Abraham Lincoln: Sixteenth President Of The USA
Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He had very little formal schooling and was mostly self-educated. He eventually became a lawyer and a Republican politician; he earned the nickname "Honest Abe."
He was instrumental in preserving the United States as a country by defeating the Confederate States of America - the secessionists. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 - effectively abolishing slavery. He promoted and supported the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1865, which abolished and prohibited slavery.
Lincoln's leadership qualities were seen during the American Civil war. He selected Ulysses S. Grant and other top generals. He put the leaders of various factions of the Republican party into his cabinet - forcing them to cooperate with him. In 1861, he defused a potential war with the United Kingdom. He helped take control of the border slave states between 1861 and 1862, outmaneuvering the Confederacy.
Abraham Lincoln was born to two uneducated farmers - Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln in a one room log cabin southeast of Hardin County, Kentucky. He was named after his grandfather who was killed by an Indian raid in 1786. Experts still debate that Lincoln might have had Marfan syndrome, which is an autosomal dominant disorder of the connective tissue, giving the person long limbs and great physical stature.
Abraham Lincoln had only 18 months of formal schooling. He educated himself by reading every book he could get his hands on. His favorite book was "The Life of George Washington". He developed a writing style that was plain compared to the grandiloquent rhetoric at the time.
At the age of 23, Lincoln began is political career. He was unsuccessful in his campaign for the Illinois General Assembly. In 1834, he won election to the state legislature. He read the "Commentaries on the Laws of England" and began to teach himself law. He was admitted to the bar in 1837 and moved to Springfield, Illinois. He began to practice law with John T. Stuart and gained a reputation of a formidable adversary during cross-examinations and his closing arguments. He became one of the most respected and successful lawyers in Illinois and steadily grew more prosperous.
On November 6, 1860, Lincoln won the election and became the 16th President of the United States. He was the first Republican to be elected as president. He was not even on the ballot in the nine states of the South and won only 2 of the 996 counties in the other Southern states. His support mainly came from the North vote.
Lincoln managed his own landslide reelection in the 1864 presidential election with powerful rhetoric. Abraham Lincoln was known for his messages and speeches. The Gettysburg Address is one of the many speeches that people still remember him by. His assassination in 1865 made him the first martyr for the ideal of national unity in US history. Lincoln is usually ranked as one of the top three US Presidents by academics - most of them placed him as number one.
Interesting facts about Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln created the Secret Service hours before his assassination. On April 14, 1865, Lincoln signed legislation creating the U.S. Secret Service. That evening, he was shot at Ford’s Theatre. Even if the Secret Service had been established earlier, it wouldn’t have saved Lincoln: The original mission of the law enforcement agency was to combat widespread currency counterfeiting. It was not until 1901, after the killing of two other presidents, that the Secret Service was formally assigned to protect the commander-in-chief.
Lincoln personally test-fired rifles outside the White House. Lincoln was a hands-on commander-in-chief who, given his passion for gadgetry, was keenly interested in the artillery used by his Union troops during the Civil War. Lincoln attended artillery and cannon tests and met at the White House with inventors demonstrating military prototypes. Although there was a standing order against firing weapons in the District of Columbia.
Lincoln was only in the forefront of American Politics for 6 short years but, in that time he became the most hated and the most loved president in the history of the United States. He was credited with tearing the country apart and bringing it back together and he changed this country forever.
Abraham Lincoln was always fascinated with machines and held the patent for a device that was created for keeping shipping vessels buoyant over shoals. The patent number was 6469, and it was issued on May 22, 1849.
Abraham Lincoln argued a case in front of the United States Supreme Court - and lost. After serving a term in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1846, Lincoln returned to his self-proclaimed profession of “prairie lawyer” in Illinois. He took cases dealing with everything from homicide to navigation rights to slave laws. An arcane statute dispute brought him to the high chamber on March 7, 1849. He argued on behalf of Thomas Lewis, a public administrator who had taken over the affairs of a man named Broadwell, who had sold 100 acres of land that he did not own and then died. The true grit of the case was the question of whether or not the plaintiff, William Lewis (no relation), could still sue for damages regarding the poisoned contract or if the statute of limitations had already passed. Lincoln claimed that William’s action came too late, and that Thomas could no longer be held liable. After two days of hearings and five days of deliberations, the justices decided against Lincoln. Despite this defeat, the prairie lawyer was becoming one of the most respected and feared litigants in Illinois.
Lincoln married Mary Todd in 1842; they had four sons, but only one (Robert) survived childhood.
Lincoln lost five separate elections before being elected president. For Lincoln, electoral successes had to be taken hand-in-hand with failures. Since losing his first race for the Illinois General Assembly in 1832 he had gone on to lose a race for the U.S. Congress, two races for the U.S. Senate, and one campaign for a vice-presidential nomination.
Abraham Lincoln had a dream about his own assassination, which he shared with his main bodyguard Ward Hill Lamon, days before the actual event.
Abraham Lincoln Famous Quotes
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.""Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it."
"In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free -- honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just -- a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless."
"Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a men’s character, give him power.”
"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.”