincoln had stripped him 594 00:28:04,125 --> 00:28:07,458 of his leadership of the Union Army. 595 00:28:07,458 --> 00:28:09,833 - [Sami] Other prominent men at the meeting allegedly include 596 00:28:09,833 --> 00:28:12,333 the pro-South former mayor of New York 597 00:28:12,333 --> 00:28:15,125 and now US Congressman Fernando Wood. 598 00:28:15,125 --> 00:28:17,208 Wood, when he was mayor of New York, believed 599 00:28:17,208 --> 00:28:20,958 that New York City should have also seceded from the union. 600 00:28:20,958 --> 00:28:22,042 - [Vaughn] You also have Charles Haswell, 601 00:28:22,042 --> 00:28:24,250 who is a wealthy ship designer. 602 00:28:24,250 --> 00:28:26,583 They're all coming together, they're meeting in this room, 603 00:28:26,583 --> 00:28:30,792 but most importantly, allegedly John Wilkes Booth might have 604 00:28:30,792 --> 00:28:32,750 joined their group as well. 605 00:28:34,208 --> 00:28:37,042 - [Sami] Belmont actually was someone who raised large sums of 606 00:28:37,042 --> 00:28:39,208 money for McClellan's presidential campaign in an 607 00:28:39,208 --> 00:28:42,042 attempt to unseat Lincoln from power. 608 00:28:42,042 --> 00:28:45,375 He also launched a campaign to disseminate anti-Lincoln 609 00:28:45,375 --> 00:28:48,917 and anti-Emancipation Proclamation propaganda. 610 00:28:48,917 --> 00:28:50,917 - [Laurence] The meeting is not the only evidence 611 00:28:50,917 --> 00:28:54,417 of a plot allegedly involving Belmont and McClellan. 612 00:28:56,125 --> 00:28:58,833 - [Sami] McClellan's secretary writes in his diary about a 613 00:28:58,833 --> 00:29:00,708 month before the meeting 614 00:29:00,708 --> 00:29:03,417 of the Copperheads about an encounter he has 615 00:29:03,417 --> 00:29:05,625 with Alan Pinkerton. 616 00:29:05,625 --> 00:29:09,417 - [Vaughn] Pinkerton comes and interviews McClellan's secretary 617 00:29:09,417 --> 00:29:12,750 and he asks McClellan's secretary if he knows anything. 618 00:29:12,750 --> 00:29:14,333 The secretary says he doesn't. 619 00:29:14,333 --> 00:29:16,875 Pinkerton then tells him, well, I think it's McClellan 620 00:29:16,875 --> 00:29:20,500 and his friends, so your boss is up to something 621 00:29:20,500 --> 00:29:22,458 and we've got an eye on you. 622 00:29:23,750 --> 00:29:26,750 - [Heather] The Democratic Convention of 1864 was very 623 00:29:26,750 --> 00:29:30,250 volatile, very violent in rhetoric at least, talking about 624 00:29:30,250 --> 00:29:34,542 the need to not reelect Lincoln, the need to get him out of 625 00:29:34,542 --> 00:29:39,083 office, and if we cannot do it by the ballot, then it's going 626 00:29:39,083 --> 00:29:40,958 to happen by the bullet. 627 00:29:42,375 --> 00:29:44,875 - [Laurence] Given the level of anti-Lincoln sentiment 628 00:29:44,875 --> 00:29:47,542 in the North, it's not surprising that Belmont 629 00:29:47,542 --> 00:29:50,708 and others might have made menacing statements, 630 00:29:50,708 --> 00:29:52,625 but for some historians, 631 00:29:52,625 --> 00:29:56,083 its Booth's surprise attendance at the alleged November 632 00:29:56,083 --> 00:30:00,583 meeting that signifies their talk may have turned to action. 633 00:30:00,583 --> 00:30:03,375 - [Sami] George Atzerodt made a confession which was lost 634 00:30:03,375 --> 00:30:05,458 and then later discovered in 1977 635 00:30:05,458 --> 00:30:09,417 that while in New York he saw Booth giving a secret hand 636 00:30:09,417 --> 00:30:11,208 signal to two people, 637 00:30:11,208 --> 00:30:13,500 - [Marvin] George Atzerotd confesses that booth met 638 00:30:13,500 --> 00:30:16,083 with a quote unquote party in New York 639 00:30:16,083 --> 00:30:19,125 and that they were gonna get the President for sure. 640 00:30:19,125 --> 00:30:21,250 This was a plot to blow up the White House 641 00:30:21,250 --> 00:30:23,417 with Lincoln in it as well as his captain. 642 00:30:25,167 --> 00:30:26,667 - [Sami] Now it isn't that much of a leap for this group of 643 00:30:26,667 --> 00:30:28,417 people to turn to Booth to come up with a more direct 644 00:30:28,417 --> 00:30:30,833 and less messy method. 645 00:30:30,833 --> 00:30:34,125 - [Laurence] Rumors about August Belmont's supposed connection 646 00:30:34,125 --> 00:30:39,208 to Lincoln's assassination run wild in 1865. 647 00:30:40,208 --> 00:30:41,625 - [Vaughn] Biographer David Black has argued 648 00:30:41,625 --> 00:30:43,375 that Belmont did indeed have something to do with this, 649 00:30:43,375 --> 00:30:46,083 but Belmont always vehemently denied this 650 00:30:46,083 --> 00:30:48,583 and there's no real hard evidence to this. 651 00:30:48,583 --> 00:30:50,083 - [Barton] Booth told people 652 00:30:50,083 --> 00:30:52,917 That there were far more people involved in the plot, 653 00:30:52,917 --> 00:30:55,292 maybe 50 to a 100. 654 00:30:55,292 --> 00:30:58,000 It's possible that Booth created this in his own mind 655 00:30:58,000 --> 00:30:59,792 to make himself feel bigger. 656 00:30:59,792 --> 00:31:03,083 Many of the people who eventually were tried do allude 657 00:31:03,083 --> 00:31:05,625 to the fact that they felt they didn't know all the pieces 658 00:31:05,625 --> 00:31:13,708 of what was going on even in the plot they were part of. 659 00:31:13,708 --> 00:31:16,208 - [Laurence] The investigation of Abraham Lincoln's 660 00:31:16,208 --> 00:31:17,583 assassination at Ford's Theatre doesn't 661 00:31:17,583 --> 00:31:20,750 end with the trial of his conspirators. 662 00:31:20,750 --> 00:31:23,083 The monumental nature of the crime 663 00:31:23,083 --> 00:31:26,083 and the many questions remaining lead to decade 664 00:31:26,083 --> 00:31:29,542 after decade of Lincoln conspiracy research 665 00:31:29,542 --> 00:31:33,125 and speculation, including a controversial book 666 00:31:33,125 --> 00:31:37,958 that 72 years after the fact makes a startling claim. 667 00:31:39,208 --> 00:31:41,208 - [Sami] In 1937, a book is released called 668 00:31:41,208 --> 00:31:44,042 "Why Was Lincoln Murdered"? 669 00:31:44,042 --> 00:31:45,375 This book is written by Civil War 670 00:31:45,375 --> 00:31:48,042 historian Otto Eisenschiml. 671 00:31:48,042 --> 00:31:50,167 Now, Otto Eisenschiml is a chemist by trade, 672 00:31:50,167 --> 00:31:53,750 but he's fascinated by the Civil War era 673 00:31:53,750 --> 00:31:56,042 and through his research, he comes 674 00:31:56,042 --> 00:31:57,875 to the conclusion in his book 675 00:31:57,875 --> 00:32:00,083 that it wasn't John Wilkes Booth 676 00:32:00,083 --> 00:32:02,125 that led the plot to kill Lincoln. 677 00:32:03,083 --> 00:32:04,292 It was in fact Lincoln's own 678 00:32:04,292 --> 00:32:07,042 Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton. 679 00:32:07,042 --> 00:32:10,125 [dramatic music] 680 00:32:12,708 --> 00:32:14,917 - [Martin] Eisenschiml's case is entirely circumstantial. 681 00:32:14,917 --> 00:32:16,500 He doesn't have a smoking gun, 682 00:32:16,500 --> 00:32:19,917 but he nevertheless points to evidence like Grant's failure 683 00:32:19,917 --> 00:32:22,000 to attend Ford's Theatre 684 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:24,417 the night of the assassination attempt. 685 00:32:24,417 --> 00:32:26,792 - [Laurence] Grant is originally set to accompany the Lincolns 686 00:32:26,792 --> 00:32:28,417 to Ford's Theatre that night, 687 00:32:28,417 --> 00:32:31,167 but drops out at the last minute. 688 00:32:31,167 --> 00:32:32,917 The author claims that Secretary 689 00:32:32,917 --> 00:32:35,375 of War Stanton convinced Grant 690 00:32:35,375 --> 00:32:37,542 to refuse Lincoln's invitation. 691 00:32:37,542 --> 00:32:40,625 Stanton argued that having the victorious commander 692 00:32:40,625 --> 00:32:43,750 and the president together at the same public function would 693 00:32:43,750 --> 00:32:45,833 present a security risk. 694 00:32:45,833 --> 00:32:48,333 - [Sami] When Grant decides to go to New Jersey, 695 00:32:48,333 --> 00:32:51,750 Stanton seems a bit more lax about Lincoln's 696 00:32:51,750 --> 00:32:53,500 security detail that night. 697 00:32:53,500 --> 00:32:57,042 - Eisenschiml also alleges that Lincoln personally requests 698 00:32:57,042 --> 00:32:59,542 to have one of his best bodyguards, Eckert, 699 00:32:59,542 --> 00:33:02,125 be with him the night of the play. 700 00:33:02,125 --> 00:33:03,875 - [Heather] Eckert is a very strong guy. 701 00:33:03,875 --> 00:33:06,208 It's even rumored they can break fire pokers, you know, 702 00:33:06,208 --> 00:33:07,750 with just his bare hands 703 00:33:07,750 --> 00:33:10,250 and Stanton says, "No, he can't go to the theater". 704 00:33:10,250 --> 00:33:12,625 Why can't he go to the theater? 705 00:33:12,625 --> 00:33:15,125 He's got very important work to do that night 706 00:33:16,375 --> 00:33:18,958 - [Laurence] With Lincoln's preferred bodyguard unavailable, 707 00:33:18,958 --> 00:33:22,500 Washington police patrolman John Frederick Parker, 708 00:33:22,500 --> 00:33:24,292 one of four officers assigned 709 00:33:24,292 --> 00:33:26,375 to White House detail steps in. 710 00:33:27,625 --> 00:33:30,583 - [Vaughn] Allegedly Parker had a checkered history, allegations 711 00:33:30,583 --> 00:33:32,500 of activity unbecoming of an officer. 712 00:33:32,500 --> 00:33:34,958 At one point, allegedly in 1864, 713 00:33:34,958 --> 00:33:36,708 he got himself mixed up in a brothel 714 00:33:36,708 --> 00:33:39,292 and fired his pistol through a window. 715 00:33:39,292 --> 00:33:42,583 - [Barton] Parker is mysteriously not there 716 00:33:42,583 --> 00:33:45,167 to protect Lincoln on that evening. 717 00:33:45,167 --> 00:33:46,583 What had actually happened was 718 00:33:46,583 --> 00:33:48,292 that John Frederick Parker had gone across the street 719 00:33:48,292 --> 00:33:52,042 to the bar with Lincoln's valet, his coach driver. 720 00:33:52,042 --> 00:33:53,625 - [Martin] A bar coincidentally, which is 721 00:33:53,625 --> 00:33:56,458 where John Wilkes Booth is also physically present, 722 00:33:56,458 --> 00:33:59,042 tying on a few drinks to give him some liquid courage to go 723 00:33:59,042 --> 00:34:00,625 and carry out the assassination. 724 00:34:02,875 --> 00:34:05,375 Eisenschiml believes that Stanton's denying 725 00:34:05,375 --> 00:34:07,375 the President's request about Eckert 726 00:34:07,375 --> 00:34:10,750 and giving him Parker instead was paving the way for 727 00:34:10,750 --> 00:34:14,667 and making it easier for Booth to carry out the crime. 728 00:34:14,667 --> 00:34:16,833 - [Vaughn] If you wanted to go with Eisenschiml's theory, 729 00:34:16,833 --> 00:34:19,542 you could look at what Stanton does afterwards. 730 00:34:19,542 --> 00:34:21,542 Parker has a slap on the wrist. 731 00:34:21,542 --> 00:34:24,542 He's never even officially noted in the assassination report 732 00:34:24,542 --> 00:34:28,667 and then he's still on White House detail after this. 733 00:34:28,667 --> 00:34:30,333 - [Laurence] Some believe this all points 734 00:34:30,333 --> 00:34:33,667 to Stanton orchestrating an assassination plot 735 00:34:33,667 --> 00:34:35,875 and there's even more suspicious 736 00:34:35,875 --> 00:34:38,458 behavior after the murder. 737 00:34:38,458 --> 00:34:41,417 - [Barton] Booth and David Herold were both somehow able 738 00:34:41,417 --> 00:34:43,000 to make an escape. 739 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:46,042 The bridges were supposed to be secured by the Union Army. 740 00:34:46,042 --> 00:34:47,542 How they managed to get through 741 00:34:47,542 --> 00:34:49,833 that night across the bridges was of real concern 742 00:34:49,833 --> 00:34:52,750 to Eisenschiml, so he believed that somehow this pointed 743 00:34:52,750 --> 00:34:55,167 to a larger conspiracy. 744 00:34:56,458 --> 00:34:58,208 - [Laurence] The author also questions the handling 745 00:34:58,208 --> 00:35:00,375 of the standoff between Booth 746 00:35:00,375 --> 00:35:02,708 and Union soldiers in Virginia. 747 00:35:04,042 --> 00:35:07,208 - [Martin] Stanton had ordered that booth be taken alive. 748 00:35:07,208 --> 00:35:10,167 His death then at least to Eisenschiml, 749 00:35:10,167 --> 00:35:12,375 proves that this assassination plot 750 00:35:12,375 --> 00:35:15,208 inside job has been carried out perfectly 751 00:35:15,208 --> 00:35:17,375 because now Booth can't possibly provide any 752 00:35:17,375 --> 00:35:20,417 testimony in any trial. 753 00:35:20,417 --> 00:35:21,708 - [Sami] So if you follow this theory, 754 00:35:21,708 --> 00:35:23,292 this is Stanton just tying up loose ends 755 00:35:23,292 --> 00:35:25,542 and he continues to do so by pushing 756 00:35:25,542 --> 00:35:28,292 for the military trial of the co-conspirators 757 00:35:28,292 --> 00:35:30,625 - [Laurence] When published in 1937, 758 00:35:30,625 --> 00:35:34,500 "Why Was Lincoln Murdered?" causes an uproar. 759 00:35:34,500 --> 00:35:37,708 Critics ask, why would Stanton do this? 760 00:35:37,708 --> 00:35:39,333 - [Sami] Now when it comes to Lincoln 761 00:35:39,333 --> 00:35:41,125 and Stanton's actual relationship, 762 00:35:41,125 --> 00:35:43,500 this has always been a matter of debate. 763 00:35:43,500 --> 00:35:45,083 For starter, Stanton was not a supporter 764 00:35:45,083 --> 00:35:47,083 of Lincoln in 1860 in the election, 765 00:35:47,083 --> 00:35:48,208 he was actually a supporter 766 00:35:48,208 --> 00:35:50,208 of his opponent, John Breckenridge. 767 00:35:50,208 --> 00:35:51,625 - [Laurence] The author suggests Stanton 768 00:35:51,625 --> 00:35:55,208 was worried Lincoln would fire him once the war ended. 769 00:35:55,208 --> 00:35:56,458 If he could cause chaos 770 00:35:56,458 --> 00:35:58,875 and confusion with an assassination, 771 00:35:58,875 --> 00:36:01,875 then perhaps he could maintain control of the army 772 00:36:01,875 --> 00:36:03,708 and consolidate power. 773 00:36:03,708 --> 00:36:07,167 - [Sami] But skeptics see a problem with this theory. 774 00:36:07,167 --> 00:36:09,875 The two men had buried all their differences during the war 775 00:36:09,875 --> 00:36:12,875 and following Lincoln's assassination, it was said 776 00:36:12,875 --> 00:36:17,333 to have deeply, deeply affected Stanton for quite some time. 777 00:36:21,542 --> 00:36:23,625 - [Laurence] Approximately seven hours 778 00:36:23,625 --> 00:36:26,500 before the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, 779 00:36:26,500 --> 00:36:30,667 John Wilkes Booth pays a visit to the Kirkwood House Hotel. 780 00:36:30,667 --> 00:36:33,542 It's not just any Washington inn, 781 00:36:33,542 --> 00:36:35,583 it happens to be the residence 782 00:36:35,583 --> 00:36:39,000 of Vice President Andrew Johnson. 783 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:40,500 - John Wilkes Booth asks whether 784 00:36:40,500 --> 00:36:43,833 or not the vice president is there. 785 00:36:43,833 --> 00:36:46,583 The clerk at the desk says, I'll check. 786 00:36:46,583 --> 00:36:49,250 And he says, oh, wait a minute, don't bother. 787 00:36:49,250 --> 00:36:51,375 And he takes out a piece of paper 788 00:36:51,375 --> 00:36:54,417 and he writes, don't wish to disturb you. 789 00:36:54,417 --> 00:36:57,750 Are you at home? J. Wilkes Booth. 790 00:36:57,750 --> 00:36:59,333 - [Laurence] This cryptic note never gets 791 00:36:59,333 --> 00:37:01,542 to Johnson that day, 792 00:37:01,542 --> 00:37:04,917 but it fuels two questions that remain unanswered. 793 00:37:04,917 --> 00:37:07,708 Why was Booth reaching out to the vice president 794 00:37:07,708 --> 00:37:11,042 and why would they appear to know each other? 795 00:37:11,042 --> 00:37:14,208 - [Sami] George Atzerodt, the man who was apparently tasked 796 00:37:14,208 --> 00:37:17,500 with killing vice President Andrew Johnson was also staying 797 00:37:17,500 --> 00:37:19,375 at the same hotel as Johnson, 798 00:37:19,375 --> 00:37:21,125 but he ends up not going through the assassination 799 00:37:21,125 --> 00:37:22,792 because he ends up getting cold feet. 800 00:37:22,792 --> 00:37:25,167 - Some people believe that Booth was doing this simply 801 00:37:25,167 --> 00:37:26,875 because he was concerned 802 00:37:26,875 --> 00:37:28,750 that Atzerodt might not carry out the crime 803 00:37:28,750 --> 00:37:30,250 and he was laying a framework for him 804 00:37:30,250 --> 00:37:33,333 to do the job later on if necessary. 805 00:37:33,333 --> 00:37:34,875 But there's also then a belief 806 00:37:34,875 --> 00:37:37,792 that it could be just Booth leaving this little piece 807 00:37:37,792 --> 00:37:41,375 of evidence that would suggest a conspiracy 808 00:37:41,375 --> 00:37:43,708 that also involves the US vice President. 809 00:37:43,708 --> 00:37:46,542 [dramatic music] 810 00:37:48,583 --> 00:37:51,542 - [Vaughn] Some historians wonder whether John Wilkes Booth 811 00:37:51,542 --> 00:37:53,708 and Andrew Johnson had met. 812 00:37:53,708 --> 00:37:55,375 Well, there's some circumstantial evidence there 813 00:37:55,375 --> 00:37:56,750 to suggests that maybe they had, 814 00:37:56,750 --> 00:37:59,333 because Johnson is from Tennessee 815 00:37:59,333 --> 00:38:03,250 and we know that John Wilkes Booth performed at the newly 816 00:38:03,250 --> 00:38:06,458 opened Woods Theater in 1864 there. 817 00:38:07,833 --> 00:38:09,500 - [Sami] Now, at the time of the assassination, plenty 818 00:38:09,500 --> 00:38:11,208 of people think that Johnson is involved, 819 00:38:11,208 --> 00:38:14,042 including Abraham Lincoln's widow, Mary Todd Lincoln. 820 00:38:14,042 --> 00:38:18,083 In fact, in a letter that she wrote in 1866, she writes 821 00:38:18,083 --> 00:38:21,667 "That miserable inebriate Johnson had cognizance 822 00:38:21,667 --> 00:38:23,208 of my husband's death." 823 00:38:23,208 --> 00:38:24,958 She goes on to say, "As sure as you 824 00:38:24,958 --> 00:38:28,583 and I live, Johnson had some hand in all of this." 825 00:38:28,583 --> 00:38:30,250 - [Laurence] In 1867, 826 00:38:30,250 --> 00:38:33,750 Missouri representative Benjamin Loan publicly accuses 827 00:38:33,750 --> 00:38:36,417 Johnson of conspiring with the Confederacy 828 00:38:36,417 --> 00:38:39,042 to assassinate Lincoln. 829 00:38:39,042 --> 00:38:41,208 - [Martin] Benjamin Loan says that Andrew Johnson only became 830 00:38:41,208 --> 00:38:44,500 president as a result of an assassination that was paid for 831 00:38:44,500 --> 00:38:46,125 by Confederate Gold 832 00:38:46,125 --> 00:38:47,333 and the price that Johnson paid 833 00:38:47,333 --> 00:38:49,792 for his promotion was treachery. 834 00:38:52,208 --> 00:38:53,708 These suspicions are so serious 835 00:38:53,708 --> 00:38:56,000 that they eventually establish a body 836 00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:57,583 to investigate the extent 837 00:38:57,583 --> 00:39:00,458 to which Andrew Johnson may have been involved in the plot 838 00:39:00,458 --> 00:39:02,458 to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. 839 00:39:02,458 --> 00:39:04,917 - [Barton] What they find is that there is no concrete direct 840 00:39:04,917 --> 00:39:08,000 evidence that Andrew Johnson was involved with Booth 841 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:11,000 or any of the planning related to the assassination. 842 00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:12,833 - [Vaughn] Even with the close investigation, 843 00:39:12,833 --> 00:39:14,667 for some people, it's hard to get past it. 844 00:39:14,667 --> 00:39:16,958 That night of all three people who had anything 845 00:39:16,958 --> 00:39:19,208 to gain from Lincoln's assassination, 846 00:39:19,208 --> 00:39:21,375 Andrew Johnson had the most 847 00:39:21,375 --> 00:39:23,000 'cause he'd be the next president. 848 00:39:24,333 --> 00:39:26,625 You could also argue that Booth leaves this note at 849 00:39:26,625 --> 00:39:29,250 the hotel because he actually does want to talk to Johnson 850 00:39:29,250 --> 00:39:33,042 because Johnson actually was the mastermind of the plan. 851 00:39:33,042 --> 00:39:36,042 - [Barton] There are a number of areas where Andrew Johnson's 852 00:39:36,042 --> 00:39:40,292 policy and decisions after the Lincoln assassination do make 853 00:39:40,292 --> 00:39:42,042 him look more suspect. 854 00:39:42,042 --> 00:39:46,000 One was his May, 1865 proclamation 855 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:47,708 where he gives amnesty 856 00:39:47,708 --> 00:39:50,292 to most Confederate people involved 857 00:39:50,292 --> 00:39:51,708 in the American Civil War. 858 00:39:51,708 --> 00:39:53,042 That didn't do anything 859 00:39:53,042 --> 00:39:54,750 to help his public reputation in terms 860 00:39:54,750 --> 00:39:56,833 of Lincoln assassination. 861 00:39:56,833 --> 00:39:58,625 - [Christy] Had it not occurred, 862 00:39:58,625 --> 00:40:00,917 there's all kinds of speculation of what kind 863 00:40:00,917 --> 00:40:05,208 of president would Lincoln have been, given his full second 864 00:40:05,208 --> 00:40:07,750 term, and we'll never know. 865 00:40:07,750 --> 00:40:11,000 That was stripped away from this by the conspirators. 866 00:40:12,667 --> 00:40:15,875 - [Sami] Johnson's one term presidency is just filled 867 00:40:15,875 --> 00:40:18,667 with all these terrible political battles. 868 00:40:18,667 --> 00:40:21,208 Case in point, he tried to fire a member of his cabinet and 869 00:40:21,208 --> 00:40:23,708 because of that he was brought up on impeachment charges 870 00:40:23,708 --> 00:40:26,375 and he was saved from being convicted of impeachment 871 00:40:26,375 --> 00:40:28,542 by one vote. 872 00:40:28,542 --> 00:40:31,208 - [Marvin] Many historians today regard President Andrew Johnson 873 00:40:31,208 --> 00:40:34,208 as one of the worst presidents in US history, the president 874 00:40:34,208 --> 00:40:35,750 who started off reconstruction 875 00:40:35,750 --> 00:40:39,750 and tried to veto any kind of reconstruction legislation 876 00:40:39,750 --> 00:40:43,208 that would've had a positive effect on the Black Americans. 877 00:40:43,208 --> 00:40:46,083 - [Sami] The Congressional Committee designed 878 00:40:46,083 --> 00:40:47,500 to investigate Johnson as to whether he had 879 00:40:47,500 --> 00:40:49,000 to hand the assassination doesn't come up 880 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:52,042 with any real, hard evidence to prove 881 00:40:52,042 --> 00:40:54,292 that he had a part of it outside of the note 882 00:40:54,292 --> 00:40:56,625 that Booth left in the mailbox. 883 00:40:56,625 --> 00:40:58,875 But even after that, many Americans, 884 00:40:58,875 --> 00:41:02,292 including Mary Todd Lincoln, still firmly believed 885 00:41:02,292 --> 00:41:04,792 that Johnson was a part of the plan. 886 00:41:05,708 --> 00:41:08,750 [dramatic music] 887 00:41:08,750 --> 00:41:11,083 - Abraham Lincoln was the first US president 888 00:41:11,083 --> 00:41:15,250 to be assassinated and the shock continues to reverberate. 889 00:41:15,250 --> 00:41:16,708 More than a century 890 00:41:16,708 --> 00:41:19,375 and a half later, new books are being written about 891 00:41:19,375 --> 00:41:20,875 his life and death. 892 00:41:20,875 --> 00:41:24,833 The turmoil of Lincoln's time in some ways is still with us, 893 00:41:24,833 --> 00:41:28,792 and so is the desire to know the truth about a conspiracy 894 00:41:28,792 --> 00:41:32,542 that left us forever changed as a nation. 895 00:41:33,625 --> 00:41:35,250 I'm Laurence Fishburne. 896 00:41:35,250 --> 00:41:38,708 Thank you for watching his 'History's Greatest Mysteries". 897 00:41:38,708 --> 00:41:41,708 [dramatic music]