LINCOLN

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, guided his country through the most devastating experience in its national history--the CIVIL WAR. He is considered by many historians to have been the greatest American president.

Abraham Lincoln - (  1809 - 1865 )

Term of Office:		1861-1865
Admin. Policy:		To Preserve the Union
Famous Quote:		"I . . . consider . . . the Union is unbroken. . . I shall take care . . . that laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all States."
Political Affiliation:		Republican
Achievement:		Preserved the Union

 Abraham Lincoln Biography:

"Honest Abe" Lincoln was born in Kentucky, USA along the frontier. Lincoln worked on a farm, and in a store in Illinois. He was a captain in the Black Hawk War, served in the Illinois legislature, and was a circuit judge.In 1858 the Lincoln-Douglas debates gave him national fame, though he lost the election for Senator. Abraham Lincoln became President and said in firm words that the fate of the Union would rest in the hands of the South, and that he would obey his oath, "the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and defend" the Union. Lincoln detested war, but when it came, he accepted the inevitable as the only means of preserving the Union. Following the war, Lincoln viewed the ex-Confederate States as states who had tried to secede, but never left the Union. On April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln is often considered the greatest President in U.S. history. 

President Lincoln stated in his Inaugural Address that he would do his duty and preserve the Union. It was all too clear that the nation was moving towards civil war as he took his oath of office. To Lincoln, secession was illegal. When the Civil War began, Lincoln abandoned his personal life, and fought to defend the Union.

The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln is well known for the Civil War. Lincoln considered to breakaway states to be in rebellion, and not separated from the Union, which accounts for his lenient policies for readmitting states into the Union after the war was over.

1809 - Abraham Lincoln was born on a stormy morning on February 12, l809 in a log cabin on the Kentucky frontier. He was born on a bed of poles covered with corn husks. Lincoln was named after his grandfather. His parents were Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. He had one sister, Sarah. 

1834 - Lincoln, age 24, served in the state government of Illinois. He was elected to the legislature as a Whig, where he denounced slavery, saying it was "founded on both injustice and bad policy."

1836 - On September 9, Lincoln received his law license and is a leader of the Whig party. He first practices law in Springfield, Illinois. He needed a place to keep his important papers handy, so he tucked them into his tall black hat.

1842 - On November 4, Lincoln married a lively girl from Kentucky, Mary Todd. She was born in Lexington, Kentucky on December 13, l8l8 to a prominent family. She and Lincoln became good friends. During their courtship, their relationship waxed and waned, but in the fall of 1842 they decided to get married.

1860 - Lincoln is elected the 16th President of the United States, the first Republican, receiving 180 of 303 possible electoral votes and 40 percent of the popular vote, with the South voting almost solidly against him. This was a difficult time to be president, since many Southern states did not agree with Lincoln on slavery, and declared they were not a part of the United States.

1761 - The South leaves the Union and the Civil war begins on April 12, with shots fired on Fort Sumpter. The U.S. struggled in a Civil War, but Lincoln was the glue that held our nation together. Fort Sumpter eventually was surrendered to South Carolina.

1863 - On January 1, President Lincoln issues the final Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in territories held by Confederates and emphasizes the enlisting of black soldiers in the Union Army. The war to preserve the Union now becomes a revolutionary struggle for the abolition of slavery.

1864 - Lincoln is reelected President. He won the election defeating Democrat George B. McClellan. He carried 22 of the 25 participating states. He received 55 percent of the popular votes and 2l2 of 233 electoral votes. Lincoln told supporters, "I earnestly believe that the consequences of this day's work will be to the lasting advantage, if not the very salvation, of the country."

1865 - Civil War ends. General Lee's troops were surrounded and on April 7, Grant called upon Lee to surrender. The two commanders met on April 9, and agreed on the terms of surrender.

1865 - On April 13, Abraham Lincoln attended a play at Ford's Theatre and was shot. John Wilkes Booth, who hoped the throw the country into political chaos, had shot the President. Lincoln died on the morning of April 15. American's grieved at the loss of their President. Lincoln is buried in Springfield, Illinois. Americans will long remember President Abraham Lincoln, whose friends and enemies praised his selflessness and kindly spirit after his death.

Chronology of Abraham Lincoln

1860 - Lincoln Elected
1860 - South Carolina Secedes
1861 - Confederacy Formed
1861 - Fort Sumpter Attacked
1862 - Battle at Antietam
1863 - Emancipation Proclamation
1863 - Gettysburg
1864 - Homestead Act
1865 - Wade Davis Bill
1865 - Lee Surrenders
1865 - Lincoln Assassinated

QUOTES:

If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character give him power.

Sir my concern is not whether God is on our side. My great concern is to be on God's side.

I'm a slow walker, but I never walk back

Common-looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the lord makes so many of them.

The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally

You're about as happy as you make up your mind to be

It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels he is worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great god who made him

I am not bound to win but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed but I am bound to live up to what light I have