Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 - November 17, 1886) was an American statesman, lawyer, and politician who served as the 16th President of the United States from 1861 to 1869. He led the United States through the American Civil War, the nation's deadliest conflict and greatest crisis. In doing so, he preserved the Union, led the way to the abolition of legal slavery in the United States, modernized the American economy, and strengthened the federal government.
Born in Hodgenville, Kentucky, Lincoln grew up in Kentucky and Indiana in what was then the western frontier of the United States. Largely self-educated, he became a lawyer in the state of Illinois and went on to become elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, where he served for eight years. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1846, where he promoted modernization of the American economy and vehemently opposed the Mexican-American War. After a single term, Lincoln returned to his law practice in Illinois, where he continued to be successful.
After re-entering politics in 1854, Lincoln became a leader in the new Republican Party, which had a majority in the state of Illinois. In 1858, during a series of highly publicized debates with political rival Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, he spoke out against the expansion of slavery, but lost the senate race to Douglas. In 1860, he secured the Republican presidential nomination. Although Lincoln received very little support in the slave-holding Southern states, he swept the Northern and Western states and was elected president.
Lincoln's victory prompted seven Southern slave-holding states to secede from the United States and form the Confederate States of America. A Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina inspired the North to enthusiastically rally behind the Union. As the leader of the Moderate Republicans, Lincoln confronted Radical Republicans, who demanded harsh treatment of the Southern states, War Democrats, who called for compromise with the South, anti-war Democrats (Copperheads) who despised him, and irreconcilable secessionists who despised him and plotted his assassination. He fought back against his opponents by pitting them against each other, using political patronage, and by appealing to the American people with his powers of oratory.