 Abraham
Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Quotes
16th President of the United States In office
March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865
Vice President(s) Hannibal Hamlin (1861 - 1865)
Andrew Johnson (1865)
Preceded by James Buchanan
Succeeded by Andrew Johnson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from
Illinois's 7th district
In office
March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1849
Preceded by John Henry
Succeeded by Thomas L. Harris
Born February 12, 1809(1809-02-12)
Hardin County, Kentucky
Died April 15, 1865 (aged 56)
Washington, D.C.
Nationality American
Political party Whig, Republican
Spouse Mary Todd Lincoln
Occupation Lawyer
Religion raised by Hard-shell Baptists; rented a pew
in the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church; never
officially acquired membership in a church
Abraham Lincoln
(February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the sixteenth
President of the United States, serving from March 4,
1861 until his death on April 15, 1865. As an
outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery, he won
the Republican Party nomination in 1860 and was
elected president later that year. During his term, he
helped preserve the United States by leading the
defeat of the secessionist Confederate States of
America in the American Civil War. He introduced
measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery,
issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and
promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to
the Constitution in 1865.
Lincoln's leadership qualities were evident in his
close supervision of the victorious war effort,
especially in his selection of Ulysses S. Grant and
other top generals. Historians conclude that he
handled the factions of the Republican Party
brilliantly by bringing its leaders into his cabinet
and forcing them to cooperate. In crisis management,
he defused a war scare with the United Kingdom (1861),
he outmaneuvered the Confederacy and took control of
the border slave states in 1861 – 1862, and he managed
his own landslide reelection in the 1864 presidential
election.
Antiwar "Copperheads" criticized him for refusing to
compromise on the slavery issue. In contrast, the
Radical Republicans, a strongly Abolitionist faction
of the Republican Party, criticized him for moving too
slowly in abolishing slavery. Lincoln successfully
rallied public opinion through the powerful rhetoric
of his messages and speeches; his Gettysburg Address
is remembered as a prime example of this. At the close
of the war, Lincoln took a moderate view of
Reconstruction, seeking to speedily re-unite the
nation through a policy of generous reconciliation.
His assassination in 1865 was the first in U.S.
history and made him a martyr for the ideal of
national unity.
Scholars rank Lincoln among the top three U.S.
Presidents, with the highest of those surveyed placing
him at number one. He is noted for his lasting
influence on U.S. politics, including a redefinition
of republican values. |
