Assassination of Abraham Lincoln Assassination of Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was assassinated by well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, while attending the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Shot in the head as he watched the play, Lincoln died the following day at 7:22 a.m., in the Petersen House opposite the theater. He was the first American president to be assassinated, and Lincoln's funeral and burial marked an extended period of national mourning. Occurring near the end of the American Civil War, the assassination was part of a larger
Abraham Lincoln, what would you do? is upbeat and set to an "allegro moderato" tempo. Thematically, the song is considered part of American patriotic music. Although Abraham Lincoln's death was well before the beginning of the twentieth century, he was often used symbolically, particularly during World War I. "Abraham Lincoln, what would you do?" was a popular composition upon its release, and Lincoln's image was used in the composition's lyrics to promote and build support for American involvement during wartime. Sociologist Barry Schwartz suggests that the lyrics represented American involvement in the war in terms of a collective debt to be paid to Lincoln's contributions and