The evening of April 14, 1865, began with the promise of relaxation—a rare night at the theatre for a President who had been tethered to the White House for the duration of the war. But the atmosphere at Ford’s Theatre was shattered by a single gunshot that echoed through the history of the republic. John Wilkes Booth’s act of violence was intended to strike a blow for the Confederacy, but it instead cemented Lincoln’s role as the martyr of the Union. The following hours in the Petersen House, across the street from the theatre, were filled with a profound, suffocating sense of grief. Cabinet members, family, and military leaders stood in the dim light, watching as the man who had guided the nation through its darkest hour slowly slipped away. His death on the morning of April 15 marked the end of an era and the beginning of the "Lincoln Legend."