Abraham Lincoln

Much loved President of USA

The United States of America has produced many outstanding presidents. One of the most loved and respected was Abraham Lincoln. He is remembered for his vital role in abolishing slavery in the USA and for preserving the Union during the Civil War.

He is also remembered for his character, his speeches and letters, and as a man of humble origins whose determination and efforts led him to the nation's highest office.

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He was the son of Thomas Lincoln, a carpenter and farmer, and Nancy Hanks Lincoln.

Both of his parents were members of a Baptist congregation which had separated from another church due to opposition to slavery. He had an older sister Sarah, while his younger brother Thomas had died in infancy (his sister also died young, during childbirth).

When Abraham was seven years old, they moved to southern Indiana. Abraham had been to school briefly in Kentucky and started again in Indiana. In 1818, his mother died and the next year, his father remarried Sarah Bush Johnston, who was loved by Abraham.

She treated Abraham just as lovingly as one of her own three children. Growing up, Abraham loved to read and preferred learning to working in the fields. This led to a difficult relationship with his father who was more of a manual worker. In 1830, they moved to Illinois.

There he did several jobs including operating a store, surveying, and serving as postmaster.

It was also there that he earned the nickname "Honest Abe", which was coined by the residents who were impressed by his character.

Lincoln, who was nearly 6.4 feet in height, served briefly in the Black Hawk War, and made an unsuccessful run for the Illinois legislature in 1832. He ran again in 1834, 1836, 1838, and 1840, and won all four times. (Lincoln was a member of the Whig Party until 1856, when he became a Republican). He studied law in his spare time and became a lawyer in 1836 and later became a successful attorney.

In 1839, Lincoln met Mary Todd, whom he married three years later. They had four children: Robert, Edward, William and Thomas, although only one lived upto maturity.

In 1846, Lincoln ran for and won a seat at the US House of Representatives. Here, he became known for his opposition to the Mexican War and to slavery. He returned home after his term and resumed his law practice.

He became interested in politics again and made an unsuccessful bid for the US Senate, but found some support for the Republican Vice-Presidential nomination in 1856. He faced both success and setbacks in his political career elected the 16th President of the United States on November 6, 1860.

The President-elect started sporting a beard at the suggestion of a 11-year-old girl. Lincoln was sworn in as President on March 4. After Lincoln's election, many Southern states, fearing Republican control in the government, withdrew from the Union.

Civil War broke out and Lincoln faced a great internal crisis. Despite enormous problems, Lincoln stuck with the pro-Union policy for the four years of Civil War. On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, declaring freedom for all slaves in the areas of the Confederacy not under Union control.

Also, on November 19, 1863, Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address which dedicated the battlefield there to the soldiers who had perished (died).

Lincoln's domestic policies included support for the Homestead Act, which allowed poor people in the East to obtain land in the West; the National Banking Act, which established a national currency and provided for the creation of a network of national banks; signing tariff legislation that offered protection to American industry and signing a bill that chartered the first transcontinental railroad. Lincoln's foreign policy was geared toward preventing foreign intervention in the Civil War.

Lincoln was re-elected President in 1864, as Union military victories brought an end to the war.

On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, the Lincolns attended a play titled Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre. During the performance, he was shot in the head by actor John Wilkes Booth. He died later at the Petersen House.

It was the first time that a US President had been assassinated. His body was taken to Springfield by train, and he was buried in the Lincoln Tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery on May 4, 1865.