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American history tellers explores

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the events of people who shaped our history.

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In a democracy, change comes from

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the ballot box, but sometimes the will of

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the people is overridden by an assassin's

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bullet. From Wondery, American

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History Tellers is a podcast that explores

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the events and people who shaped our history.

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The newest season explores the assassins

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who changed our Wondery. Long before the

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Secret Service was created, Duntsch

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walked freely amongst the people. That

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was by design as armed guards

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were synonymous with European monarchs

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and dictators. But America's idealistic

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innocence would soon change, starting

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with Duntsch Lincoln's assassination. As

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recently as Ronald Reagan, an American

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president has come perilously close

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to being killed in office. Each episode

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this season details a different madman's

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pursuit. And the root of their animosity

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for the leader they struck down. You'll

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learn about every critical moment leading

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to the assassination and how as

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a result, the country changed

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forever. I'm about to play a clip from

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American History Tellers. While you're

1:02

listening follow American History Tellers

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wherever you get your podcast. Pay Prime

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members, you can listen to American History

1:09

Tellers ad free on Amazon Music.

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Download the Amazon Music app today.

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Imagine it's before dawn on April

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twenty sixth eighteen sixty five.

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You're inside tobacco barn in rural

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northern Virginia. You're on the run

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with the most wanted man in America,

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John Wilkes booth. Twelve

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days ago, booth assassinated Duntsch

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Abraham Lincoln, but he didn't do

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it alone. You helped him in the plot.

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And now you're both fleeing ahead of federal

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troops. You're pretending to be confederate

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soldiers on the way home from the war,

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and you've convinced a local farmer to give

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you shelter. You wake

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to the sound of barking. Booth

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stirs beside you. Hey, you wake.

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You hear that? Someone's got the dogs

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going. You shoot up

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right as booth presses his ear against a crack

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in the barn wall, listening to the sounds

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outside. I hear

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who's. Your heart starts

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pounding in your chest. You sure?

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Yeah. We gotta get out of here. Grab

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the revolvers. I'll take the car mine.

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You snatch up the weapons and rush to the

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front of the barn. But when

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you reach the door and pull, it won't

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open. It's a lot. That

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was bad enough, the farmer refused to spend.

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Now he's trapped us in here. You

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and booth try to force the door open,

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but it won't budge. You feel

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sweat trickling down your neck. God's

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no use. While they're getting closer,

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come on, we gotta find another way. Booth

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wheels around and limps over to the back wall.

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He injured his leg jumping from a balcony

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when he shot the president. Let's try and

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kick a board off and crawl out. Swings

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his good leg at the barn wall, but his

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wounded leg can't support his weight, and

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he collapses in the ground in agony.

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Let me try. But your

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attempts are no better. It's clear

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there's no way out. Oh, this is

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it. We better give up. No.

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I'd rather die than surrender. Lewy

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looks at you with a steely gaze, and

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you know that look. You may be

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ready to turn yourself in, but he's

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still spoiling for a fight. You

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just hope that when Booth dies at

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the hands of these soldiers, he doesn't

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take you with him.

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From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and

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this is American History Tellers. Our

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history your store. In

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our show, we'll take you to the events, the

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times and the people that shaped America

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and Americans. Our values, our

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struggles, and our dreams. We'll

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put you in the shoes of everyday people as

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history was being made, and we'll

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show you how the events of the times affected

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them, their families, and affects you

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now. On April twenty

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six, eighteen sixty five, union

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soldiers closed in on the barn where Lincoln's

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John Wilkes booth and his co conspirator

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David Harold were hiding. When

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Booth refused to give himself up,

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soldiers lit the barn on fire to drive

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him out. Harold surrendered

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and was later tried and executed.

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But booth refused surrender and was

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instead shot at the scene. It

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was the end of a twelve day manhunt

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that gripped a grieving nation. Abraham

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Lincoln was the first American president

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to be assassinated, but he would not

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be the last. In the decades

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that followed, more American Duntsch

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would find themselves in the crosshairs of an

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gun. Some would survive these

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attempts on their lives, but three more

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presidents would not. The

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motives behind these murderous plots

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varied, but all left a deep mark

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on American history. The bullets

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ricochet through the years causing

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far reaching political shifts, social

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change, and international consequences.

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The effects of Lincoln's death were obvious

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and immediate, The nation not only

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lost its leader just at the moment of victory

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in a bloody civil war, but also

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its most steady moral compass. Sorely

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missed in the subsequent years of reconstruction.

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But only sixteen years after Lincoln's

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death, another Assassinations forever

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changed America, by plotting

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to kill the man who stood between him

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and his thirst for power, Duntsch

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James Garfield. This is

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the first our four part series on presidential

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assassinations exploring their

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perpetrators, their targets, and the

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fallout few could predict. This

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is episode Wondery. for

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spoils. Hey,

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Prime members. You can listen to American

5:58

History Tellers ad free on Amazon

6:00

Music download the Amazon Music

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app today.