The president who won the Civil War, preserved the Union, and freed the slaves, Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) usually ranks as one of the most-admired figures in American history. He was seen, in the words of one of his cabinet secretaries, as “the most perfect ruler of men the world has ever seen.”
Lincoln was born in a log cabin in Kentucky, moved frequently as a child, and was largely self-educated. As a young man, he failed at a variety of professions, including working on a riverboat and dealing liquor. Reduced to practicing law, he was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1837. His first foray into politics was a failure: He was elected to Congress as a Whig, but lasted only one term after making an unpopular vote against the Mexican War.
Upon returning to Illinois, he resumed his law practice and joined the Republicans, a newly created party. Under the motto “Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men,” the Republicans advocated expansion into the West and limits on slavery, which had emerged as the single dominant issue in national politics. Lincoln was the party’s candidate for the Illinois Senate in 1858, but lost the race to Stephen Douglas (1813–1861).
He won the 1860 Republican presidential nomination and was elected in a bitterly contested four-way race. Southern legislators, convinced that Lincoln would abolish slavery, responded to his election by voting, one by one, to secede from the Union. The secession crisis turned into war in April 1861.
The war tested not only Lincoln’s skills as a leader, but also the ability of a democracy to fight and win a war for survival. Despite his scant military experience—Lincoln had served in the Illinois militia in 1832—he was an adept commander in chief, prodding his generals to go on the offensive against the Confederacy. He also maintained public support for the war in the face of mounting deaths.
In 1864, Lincoln prevailed in the first US presidential election conducted in wartime. By the time he was inaugurated in March 1865, Union victory was seemingly assured; his inauguration speech urged a speedy forgiveness of the South. However, he was assassinated the next month, just five days after the surrender of Robert E. Lee (1807–1870) and a few weeks before the final collapse of the Confederacy.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
- Lincoln was the first US president who was not born in one of the original thirteen colonies.
- The capital city of Nebraska was named after Lincoln in 1867. Three other state capitals are named in honor of presidents: Jefferson City, Missouri; Jackson, Mississippi; and Madison, Wisconsin.
- Lincoln’s Democratic opponents were known as Copperheads, a derisive nickname derived from a species of venomous snake.
