American Experience

This episode tells the story of the last 16 months of war — the battle of Gettysburg, the Union victory that changed the conflict’s course, and Abraham Lincoln’s battlefield dedication that changed America’s conception of itself.

Abraham Lincoln

PBS

It follows Abraham’s final political struggles and charts his differences with his wife: he remains dedicated to bringing the South back to the Union; she speaks privately of revenge. With the surrender at Appomattox and the Civil War finally over, the president tells Mary Lincoln they can find some happiness again. Just days later, he is shot to death. The brutal assassination exacts a terrible toll on a war-torn nation and the president’s emotionally fragile wife.