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Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the nation through the Civil War , its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis.[1] [2] He preserved the Union , abolished slavery , strengthened the federal government , and modernized the U.S. economy .
Born in Kentucky , Lincoln grew up on the frontier in a poor family. Self-educated, he became a lawyer in Illinois . As a Whig Party leader, he served eight years in the state legislature and two in Congress, before resuming his law practice. Angered by the success of Democrats in opening the prairie lands to slavery, he reentered politics in 1854. He became a leader in the new Republican Party . He gained national attention in 1858 for debating national Democratic leader Stephen A. Douglas . He lost that race. He then became the "western" candidate for the 1860 presidential nomination as a moderate from a swing state. He swept the North and was elected in 1860 . Southern pro-slavery elements took his win as proof that the North was rejecting the Constitutional rights of Southern states to promote slavery. They began the process of seceding from the union and forming a new country. Nationalism was a powerful force in the North, and it refused to accept secession. To secure its independence, the new Confederate States of America fired on Fort Sumter , one of the few U.S. forts in the South. Lincoln called up volunteers and militia to suppress the rebellion and restore the Union . As the leader of the moderate faction of the Republican Party, Lincoln confronted Radical Republicans , who demanded harsher treatment of the South; War Democrats , who rallied a large faction of former opponents into his camp; anti-war Democrats (called Copperheads ), who despised him; and irreconcilable secessionists, who plotted his assassination.
Lincoln fought back by pitting his opponents against each other, by carefully distributing political patronage, and by appealing to the American people with his oratory.[3] :65–87His Gettysburg Address became an iconic endorsement of nationalism , republicanism , equal rights , liberty , and democracy . He suspended habeas corpus , and he averted British intervention by defusing the Trent Affair. Lincoln closely supervised the war effort, including the selection of generals and the naval blockade that shut down the South's trade. As the war progressed, he maneuvered to end slavery, including the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863; ordering the Army to protect escaped slaves, encouraging border states to outlaw slavery, and pushing through Congress the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution , which permanently outlawed slavery.
An astute politician, Lincoln reached out to the War Democrats and managed his own re-election campaign . Lincoln sought to reconcile his damaged nation by avoiding retribution against the secessionists. A few days after the war's end he was assassinated.
Lincoln is remembered as America's martyr hero. He is consistently ranked both by scholars[4] and the public[5] as among the greatest U.S. presidents.

Description

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the nation through the Civil War , its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis.[1] [2] He preserved the Union , abolished slavery , strengthened the federal government , and modernized the U.S. economy .
Born in Kentucky , Lincoln grew up on the frontier in a poor family. Self-educated, he became a lawyer in Illinois . As a Whig Party leader, he served eight years in the state legislature and two in Congress, before resuming his law practice. Angered by the success of Democrats in opening the prairie lands to slavery, he reentered politics in 1854. He became a leader in the new Republican Party . He gained national attention in 1858 for debating national Democratic leader Stephen A. Douglas . He lost that race. He then became the "western" candidate for the 1860 presidential nomination as a moderate from a swing state. He swept the North and was elected in 1860 . Southern pro-slavery elements took his win as proof that the North was rejecting the Constitutional rights of Southern states to promote slavery. They began the process of seceding from the union and forming a new country. Nationalism was a powerful force in the North, and it refused to accept secession. To secure its independence, the new Confederate States of America fired on Fort Sumter , one of the few U.S. forts in the South. Lincoln called up volunteers and militia to suppress the rebellion and restore the Union . As the leader of the moderate faction of the Republican Party, Lincoln confronted Radical Republicans , who demanded harsher treatment of the South; War Democrats , who rallied a large faction of former opponents into his camp; anti-war Democrats (called Copperheads ), who despised him; and irreconcilable secessionists, who plotted his assassination.
Lincoln fought back by pitting his opponents against each other, by carefully distributing political patronage, and by appealing to the American people with his oratory.[3] :65–87His Gettysburg Address became an iconic endorsement of nationalism , republicanism , equal rights , liberty , and democracy . He suspended habeas corpus , and he averted British intervention by defusing the Trent Affair. Lincoln closely supervised the war effort, including the selection of generals and the naval blockade that shut down the South's trade. As the war progressed, he maneuvered to end slavery, including the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863; ordering the Army to protect escaped slaves, encouraging border states to outlaw slavery, and pushing through Congress the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution , which permanently outlawed slavery.
An astute politician, Lincoln reached out to the War Democrats and managed his own re-election campaign . Lincoln sought to reconcile his damaged nation by avoiding retribution against the secessionists. A few days after the war's end he was assassinated.
Lincoln is remembered as America's martyr hero. He is consistently ranked both by scholars[4] and the public[5] as among the greatest U.S. presidents.