Abraham Lincoln: His Life and Legacy

For years, Hollywood special-effects wizards worked with historians and museum specialists to create a new way to experience history. Join us for an unforgettable tour of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.

It was the largest manhunt in history - ten thousand federal troops, detectives and police hunted those responsible for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The conspiracy was vast - an effort to decapitate the United States government at the end of the Civil War.

April 14, 1865--Actor John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln in the back of the head at a Washington theater. Days later, Wilkes died in a standoff, and eventually, eight Southern sympathizers were tried for conspiracy.

May 31st, 1862: President Abraham Lincoln is pressing for a swift end to the Civil War. As his army bears down on the confederate capitol, Lincoln has a radical new machine above the battle--a hydrogen filled spy balloon, equipped with a telegraph that can instantly report on enemy troop movements.

Known affectionately as "Uncle Billy" by Union soldiers, but reviled in the South as a brutal war criminal, General William Tecumseh Sherman is one of the truly enigmatic and complex figures in the American pantheon. His legacy was built during a five-week campaign of terror and destruction that would become known as "total war".

Abraham Lincoln remains our country's most beloved president--but nearly 200 years after his birth, we're still trying to piece together a true picture of this man who never fails to fascinate, surprise, and enlighten us. Scholars and historians examine how Lincoln became a myth.

Was Abraham Lincoln's lifelong anguish the driving force behind his ultimate transcendence to America's most beloved President? Award-winning director Vikram Jayanti takes a look through Lincoln's eyes on his last day as Lincoln is wracked by memory, premonition, and regret.

Was Abraham Lincoln's lifelong anguish the driving force behind his ultimate transcendence to America's most beloved President? Award-winning director Vikram Jayanti takes a look through Lincoln's eyes on his last day as Lincoln is wracked by memory, premonition, and regret.