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Comparison Of John Wilkes Booth And Lee Harvey Oswald

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Although there have been numerous assassination plots and attempts, there have only been four successful presidential assassinations in the history of the U.S. Today I’ll be comparing and contrasting two different president killers: John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald. They lived almost a century apart, but still have many similarities. Lee and John basically did the same crime, assassinating a U.S President, however, they have numerous differences.

Lee Harvey Oswald was born on the 18th of October in 1939. In 1956 Lee had entered the United States Marines. Within 2 months he scored 212 on a marksman's test. He departed from the military in 1959. Roughly 8 days later he departed the U.S and headed to Russia. He had spent some time all over the world until his final destination in Dallas, Texas. In November 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald set up his rifle on the …show more content…

During his childhood he had 9 siblings. His father Junius was a well known actor at the time and when John was 17 he performed in the play Richard III, Written by William Shakespeare. Many people loved the plays he performed in, so he got to tour around the country with the Shakespearean Acting Company. Abraham Lincoln watched John Booth perform The Marble Heart at Ford’s Theater. Booth had respiratory issues so he left the acting company. In the 1850’s, he was a confederate secret agent, and a member of the “Know Nothing Party”. In March 1865 John Wilkes Booth attempted to kidnap Abraham Lincoln, but failed. April 14th, is when John walked into Ford’s Theater while Abe was watching “Our American Cousin” and shot him in the back of the head with a .44 caliber hand cannon. He hopped off the balcony seats and landed on the stage. He yelled “The south is avenged” then once he hopped off the stage he broke his leg. He made it to his get away horse and took off. After 12 days hiding out, he finally got shot in the neck and was paralyzed for 3 hours before he passed

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