Part 1: Chapters 1-15 Summary and Analysis

Prologue:

Abraham Lincoln is being sworn in as the 16th President of the United States. The vice president, Andrew Johnson, has just given a rambling, drunken speech which not only embarrasses the president but also the crowd. Lincoln steps up to the podium and gives an uplifting speech. Nearby stands accomplished actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth.

"Lincoln's inaugural speech is a performance worthy of a great dramatic actor. And indeed, one of America's most famous thespians stands just a few feet away as Lincoln raises his right hand. John Wilkes Booth is galvanized by the president's words—though not in the way Lincoln intends." Prologue, p. 8

Booth becomes incensed at Lincoln's speech and lunges for him. Booth is caught by a policeman who believes that Booth merely stumbled. Not even Booth's fiancée has...