NY Times Features Lincoln Assassination

On April 14, 1865, the United States was celebrating the end of the Civil War, the threat of the South permanently seceding from the Union ending, and slavery being abolished; it was a time that should have been nothing but joyous.  Unbeknownst to the nation, an event would soon transpire that would put the country in great mourning. President Abraham Lincoln was about to be assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.

On this day, April 15th, in 1865, the New York Times features the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln with a famous cover and headline.  The paper’s main headline read, “Our Great Loss,” but also included several other well known headlines: “Death of President Lincoln. The Songs of Victory Drowned in Sorrow. Losing Scenes of a Noble Life. The Great Sorrow of an Afflicted Nation. Party Differences Forgotten in Public Grief. Vice-President Johnson Inaugurated as Chief Executive. John Wilkes Booth Believed to be the Assassin. Manifestations of the People Throughout the Country.”

The famous New York Times cover page captured the shock and grief of the nation as there was  never a presidential assassination in United States history prior to Lincoln’s death.