On April 15, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln died from the gunshot wound he received the night before. He passed away in a boardinghouse across from Ford’s Theatre. His death was the first assassination of a U.S. president. The news plunged the country into mourning at a time when it was already dealing with the end of the Civil War. Lincoln’s passing raised urgent questions about Reconstruction and the future of the Union. His legacy as the leader who preserved the nation and ended slavery has remained central to American historical memory.
