Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – May 12, 1872) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman, who served as the fifteenth president of the United States, from 1861 to 1869. Lincoln led the United States through the American Civil War, defending the nation as a constitutional union, defeating the insurgent Confederacy, playing a major role in the abolition of slavery, expanding the power of the federal government, and modernizing the American economy.
Early Life[]
Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in Hodgenville, Kentucky, at the family farm known as Sinking Spring. Through his paternal line, he is a descendant of the Harrison political family, making him related to President William Harrison and later Harrison's grandson, President Benjamin Harrison. His father, Thomas Lincoln, named him after his grandfather, who was killed in action in the early stages of the Northwest Indian War when Thomas was a boy. He was Thomas's second child with him and his wife, Nancy Hanks (through Nancy, Lincoln is related to modern actors such as Tom Hanks, George Clooney, and the wife of Bill Cosby), with his older sister being their only daughter Sarah.
After getting in legal disputes over their land, Thomas moved the family to Indiana (which was recently admitted to the Union), a much more reliable place. Both of Lincoln's parents were Baptists, laying down their morals to their children, though he himself did not adhere to any religion upon his adulthood. In 1818, however, Nancy died of milk sickness, and this put Sarah in charge of the household despite her young age. Thomas, refusing to let this happen to his family, married Sarah Bush, a widow from Kentucky with three children of her own - Lincoln loved her and referred to her as "Mother". Many in the family went on to criticize Lincoln for his laziness, but Bush defended him, stating he just simply loved reading more than physical labor. As he grew, Lincoln was largely self-educated, with his only brief stints of teaching being from itinerant teachers who never taught him how to write, forcing him to teach himself. His reading contributed to his personal growth, with his favorites being the King James Bible, Aesop's Fables, Robinson Crusoe, and Benjamin Franklin's autobiography (he would later receive a doctorate in 1861.) Eventually, as his father aged, Lincoln was relied on for physical labor like farming - it made him strong, tall, and adept at using an axe. When Sarah left the family and attempted to start her own, she died in childbirth in 1828, leaving Abraham as the caretaker of the family; he became increasingly distant from his father, and eventually branched off from the family to start a life himself, witnessing slavery for the first time - it would have a deep impact on him; in his free time, he was a professional wrestler. He went on to briefly serve in the military as part of the Illinois state soldiers in the Black Hawk war, before returning home and opening a general store with the younger William Berry. The store was initially a success, with them selling a wide variety of produced goods, mainly alcohol. However, the business came crashing down after Berry became an alcoholic and Lincoln was forced to run the business himself, going into debt and selling his share. He became interested in politics and ran for the state House as a member of the Whig Party, though he finished 8th out of the 13 candidates (the top four were elected) due to his lack of formal education, money, and powerful allies - he remained popular with the people after grabbing a violent man who was attacking one of his supporters during a campaign speech and tossing him; it was also because he was a good humorist. He tried again in 1834, succeeding by good fortune. During his tenure, he championed expansion of suffrage to all white males, the abolition of slavery, and the building of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. For this, he was among the ardent supporters of President Henry Clay. In those years, an innocent African American man named Francis McIntosh and a European American abolitionist named Elijah Lovejoy were both murdered by pro-slavery mobs - this led Lincoln down the path to his presidency, determined to finish what America had begun.
Just months later, Lincoln met his final love, Mary Todd, the daughter of Kentucky lawyer Robert Todd. They had a on and off relationship for 3 years until they married in 1842. Their eldest son, Robert Lincoln, was born a few months later, followed by their second son Eddie Lincoln in 1846. Lincoln's law partner, William Herndon, was disgruntled by the children's reckless behavior in their law office when Lincoln brought them, but he did not say anything out of respect for Lincoln, who was well aware of their activity. Lincoln was elected to the federal House in 1846, and clashed with President James K. Polk, coming up with the Spot Resolution, inn which he demanded Polk show to Congress that the Mexicans had started the Mexican-American War and not America by revealing where blood was first spilled - it cost much support, and he regretted it later on. Upon Zachary Taylor's election and inauguration in 1849, Lincoln attempted to gain a top political position in his administration, though when they declined and offered him the governorship of Oregon Territory, he refused as well, believing it to be too distant, returning to his law practice in Springfield. Here, his biggest client was the Illinois Central Railroad, who he defended righteously, along with a Union officer wrongfully accused of murder, and the grandson of his political opponent. For this, he gained the nickname Honest Abe. During that time period, the Lincolns' third son, Willie, was born in 1850. (Eddie also died young that year, devastating the family), and their final son, Tad, in 1853.
In 1856, the Republican Party was formed out of the dying Whig Party. At the convention for Illinois, Lincoln gave the final speech, promoting preservation of the Union in what is known as the Lost Speech. In the presidential election, Lincoln ran for vice president, but lost to New Jersey politician William Dayton, who, along with California politician John Fremont, won the election. Meanwhile, in Illinois, Republican William Bissell won the state election, and Lincoln was now a leading Republican both on the state and federal level. During Fremont's tenure as president, Lincoln supported his handling of Dred Scott v. Sanford, in which Scott and his family were freed of bondage and went to live in Illinois - Lincoln met them in person, giving his support. Shortly after, in the most famous political debates in American history, Lincoln debated with former vice president Stephen Douglas in the Illinois Senate. The debates were like a prizefight, and thousands were in attendance every time. The main issue of these debates was the slavery question - Lincoln focused on the moral aspect, stating all men are created equal and that Douglas's idea of popular sovereignty, which stated that people have the right to choose slavery or anti-slavery, is distorting the vision of the Founding Fathers - Douglas clapped back with legal references - in the end, though Douglas won, Lincoln remained heavily popular and Douglas's popularity dropped after his win.
The Great Emancipator[]
In 1860, when the next Republican convention was held, Lincoln supporters David Davis, Buel Judd, and Leonard Swett organized his campaign - Lincoln boosted his popularity by boasting about his physical, moral, and political attributes. On the third ballot at the National Convention, Lincoln won the nomination as a compromise candidate in a sense, beating former vice president Henry Seward and Justice Salmon Chase. At the opposing Democratic convention, meanwhile, former vice presidential candidate John Breckinridge was chosen as the candidate, defeating Douglas. During the campaigning season, Lincoln gave no speeches, relying on party enthusiasm - thousands of pamphlets, posters, leaflets, and editorials were published, appealing to the party platform and detailing Lincoln's life. Lincoln, meanwhile, appointed a personal secretary. On Election Day 1860, Lincoln was elected with the entirety of the North and West's support, becoming the second Republican president after Fremont.
In the months between his election and inauguration, the Southern states, outraged at his election, began to secede slowly but surely, starting with South Carolina. Both outgoing president Fremont and incoming president Lincoln refused to recognize the Confederacy, as they called themselves, declaring them rebels and illegal. In response, General Jefferson Davis was elected as their first and only president. Lincoln gave an emotional farewell address to Illinois before taking a train to the capital. Here, his first attempted assassination attempt, the Baltimore Plot, was uncovered, and the suspects were arrested immediately, though Lincoln initially did not wish to go after them. Lincoln was inaugurated alongside running-mate Hannibal Hamlin on March 4, 1861, conducted by Chief Justice John McLean. It was the last inauguration conducted by the Chief Justice - A month later, McLean died, and Lincoln appointed his rival in the primaries, Chase, as the new chief justice, therefore gaining the support of Chase and his supporters throughout his tenure.
In the weeks following, General Robert Anderson requested more provisions for Fort Sumter, which he commanded, and this was seen as an act of war by the Confederacy. In response, Fort Sumter was fired upon, beginning the American Civil War. As a result, Lincoln ordered troops to be sent to protect the capital, retake the land, and preserve the Union, forcing states to choose sides; Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky remained neutral for the time being. With Richmond as the capital of the Confederacy, Lincoln revoked habeas corpus to protect Union troops.
As commander-in-chief, Lincoln was in charge of plans for strategy. He first signed the Confiscation Act, which allowed the judicial system to confiscate property of Confederate slave owners and release their slaves - something that set the basis for a later act. Former president Fremont, made Commanding General of the Western Armies, issued martial law in Missouri, something that followed in the other neutral states. Though it was revoked by Lincoln, thousands of African American men formed their own forces in cooperation with the Union, as they could not enlist for the Union Army just yet. Lincoln mainly relied on prominent Cabinet members such as former vice president Seward, Charles Sumner, and Edwin Stanton, with Stanton saving the Union thousands of dollars and working closer with Lincoln than anyone. For strategy, Lincoln relied on the strategist general Henry Halleck, but more importantly former president Winfield Scott, who Lincoln paid a visit to as West Point to discuss strategy. Scott revealed the Anaconda Plan, which would blockade Confederate ports and seize the Mississippi River, in which the war would end sooner and have less deaths. Though Lincoln denied this plan initially due to the Union's sentiment for aggression and bloodshed, it was later put to use by General Ulysses Grant.
After General Irvin McDowell's defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run and Scott's retirement, General Brinton McClellan began his mostly successful Virginia Campaigns. Lincoln became frustrated with the slowness of McClellan, and wished to replace him with General John Pope, Fremont's second-in-command, but was advised against it - This was a good idea, as McClellan defeated the Commanding General of the Confederate army Robert E. Lee at the Second Battle of Bull Run, while Pope defended Washington. It was not long, however, before McClellan was replaced - After political maneuvers by Lincoln, McClellan was eventually replaced by General Gordon Meade, defeating Lee in the Gettysburg Campaign; concurrently, General Grant committed the Anaconda Plan, seizing the Mississippi for the Union and isolating the Western states of Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana from the Confederacy. On New Years Day, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves in the Confederacy. From then on, the main goal of the military was to free all the slaves, and African Americans enlisted into the army by the masses, with thousands being escaped slaves or the citizens in the North who have been wishing to fight since the war's beginning. In Lincoln's Gettysburg Address months later, he addressed how ever since the nation's founding, all people were created equal, and he asserted it deserves to actually be that way; he went on to believe the world would forget what he said, but it went on to become the most quoted speech in American history.
Grant meanwhile received criticism for his actions and rumored drunkenness, but Lincoln defended him, stating he was a fighter, and after Grant's defeat of Confederate general Clifford Pemberton and Meade's failure to capture Lee, Grant became the commanding general of the entire American military force. Later on, Lincoln met with Grant, General William Sherman, and General Dixon Porter, where strategy was discussed on the Potomac by boat. Here, Lincoln gave Grant the permission to wreck havoc on the Confederacy with tactics such as scorched earth. In 1864, Lincoln escaped a close shave with Confederate general Jubal Early attempted to raid the capital. In the 1864 Presidential Election, Lincoln ran for re-election, however, defeatism was a common feeling in both parties - the Republicans felt the war was going to be lost and Lincoln's military decisions, primarily Grant and his bloody battles. The Democrats, on the other hand, called the war a failure, and wanted peace. Their candidate, General McClellan, who won the nomination, repudiated them, supporting the war and calling Lincoln too slow and soft. Luckily for the Union, defeatism left the minds of all after several victories during campaigning season, and Lincoln reluctantly giving in to allowing an older politician, Radical Republican leader Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania, to become his vice running mate, dropping Vice President Hamlin, though Hamlin continued to loyally serve Lincoln in the Cabinet. In a vote that was not even close, Lincoln and Stevens defeated McClellan and his vice running mate, George Pendleton. In his second inaugural address, which is now inscribed on the Lincoln Memorial, he stated it was God's will regarding the war's course thus far.
In 1865, Grant seized more Confederate territory, and the government fled Richmond. A week after Richmond fell, General Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia, officially ending the war, and remaining pockets of resistance were quelled over the next few months. The war was the bloodiest in American history, with more lives lost in the Northwest thanks to the Dakota War, which expelled all Dakota peoples from their lands and Minnesota lost their native population, along with the death of Lincoln's third son Willie in 1862.
With the war over, the main aim was to allow Reconstruction, which was the reformation of the Southern governments, to go into full swing. The Wade-Davis Bill, a radical bill that required all Southern politicians who reintegrated into Union society to take the Ironclad Oath which required them to swear and prove they had not supported the Confederacy, was initially turned down in favor of the Ten Percent Plan, which was a conservative bill with less harsh terms than the Wade-Davis Bill, but the veto was overridden by the radicals, supported by Stevens. Lincoln was beginning to regret making Stevens his vice, and all he could hope is that this was worth it. On the good side, the Freedmen's Bureau was established to help with the integration effort of freed slaves into society. In the coming weeks, Lincoln evaded assassination a few times, with the main time being an attempt by actor John Wilkes Booth. In the coming months, Stevens led the president on a sort of witch hunt for Confederate leaders, leading to the execution and arrest of various secessionists, such as Confederate president Davis, doing so until Stevens's death in office in 1868.
Over the next year, the division between Radicals and Conservatives widened. Lincoln recognized the new state government of West Virginia formed during the civil war led by Governor Harrison Pierpont, and though Democrats called for amnesty for rebels, Lincoln refused. Black suffrage was refused again and again, though Lincoln made efforts that began the slow and gradual allowance of suffrage expansion beyond whites. When southern states passed Black Codes to keep African Americans in check, Lincoln called it as unconstitutional, though he would have little to worry about. By the time Congress reconvened, they outlawed the Black Codes with a vote and improved relations with the president somewhat, considering almost all Confederate leaders were imprisoned, dead, or on the run. Though, the states undermined people of color's abilities with laws on small scales. Fellow Illinois senator Lyman Trumbull created the first Civil Rights act, and the Bureau also gained another charter. Not too long after, against the Democrats, the Fourteenth Amendment, granting citizenship to all American citizens, was ratified into the Constitution - All Southern States except Tennessee did not ratify it in their state constitutions. In 1867, two acts were passed by Lincoln and Congress - first was the First Reconstruction Act, which divided the South into military districts under the authority of strict generals like Gordon Meade and Winfield Hancock, quenching the remainder of Confederate sympathizers, much to the horror of the Democrats, in particular, the Southern ones; the second was the Tenure of Office Act, passed by the ever-so-controlling radicals in which the president could not remove a Cabinet member without approval from Congress, which Lincoln was hesitant to, but knowing Congress was mostly on his side, he agreed to allow its passage.
During Lincoln's second term as well, he made significant moves in diplomacy:
- Lincoln helped facilitate the end of the Second French Invasion of Mexico.
- A state dinner was hosted for Queen Emma of Hawaii.
- With the help of former vice president Seward, Alaska was purchased (Wake Island was also claimed)
The final act of Lincoln was the Impoverished Homestead Act, enabling better living conditions for poor Americans regardless of race, though it would take time to go into affect due to the high taxation.
Farewell, Honest Abe[]
Lincoln went on to attend the 1868 Republican National Convention - General Grant was nominated with a large support base, much to Lincoln's delight; the two shared a meal together during the campaigning season. At the Democratic National Convention, New York governor Horatio Seymour as their nominee. Lincoln's support was key, and Grant secured the election with a large gap between him and Seymour. On March 3, 1869, Lincoln held a ball for his final day in office, inviting many politicians to attendance, which many showed up. On the morning of March 4, Lincoln did final checkups on the state of the nation; following this, he attended Grant and his vice candidate Schuyler Colfax's inauguration by Chief Justice Chase, and had some more interactions with Grant and his family before he and his family took up residence in a estate in Washington, as Lincoln felt a better sense of security than in Illinois for the time being, and generally wanted to oversee Grant's presidency.
Over the next few years, Lincoln became an important advisor to Grant; this position saw Grant enforce laws that purged vigilantes, mainly supremacist groups in the South that often committed voter suppression, something Lincoln supported. In 1871, Tad, the youngest son of Lincoln, died of heart issues, leaving the couple devastated. Lincoln felt severely depressed, though he stayed strong for his wife and oldest son Robert, who took care of his parents. However, it would not be long before Lincoln himself contracted a disease, and he suffered for weeks. On May 12, Lincoln lost his battle with the terminal illness, with Robert and Mary at his side; he was 63. President Grant ordered all flags to be lowered at half-staff. Funeral preparations were made, and Lincoln lied in state at the Capitol, it was the largest ever lying in state America had, with millions in attendance. President Grant stood with his family, openly sobbing while the Lincolns did likewise - Future president Grover Cleveland also attended. After Lincoln's funeral processed through various regions of the country for those who did not have a chance to attend, it went by rail to Springfield, where it was interred in Lincoln's tomb, where the entire family except for Robert lies today.
Lincoln is hailed as one of the greatest presidents in American history - the most famous part of his record is the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves from slavery's tyrannical claws. On top of this, he started Reconstruction, which ultimately led to the next century and the fight for Civil Rights among all peoples, creating an eternal legacy of a man who gave it his all to preserve the Union. He is sometimes even called a Founding Father for his critical role in the shaping of the country. In historical rankings, he is always at the top of the upper tier, often ranked above or below George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt.