Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was born on February 12, 189. He died on April 15, 1865. He served as president from March 4, 1861 to April 15, 1865, serving only part of his second term before he was assassinated. His vice president was Andrew Johnson.
Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin not far from Hodgenville, Kentucky. He didn’t have much in the way of formal education, and was mostly self-taught. He became a lawyer and eventually a politician, and earned the nickname ÒHonest Abe. He married Mary Todd in 1842. They had four sons, three of which died during childhood, with only Robert surviving.
He was elected president in 1860. He inherited a deeply divided country from the previous president, James Buchanan, which the southern states had seceded from. The Civil War started six weeks after he was sworn in. The states that stayed in the Union were mostly anti-slavery northern states, whereas the southern states seceded and formed the Confederacy. The war lasted from 1861 to 1865. One of Abraham Lincoln’s most famous acts, as president was the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, which eventually brought about the freeing of the slaves in the United States.
Lincoln was known to be an exceptional orator, and gave many speeches, which achieved enduring fame, including the Gettysburg Address, given after the battle of Gettysburg in November of 1863. IT was a short speech in which he stated how a country must be dedicated to freedom if it is to survive.
He defeated former Union general George B McClellan to win reelection in 1864. He was assassinated on April 14, 1865, by an actor named John Wilkes Booth while attending Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC. Lincoln was the first president ever assassinated.