Dark History - 165: The Psychotic Actor & Assassin Who Killed America’s Favorite President

Episode Date: April 9, 2025

Hi friends, happy Wednesday! There are some things from history class that just stick in my brain. Mostly… the murders. I’m sure this isn’t surprising to anyone.  Like JFK getting shot in his car. Or… Julius Caesar getting stabbed in the back. And, for some reason I always remembered that Abraham Lincoln was shot in a theater.  I always thought, “wow, way to ruin everyone's night at the theater.” But that's really all I knew.  But after some searching… I was SHOCKED to learn the real story. I appreciate you for coming by, and tune in next week for more Dark History. I sometimes talk about my Good Reads in the show. So here's the link if you want to check it out. IDK. lol: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/139701263-bailey FOLLOW ME AROUND Tik Tok: https://bit.ly/3e3jL9v Instagram: http://bit.ly/2nbO4PR Facebook: http://bit.ly/2mdZtK6 Twitter: http://bit.ly/2yT4BLV Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2mVpXnY Youtube: http://bit.ly/1HGw3Og Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3cC0V9d Discord: https://discord.gg/BaileySarian* RECOMMEND A STORY HERE: [e-mail] Business Related Emails: [e-mail] Business Related Mail: Bailey Sarian 4400 W. Riverside Dr., Ste 110-300 Burbank, CA 91505  ________ Credits: This podcast is Executive Produced by: Bailey Sarian & Kevin Grosch and Joey Scavuzzo from Made In Network Head Writer: Allyson Philobos Writer: Katie Burris Additional Writing: Vicky Castro Research provided by: Dr. Thomas Messersmith Special thank you to our Historical Consultant:  Luke A. Nichter, History  Professor at Chapman University, and author of “The Year that Broke  Politics: Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election of 1968” Director: Brian Jaggers Edited by: Julien Perez Additional Editing: Maria Norris Post Supervisor: Kelly Hardin  Production Management: Ross Woodruff Hair: Luca Burnett Makeup: Jill Powell ________ For a limited time only our listeners get 10% off your order with our exclusive link. Just head to https://www.hexclad.com/darkhistory. Make sure to let them know we sent you! Bon Appetit, Let’s Eat with Hexclad’s revolutionary cookware. I love Hungryroot. Take advantage of this exclusive offer: For a limited time get 40% off your first box PLUS get a free item in every box for life. Go to  https://www.hungryroot.com/darkhistory and use code "darkhistory." Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to  https://www.rocketmoney.com/darkhistory today. 

There are some things from history class that just stick in my brain. Mostly the bad stuff like the murders. I'm sure that's not surprising to anyone. They made us watch JFK getting shot in his car like over and over and over again and even in slow motion and I remember that very much. I was like why are we watching this? And then for some reason I always remembered um Abraham Lincoln shot in a theater and I always thought to myself wow way to ruin everyone's night at the theater you know but that's really all I knew but after some searching I was shocked shocked to learn the real history John Wilkes Booth was this dashing magnetic actor who was adored by

women envied by men, and celebrated on stages across the nation. I mean he was living every thespian's dreams. Born into a family of renowned thespians, he had everything, charisma, talent, and a name that could command any theater in America. But behind those big beautiful eyes and his theatrical flair, there was something darker simmering beneath the surface. On one fateful night in April, John Wilkes Booth stepped into the Ford's theater with a plan that would change the course of American history. But what drove this once beloved star to

commit the ultimate betrayal? And honestly, what was this deal? What was this deal? Welcome to the dark history of America's most infamous assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Hi friends, I hope you're having a wonderful day today. My name is Bailey Sarian and I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. Here we believe history does not have to be boring. No, it doesn't, okay? It might be tragic, sometimes it's happy, but either way, it's our dark history. Before we get into it, don't forget to like and subscribe because I'm always posting new stuff for you.

And don't forget to leave a comment down below letting me know what your favorite color is. Now let's talk. John Wilkes Booth. Maybe you've heard of him, maybe you haven't. Here's a basic summary. He killed President Abe Lincoln and people have been talking about it ever since. He kind of like rang a little bell in my head because we talked about him or we mentioned him in our Oklahoma bombing

episode a few episodes back. So what's up with this guy and why? Why do we care? John was born in May 1838 and he was born into a wealthy family. He grew up on like a fancy farm in Bel Air, Maryland. John's father, his name was Junius. He was, I guess, a pretty famous actor in England, okay? He was a stage actor, and he would perform in London all year long. So safe to say, he wasn't around much.

Meanwhile, his wife Mary Ann she was stuck at home living in America with ten kids. John was the ninth out of ten kids so he's you know the forgotten ones. So yeah she could use some help you know. When daddy Junius did come home he had bit of a, it was said he had a drinking problem and he would just cause chaos, okay? There were times where this led him to just being angry, unpredictable and violent towards the family. I mean, Junius was even violent just out in the world.

He would get into like random fights with people. He assaulted many of his friends. And there was even a time where he shot a man in the face and like nothing came from it. The 1800s were wild. Anywho, Junius, who again John's dad, also had some mental health problems. It's reported that he tried to take his own life on three separate occasions. So many historians and stuff believe that John's childhood was extremely dysfunctional. Anyway there was really nothing interesting with John about his life. Like not that we know of. Up until he was about nine years old

where he and his brother Edwin made a little stage and like theater area to put on plays in their backyard. The two loved putting on plays and dreamed of being a big famous star just like their father. Well, when John became a preteen, this is when he started to develop a bit of a violent streak, kind of just like his daddy.

Or maybe it was because he was acting out because he wanted attention and just wasn't receiving any because of the violent chaotic household he was in just a thought but actually though John you see he committed one of the ultimate sins one that you can never do or you will be burned at the stake when he was 12 years old John apparently started killing cats oh yes and even though this was the 1800s, even back then people were like, mm, you can't see that.

You can't see that. I know, I was like, wow, his dad can shoot a guy in the face, but you can't F with cats. It's true. So John's getting a little aggressive, okay. Around this time, John also developed a habit that would become his calling card.

He was obsessed with putting his initials, J-W-B, on everything. Kids and their graffiti, you know? He even went as far as tattooing his initials around his wrist, which I thought was wild because I was like, okay, so 1800s and he got a tattoo? I know, I know. That alone, I was like, what?

How, when, where, what, huh, hm? But he did. While John is growing up, America was going through a wild time. That's because in 1850, a law called the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. Now, there's a lot to this law, okay? I'm gonna give you the basic foundation here.

Essentially, it was requiring enslaved people to be lot to this law, okay? I'm gonna give you the basic foundation here. Essentially, it was requiring enslaved people to be returned to their owners, even if they had escaped and were now living in a free state. This gets passed. Now, John's grandpa lived on the family farm with the family, Grandpa Booth. Now, Grandpa Booth was like a good guy.

The family farm was the perfect location to help people who were on the run. It was 177 acres, alone in the woods, and it was on a road that led directly to Pennsylvania. And why does this matter? Because Pennsylvania was a free state for enslaved people. So if an enslaved person was trying to flee to Pennsylvania, most likely they'd be going through this path. for enslaved people. So if an enslaved person was trying to flee to Pennsylvania, most likely they'd be going through this path. And like Grandpa Booth was right there

helping them along their escape. He would hide them, he would do, he would just help them out any way he could. Now, if you were caught doing this, you were essentially putting your life on the line. But the Booth family strongly believed in helping people. I mean, even if that meant risking their own lives. You know growing up around this John became close with his black neighbors who his grandpa had helped free. So he seemed to

have grown up in like a forward-thinking household for that time. But it wasn't always the safest place to be especially when this this this act got passed. When the Fugitive Slave Act was passed, a close friend of the Booth family was killed while trying to recapture four enslaved people who were trying to escape. Now this had like a really big impact on John. I mean he was devastated that their family friend was now dead. In John's mind, he somehow flipped the script here and he blamed black Americans as the problem. He's like, they're the reason that my friend died. They're the reason that my grandpa was always busy.

I don't know if that's true, but like maybe. He started to grow some kind of just deep hate, blaming them for everything that was wrong in his life and in this country. John even started like publicly expressing his dislike for black people. He once said quote, this country was formed for the white not the black and looking upon African slavery I have considered it one of the greatest blessings both for themselves and us that God ever bestowed upon a favored nation." What a dick. So he's just going against like everything that kind of was

raised around. Well John was still a teenager when he was like going off like that and his home life was suffering as well. His family had honestly they had enough of John and like his he was just like a angry, angsty teenager pretty much and they decided to send him off to military school at St. Timothy Hulls. And according to historians it's here that John began dreaming of doing something bigger to make sure like no one would ever forget the John Wilkes Booth name. Hi, it's me.

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fever and ended up dying. After John's family passed away, it came to light that his father owed a lot of money to people around town. So at 15, John had to leave school to move back to the family farm and get to work. Now when he got back there, he was pissed. He's like back at square one, you know, when he was finally like doing something

for himself at school. So he's just stewing in the hate, you know. He's like, fuck that, I don't want to be at this farm, like fuck this place. Plus again, like things are just changing all around him in America. There's a ton of immigration happening, tons of people were coming in from Europe. John had hired immigrants to help him with the the farm, but apparently they didn't seem to get along. Different farming techniques, I guess. But John believed that the immigrants

who had just come to America had it way easier than his family did, you know? You've heard people like this before, you know? And he started to resent them for that. Well, John needed some friends, a sense of community, some like-minded people like himself. So he finds a group of people who called themselves the American Party and asked to join. Now the American Party, they also were known as the Know Nothing Party, was a pretty controversial

group. They were pro-slavery, they opposed immigration, especially by Irish Catholics and other groups perceived as a threat to American Protestant values and jobs. And John just loved this. He was like, I love this, this is exactly what I love. Now this group, they were called the Know Nothings because if anyone asked what was happening behind closed doors during those controversial meetings,

members were told to say, quote, "'I know nothing.'" It's kind of like Fight Club, you know? Nah, I don't know. But John was enjoying these meetings and being a part of the group, you know? But while he was spending more time there, the Booth family farm was slowly falling apart.

So word gets back to John's older brother, Edwin. Now at this point point Edwin is like on the stage being famous. So he gets word, Edwin gets word that things at the farm are not going so well. So he decides to come back home and help out. Edwin took after his father was doing some acting out west. When he came back to the farm he realized it was in bad shape and something drastic needed to be done if they wanted to save it. So Edwin made the decision to rent out the family farm

and hopefully like make some money off of it. And that's all fine and dandy, but at this point John was like, what, like what am I gonna do? Well, Edwin had an idea. Edwin told his brother, hey, I always remember that you were great at public speaking.

So he tells John the best way to make some money quick would be for him to move to a big city and get into acting. Do it! Just do it! So at 19 John moves to Philadelphia where he finds a job pretty quickly. John gets hired to perform a major Shakespeare play. I don't talk about life doing a 180. He went from the farm to the stage real quick. I mean, this was exciting to him. He was like, I'm gonna be a famous actor. A name to be remembered. It was everything he wanted.

This was his moment. So he does this practicing, great. He's gonna be an actor. Well, on opening night, he walked out on stage and I guess he just went completely blank. Crickets. He forgot his lines. It didn't take long for the people in the audience

to start heckling and hissing at him. At this time, hissing people on stage was like the most insulting way to heckle an actor. Sss, sss, sss, sss, sss. So being hissed at was, it was just like the ultimate burn, okay, you didn. So being hissed at was it was just like the ultimate burn okay you didn't want to be hissed at. Well this was just fuel to the fire really for him John because after this embarrassment he made it his mission to make sure he never embarrassed himself or the Booth family name again. So he kept at it you know he could have gave up but he kept at it and eventually

He kept at it. He could have gave up, but he kept at it. And eventually audiences and critics came around. People started describing John as magnetic and passionate. Critics called him, quote, the handsomest man in America. Yeah, nothing about his acting skills. He was just handsome, I guess. Just making everyone forget about that bad opening night he had, really. So John's doing well and he keeps auditioning for a ton of new roles and then finally he lands a role in a play with his brother Edwin. Two great actors and brothers on the same stage? I mean

people wanted to see this. Give me tickets now! And the play turned out to be a smash hit. Their joint appearance did so well that John T. Ford, the theater's manager, recruited John to work with him at another theater in Richmond, Virginia. Now when he got there, John landed the lead role in a play called Our American Cousin. And yeah, I guess he killed it. John's career really took off after this. He couldn't walk on the street without getting moped

by adoring fans. It was clear at this time that he was no longer living in the shadows of his dad or his brother, and he finally earned the Booth family name. But instead of partying with like fangirls, because there was lots, you know, and living the lavish life of a celebrity, he spent most of his time sitting at home alone

and just stewing about politics. Alfie did leave the house, it was only to go to those political meetings. John was extremely disturbed by the anti-slavery talk that was happening in town. He used to think the whole like free the slaves movement was just a phase but now it seemed like it was picking up steam. It was pissing him off and it was all thanks to a rising political star named Abraham Lincoln. Hi I don't know about you guys

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In society at this time there was a very clear divide between people who wanted to end slavery and people who wanted to keep it going. And at the heart of that debate was a man named Abraham Lincoln. Now Lincoln, if you don't know, was a politician who came from very humble beginnings. He was born into poverty in a log cabin in Kentucky but he rose to power as a respected lawyer and politician. He gained a lot of attention during his Senate race in 1858 where he made a point to take a stand against slavery. Now this was very controversial at the time

because the economy depended on free labor, AKA slavery, just to function. Most of society was extremely racist and did not view enslaved people as human beings. So they were like, what is this guy talking about? But Lincoln was popular because he made it clear to the people that his core values were integrity and honesty and the public really respected him for it. And most importantly,

the American people, they liked him and they trusted him. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln won the presidency. Now John, he's like, oh he doesn't like this guy, he doesn like, oh, he doesn't like this guy. He doesn't like him. He doesn't like his beliefs. He doesn't like where this is leading. He's just getting worked up. John believed that Lincoln's victory meant one thing, war. And it would only be a matter of time

before the American government declared war against the South. And to be honest, John wasn't like the, wasn't crazy to have this thought because at the time it was essentially the North versus the South. And the North had a huge population of people who believed in ending slavery.

But at the same time, people in the South wanted to keep slavery and they also wanted to form their own country and government away from everyone else. So there was quite a bit of tension between the two. Okay, even John got in on this saying quote, If I could I would kill every damn abolitionist in the north then there would be no war. Okay John, you know? Okay, John's on like the edge of his seat, moments away from a mental breakdown, just waiting for a war to begin.

And then on April 12th, 1861, John, John felt he was proven right. The Civil War officially begins. And hey, look, real talk, John actually has an opportunity to put his money where his mouth is and like go fight in the war. It's like, hey John, go. Now's your time.

But he refuses. Some historians believe that John had a fear of blood, which kept him from fighting, but there's no way for sure. Others say his mom didn't want him to go. We don't really know the other reason. Instead of fighting in the war, John continued performing on stages across America.

While John was acting in a play called The Marble Heart, President Abe Lincoln actually came and watched John's performance. The character John played had sympathy for enslaved people and it was a very moving piece to Lincoln, so much so that he wanted to actually meet John and shake his hand. But John was disgusted. This was not flattering to him. He refused to meet President Lincoln. John's like, hello? That was called acting. Yeah, all right. I don't really feel like that. John even went on to say that he would rather have an applause from a black man than Lincoln. So I don't even know what to follow that

with. Okay. As time went on it didn't matter how successful John's career was, he was depressed. The Civil War was raging killing tens of thousands of people every single day, you know, and things started looking worse and worse for the South. So just like his father, John began drinking heavily to cope with his feelings. And eventually he was so jaded by everything happening in the world, he decided to just retire from acting. It just wasn't doing it for him anymore.

Unfortunately, this meant John had a little too much time on his hands. Yeah, so he spent most of his free time staying up on politics and plotting. Because you know why? He decided he was finally gonna do something. Do something that would get everyone's attention. John decided in order to save America he must kidnap President Abraham Lincoln. So John settles on the idea of kidnapping Lincoln. Look, he didn't really think this through

because if you think about it, John at the time was 5'8", President Lincoln is 6'4", so good luck, you know? Okay, but John recruits two of his friends, one guy named Samuel and another guy named Michael. And he tells them like, look, we're gonna kidnap the president, okay? And he brings them on board.

Now there are even some reports that say John had members of the Southern government helping him hatch this plan, but nothing has been confirmed. Essentially, the plan was to kidnap Lincoln and take him to Richmond, Virginia, where he would be held hostage and forced to end the war. That was the plan.

So over several months, John tries to get close enough to kidnap the president, but he either fails or he just straight up gets too nervous. It's like his stage fright all over again. He's feeling like a failure, you know? His only comfort is holding out hope that the South is going to win the Civil War. And at this point he's thinking, you know, maybe this problem will like solve itself and I won't have to kidnap the president.

But later that year on April 9th, 1865, the South surrendered. After four long bloody years, the Civil War was over and the South had lost. Now John was seeing red. He never thought they would lose. Rather than throw in the towel, he really fuels his anger even more. So on April 11, 186565 John decided to attend one of Lincoln's speeches. Now Lincoln would be addressing the crowd from a White House window so like nobody could get to him or get close to him but John just had to go to like see what Lincoln was gonna say. President Lincoln was famously known

as like a captivating speaker and John was in a crowd surrounded by the president's most adoring fans. So to him, he was in hell. During the speech, Lincoln talked about a lot of important issues like how to bring the country back together and how the economy was going to recover after the war. But then the president says something that shocks everyone. It was like a jaw dropping moment. Lincoln took his anti-slavery stance one step further. Many of the soldiers who fought in the Civil War were enslaved or previously enslaved black Americans. Lincoln got up there and said boldly that black soldiers who served in the war deserved

to have voting rights. I know. Which crickets for us were like yeah but back then this was wild people were like voting rights it's like yeah but the second those words left Lincoln's lips John was done he's like done America's done everything's done Done. He's like, done. America's done. Everything's done. It has to end. At this point, he no longer wanted to kidnap Lincoln. Now he wanted him dead.

He turns to one of his buddies who is at the speech with him and he tells his friend like, hey, get your gun, cause he had his gun on him. Get your gun and shoot the president. Like right here. He's like, go, do it. I said, do it, shoot. Thankfully, this guy refused.

And it became clear to John that he needed to be the one to kill Lincoln because nobody else would. You know, he's like, if I wanna get something done, I just have to do it myself. Apparently after Lincoln's speech, John told his friends, quote, this is the last speech he will ever make. Over the next three days, John is down in whiskey

and making plans to take Lincoln out. He realizes though, you know, they can't just kill Lincoln. They have to quote, decapitate the government. So John assembles a few co-conspirators and assigns each of them a kill. So one person's job would be to kill the vice president and the other would kill the secretary of the state. And then he would kill the president.

So with all three dead, America would be thrown into absolute chaos and in their mind, the South could take over the country. At the same time, John's old boss at Ford's theater casually tells him like Lincoln would be coming by to watch a play. You know, just a light conversation, not a big deal. But this was like a light bulb moment for John. He's like, Ford Theater, huh?

Huh, well I know this theater very well, you know? A theater where people knew him. So to John, that meant he can go anywhere without being questioned because everyone's familiar with him there. And if the president was there, he's like, maybe I could go up and like say hello or something. After some light stalking, John found out that President Lincoln's bodyguard wouldn't be with him during the show and John knew this was going to be the

moment. On the evening of April 14th 1865 Lincoln walked into the theater into a crowd of people who were so excited to see him. It was said that President Lincoln didn't really want to come to the show but he already had made some promises that he would be there so he showed up. Lincoln, you know, he sits down in one of those private theater boxes watching the performance of our American cousin. Meanwhile, John made his way into the theater and was making his way to the balcony seating area where Lincoln was at. On his way up there, he passed several theater workers who again all familiar with him so no one thought it was odd that John

was there just as he planned. Once John got to the balcony level, he reached into his pocket and gripped a 44 caliber Philadelphia Derringer. John snuck up to the edge of Lincoln's seat and just listened to the performance waiting. John had performed Our American Cousin years ago, you know? So he knew exactly when the audience would laugh, when that would happen, and all that jazz, you know? And he knew these laughs would provide the perfect noise to cover the sound of his gunshot. So John just waited for a big laugh. As soon as the laughs started, John jumps into Lincoln's seating area and shouts, FREEDOM! And then

shoots President Lincoln point blank in the back of the head. Lincoln's head slumps forward, his wife who's sitting next to him is screaming as she should. Another politician in the box jumps on John trying to stop him from getting away, but John had a knife on him and started stabbing the guy. So John obviously needed and wanted to get the hell out of there and there was really only one way to do it. So he jumps from Lincoln's like seating area in the balcony. He jumps from there all the way to the stage, which was like an 11 foot drop. John's foot gets caught on some kind of decoration

on the railing. So he falls on his leg and he ends up breaking it. But John, you know, adrenaline was pumping, okay? So he gets up, he limps over to the stage, shouting, the South is avenged! And at this point, the audience starts freaking out because they realized like this was not part of the show. You know?

They knew like something was wrong, but they were like not exactly sure what was wrong. John, the dramatic actor that he is, then takes center stage and shouts out in Latin, six semper tyrannis, tyranis he said, six semper tyranis. I'm sure he said it better than that, but you know, which means thus always to tyrants, AKA death to tyrants.

So then John hobbled to the hallway door so he could escape without getting caught. John managed to hobble where his horse was, mount it, and then ride off into the night. John knew he would be like the most wanted man in America, and there would be only one place he thought he could be safe. The South. The other day I was going about my business,

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and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to rocketmoney.com slash dark history today. That's rocketmoney.com slash dark history. Rocketmoney.com slash dark history. John knew the only way that he could avoid authorities was to make the long journey from Washington DC to the south. So he managed to make his way across the Navy Yard bridge out of town and you know the only way he was able to like make it out of town was because the bridge guards they didn't even know about the assassination yet like word hadn't

gotten out yet. So John just breaks free and at some point during his escape into the night John met up with one of his co-conspirators, a man named David Harold. And right away they realize that John's leg is in horrible condition. By 4 a.m. John reached his friend Dr. Samuel Mudd's house. Now Dr. Mudd had no idea that John had just shot Lincoln, okay?

He just saw his friend was in pain, obviously leg is broken in the middle of the night, so he decides to help him. So Dr. Mudd puts together a splint for John's leg and sets him up with a bed to sleep in and is like, just rest up. The next day, John realized he was in no shape to ride. So Dr. Mudd is like, no big deal,

just stay here until you're feeling better. No worries. Dr. Mudd needed to go into town for like supplies or something. When he got there, that's when he heard the news that President Lincoln had been shot and was pronounced dead. Everyone was losing their minds over this news.

I mean, this was major. Dr. Mudd then learns that there was a massive manhunt underway for President Lincoln's murderer. A man by the name of John Wilkes Booth. Dr. Mudd was like hell no, hell no, nope, uh-uh. Dr. Mudd goes back to his house, he goes to John and he's like, you, you, to his friend David, out. He kicks John and David out, wants nothing to do with them. He should have went to authorities, but he didn't, whatever. Okay, so then John and David toss out and they're like, well what do we do now? I don't know. So they decide to just ride out of town on their horses.

Even though John is like injured, he just sucks it up and he makes the trip. While on their journey, John gets some troubling news. He's shocked to learn that people actually did not think he was a hero. He was like, wait, what? Why am I not a hero? I was saving America. In fact, most people hated him

and wish that he were dead. And not just northerners. Northerners and southerners hated John Wilkes Booth. This was surprising to him. He really thought he was doing something great. Most Americans felt that killing the president went just way too far. I mean, bro, way too far. I mean, America had just gone through a war and over 600,000 people died. And John was just, what, gonna try and solve his problems with like more violence?

It just, a lot of people just like make it make sense. You know? The chaos after Lincoln died was unbelievable. It became a mandate to mourn for the president. And if you didn't put up a flag or like some kind of sign on your house or something that you were mourning Lincoln, your house was definitely getting their windows smashed in. The whole country was in mourning. This was major.

The hunt for John was so intense that people who even looked like John were being chased down and killed by the public. And even if it was clear that the person being chased wasn't John, maybe just a lookalike, it didn't matter. People were angry and like out for blood. Beating up a guy that looked like John, to them it was like cathartic. Now when John's learning all this, he was just devastated.

He was like, man, I thought that was the right thing. I was American hero. I should be president. I don't know that was the right thing. I was American hero. I should be president I don't know what he's thinking, but he was devastated Ever since he was a boy John wanted to go down in history as a man who changed the world And now people were painting him out to be a pathetic coward because he shot Lincoln in the back of the head He's like, I don't get it. I'm not laughing. It's just like, you know, you get it Okay, so John thought to himself like, hell no,

I am not going down like this, okay. Now, at this point, John had been on the run for about three days. He and his friend David made their way to the woods where they honestly just rough it out for like about a week. And they didn't have much to do, so John decides, you know, this is a good time to start writing in a diary. I can tell my diary all of my thoughts and my intentions.

So John spends page after page writing about how he's misunderstood and wronged, saying, quote, after being hunted like a dog through swamps, woods, I am here in despair. I for striking down a greater tyrant than they ever knew, am looked upon as a common cutthroat." He even tried to clear his name saying, quote, I have too great a soul to die like a criminal. Let me die bravely. I bless the entire world. Have never hated or wronged anyone. He was like, even like, bro, he just killed someone, but okay, okay, all right. You just like, okay. So John like fully believed that like,

he really thought he was doing something. Preventing America from moving forward. And I just feel like this is where, like you probably can relate. There's someone in your family who just goes down that rabbit hole, right? Who just gets full, sucked into politics and goes full kind of crazy.

That was John. So John spends the next few days desperately trying to make his way across the river. And you know, during his journey, he does actually meet a few fans. People who were like, hey, you did that shit, that was wild. Whoa.

You know? And these admirers, they gave him horses, they gave him admirers they gave him horses they gave him food they gave him boat rides to get deeper into the south after ten days of travel John and David finally made it into the south I mean and by this time they were completely exhausted and depleted John ends up finding shelter at a local farm where they had an available a cabin or barn to sleep in. And after these long 10 days, John just kind of felt like this was a salt in the wound.

I mean, these cabins or barns were mainly for enslaved people to sleep in. And now here, here he was, you know? An American hero in his eyes, sleeping in this. Oh, it was a slap in the face. But to him, he was like, at least I'm in the South. So he assumed he was safe from the chaos. Meanwhile, a squad of 26 soldiers were making their way

to the very farm where John was hiding. Someone had been watching and ratted them out. So the troops get to the farm and surround the barn where John and David were hiding. The troops, they're yelling, you know, come out with your hands up, wherever they're yelling. They tell John, the troops, they tell John and David that if they didn't come out that they would set the barn on fire. After some fighting back and forth, David, the co-conspirator, exits the barn, surrenders. John, on the other hand, decides to get dramatic. He announces to the soldiers, quote, well my brave boys prepare the stretcher for me, make quick

work of it, shoot me through the heart. Could you imagine speaking like that now? It's so dramatic. But the soldiers had orders to bring John into custody alive. So they were not supposed to kill him. And people really wanted him alive so they could all take turns like spitting on him or doing whatever, you know? But it was really hard for them, the soldiers,

because a lot of them wanted revenge on this awful guy. Because he wasn't coming out as promised, It was really hard for them, the soldiers, because a lot of them wanted revenge on this awful guy. Because he wasn't coming out, as promised, the troops lit the barn on fire. Inside, John tried his best to stomp the fire out, but that wasn't doing him any good. He only had one leg, the other one was broken, you know? The fire instead just kept growing and getting bigger. He knew he needed to get out, but it was him against 26 soldiers. So it was said he emerged fighting his way out.

I was trying to look into this a little bit more because I was like, what do you mean fighting his way out? Like, I couldn't understand. Like, was he like, I don't know. But then everything came to a bloody end. John was shot by one of the soldiers in the neck. John being paralyzed by the bullet immediately fell to the ground

and his body was then pulled away from the burning barn. Some reports say that John shot himself, but we don't. We know he got shot. So John spent the last few hours of his life repeating over and over again, quote, I die for my country. I did what I thought was best.

And he also said, tell my mother I die for my country. And then on April 26, 1985, John Wilkes Booth died. He was 26 years old. And honestly, that blew my mind away too because I thought he was like 45 or something by this point. Nope. 26. Makes sense why he was such a dumbass. At first there was some speculation that John wasn't really the man who died in the shootout but he was positively identified by both his photo and the tattoo that he had on his wrist of his

initials. John's body was moved around a few times before he was finally buried at his family's plot at Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore where he actually remains to this very day. Eight of John's co-conspirators were arrested and sentenced by the government. Four of them served jail time, and there was another four who were hung in the prison gallows. John's great big plot to destroy the government failed. Ultimately, he just destroyed himself.

In a way, John Wilkes Booth did kind of get his wish. Many people did not forget his name. But not because he was a hero. He went down in history as a coward and one of the world's worst villains. The end. Next episode, we're going way back in time. I'm talking the Roman Empire.

And we're going to talk about one of the most controversial men in history. He was constantly caught up in sex scandals, corruption scandals, and political scandals. His followers absolutely worshipped the ground he walked on, but the people closest to him, they were out for blood. And they dedicated their lives to destroying him by any means necessary. So join us next week as we talk about the surprisingly juicy dramatic life of Julius Caesar.

Well, friends, thank you for hanging out with me today. You can join me over on my YouTube where you can watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs. And while you're there, you can also catch my murder, mystery, and makeup. Don't forget to subscribe! I love hearing your guys' reactions, so make sure to leave a comment down below to see what you guys are saying, and your comment might even be featured in a future episode. Now let's read a couple of comments you guys have left me.

MCR7AS, let's use your name, left us a comment saying, quote, I always get a boost of serotonin when I see Queen Bailey has posted again, end quote. Thank you so much, I love that. MCR, my chemical romance or no? Let me know. But thank you, I'm glad I can give you some kind of serotonin, you know? That's nice, and I appreciate that.

Thank you for sharing that with me. Ohmyjinky, great username, OhMyJinky, I love that, had a product suggestion for me. If you ever have a makeup line for dark history, please have a gloss shade named Hot Juicy History Gloss. It rolls off the tongue, I don't know, just thought I adore you, end quote. That's a really cute idea for a gloss, I love that. I love that. I love that.

Hot juicy history gloss. I will make a gloss just so I can do that. I love that. Thank you. Shoots left. Left us an episode suggestion. Please do a dark history on Ivan the Terrible and slash or Catherine the Great, please. Didn't we do Ivan the Terrible? Because, okay, listen, listen, listen. Didn't we do Ivan the Terrible? Because I remember staying up for days

reading about his ass. He's mentioned somewhere in our dark history records because that's how I learned about him. And I'm not kidding you, when I stayed up reading everything and anything about this absolute psycho lunatic of a person, I was like, this is insane. And I wish I could remember what dark history episode that was, I mean maybe

we could do a full episode on him but I do believe we mentioned him somewhere because I just I just remember hours upon hours upon hours I was just up like what what what this guy is psychotic. Thank you for the suggestion. I Love that because we are thinking the same brainwaves Anyways, I love you guys for watching and I appreciate you for engaging keep commenting because maybe you will be featured Ah, and hey, if you don't know dark history is an audio boom original a special Thank you to our expert professor Luke Nickter history professor at Chapman University, and author of the book, The Year That Broke Politics,

Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election of 1968. And I'm your host, Bailey Sarian. I hope you have a good day, you make good choices, and I'll be talking to you guys later. Goodbye. day. You make good choices and I'll be talking to you guys later. Goodbye!