The Last Formal Portrait of Abraham Lincoln Before His Assassination
This powerful portrait of Abraham Lincoln was taken by Alexander Gardner on February 5th, 1865, just two months before John Wilkes Booth assassinated him at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Look closely and you can see a hint of a smile!
We dug up this powerful portrait of the 16th President of the United States. It was taken by Alexander Gardner on February 5th, 1865, about two months prior to John Wilkes Booth assassinating him at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.
According to Frank Goodyear, the National Portrait Gallery’s photo curator, “This is the last formal portrait of Abraham Lincoln before his assassination. I really like it because Lincoln has a hint of a smile. The inauguration is a couple of weeks away; he can understand that the war is coming to an end; and here he permits, for one of the first times during his presidency, a hint of better days tomorrow.”
