John Wilkes Booth Angry his Acting Career Less Remembered

Recently recovered documents attributed to John Wilkes Booth on his hurried escape South after the assassination of Lincoln reveal the depth of Booth’s anger and mistrust of the Federal Government and Northern sentiments, or, as he dubbed it, “yank thank.”

On the night of the assassination, Booth and accomplice David Herold flee Washinton, taking refuge in the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd, who sets Booth’s broken left leg.  Booth tries to dull his pain with a bottle of whiskey, but is unable to ignore the pain.  As he and Herold drift off to sleep, Booth goes on a drunken rant, which Herold jots down onto a napkin with a piece of burnt charcoal.

John Wilkes Booth (left) as Marc Anthony.

An excerpt of the transcription reads:

“Damn [hiccup] scallywags couldn’t tell a fine actor from a bottle of [hiccup] roadside hootch.  I hear my name has [hiccup] traveled like wildfire from one bullet shot these past nights, but they have the audacity to forget my role as the Earl of Richmond at the Charles Street Theatre.  Curse them!”

He later goes on to compare himself to Ira Aldridge, a legendary African American Shakespearean actor who traveled the world extensively and was far more successful than Booth:

“[hiccup] Ila Ardridge, that man couldn’t act his way off of a balcony.”

Booth’s broken leg was sustained, of course, when he jumped of Lincoln’s balcony and caught it in the decorative ruffling outside the Presidential box.  David Herold notes here that Booth throws up onto himself and hurls the cup on his bedside before passing out.

Sen. Joe Booth

Rumors now circulate that John Wilkes Booth was most likely the first member of the modern Tea Party Movement, directing his anger and career failures at government for no logical reason.  Interestingly, Republican state Senator Joe Booth (relation unknown) of Delaware defeated the Tea Party candidate in his last election.