365 Days of Facts

Abraham Lincoln was an American statesman and lawyer. He would become America’s 16th president of the United States from 1861 to 1865.

He is best known for holding together the fractured nation through the Civil War and passing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery. Lincoln is one of the most influential people in US history given his command of government and the strength of his words during the iconic Gettysburg Address and Emancipation Proclamation.

Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln was born into poverty and became a self-taught lawyer, which translated into political work later on. Lincoln was an Illinois Congressman and the Whig Party leader before taking on the role of President. After a short stint in exclusively practicing law from 1849-1854, Lincoln reentered politics as a leader in the new Republican Party, and gained national attention after debating Stephen Douglas.

As a moderate Republican, he walked the fence with both major parties and always had the health of the Union at the forefront of his mind.

While leading the Union through the Civil War, and them=n beginning to reconcile with the South and it’s people afterwards, Lincoln successfully managed his own re-election campaign. While Lincoln attempted to seal the rift between halves of America, his opposition only seemed to grumble louder. On April 14, 1865, mere days after the end of the bloody war, Lincoln was assassinated in Ford’s Theatre by a Confederate sympathizer. Still beloved to this day, Lincoln is one of the greatest presidents of all time and one of the trailblazers for social equality in modern America.