John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln primarily due to his vehement opposition to Lincoln's policies and his support for the Union during the American Civil War. Booth was a strong supporter of the Confederacy, and he believed that Lincoln's leadership was detrimental to the Southern cause and to the institution of slavery. He perceived Lincoln as a tyrant who was overstepping his bounds and undermining the rights of the Southern states.
Booth's plan was to not only kill Lincoln but also to target other key figures in the government in a larger conspiracy intended to destabilize the Union government. Ultimately, he saw his actions as a way to avenge the South and to inspire others to continue the fight against the Union. The assassination took place on April 14, 1865, just days after the Confederacy's surrender and the end of the Civil War, at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Booth fled the scene but was tracked down and killed by Union soldiers shortly thereafter.