Abraham Lincoln

n 1. Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln ,served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union, ending slavery, and rededicating the nation to nationalism, equal rights, liberty and democracy. Reared in a poor family on the westernfrontier, he was mostly self-educated and became a country lawyer, an Illinois state legislator, and a one-term member of the United States House of Representatives, but failed in two attempts at a seat in the United States Senate. He was an affectionate, though often absent, husband, and father of four children.
Lincoln won the first Republican nomination and was elected president in 1860. Aspresident he concentrated on the military and political dimensions of the war effort, always seeking to reunify the nation after the secession of the eleven Confederate States of America. Six days after the surrender of the main Confederate forces, Lincoln was assassinated,

2. Childhood and education
Abraham Lincoln ,was born on February 12, 1809, the second child to ThomasLincoln and Nancy Lincoln , in a one room log cabin on the Sinking Spring Farm in southeast Hardin County, Kentucky . Lincoln's formal education consisted of about 18 months of classes from several itinerant teachers; he was mostly self-educated and was an avid reader. Very tall and strong, young Lincoln was handy with an axe and became a talented local wrestler, which imbued him with self-confidence. He was not ahard worker during his teens; indeed, family and neighbors often called him lazy Lincoln avoided hunting and fishing out of an aversion to killing animals.
3. Marriage and family
In 1840, Lincoln became engaged to Mary Todd, who was from a wealthy slave-holding family in Lexington, Kentucky. They met in Springfield in December 1839, and were engaged sometime around that Christmas. A weddingwas set for January 1, 1841, but the couple split as the wedding approached. They later met at a party, and then married on November 4, 1842, in the Springfield mansion of Mary's married sister. The Lincolns had a budding family, with the birth of Robert Todd Lincoln in 1843, and Edward Baker Lincoln in 1846. Robert was the only child of the Lincolns to survive to adulthood. Edward Lincoln diedon February 1, 1850, in Springfield, likely of tuberculosis. The death of the their sons had profound effects on both the parents. Later in life, Mary struggled with the stresses of losing her husband and sons; Robert Lincoln had to commit her to a mental health asylum in 1875. Abraham Lincoln suffered from melancholy.
4. Early career
At age 23, Lincoln began his political career in 1832 witha campaign for the Illinois General Assembly. He had achieved a reputation as an esteemed raconteur in New Salem, though he lacked an education, powerful friends, and money. He advocated navigational improvements on the Sangamon River. Before the election he served briefly as a captain in the Illinois militia during the Black Hawk War, although he never saw combat. Lincoln returned from themilitia and was able to campaign for the August 6 election. Lincoln became an able and successful lawyer with a reputation as a formidable adversary during cross-examinations and closing arguments. In 1841, he partnered with Stephen Logan until 1844, when he began his practice with William Herndon, whom Lincoln thought "a studious young man". He served four successive terms in the Illinois House ofRepresentatives as a Whig representative from Sangamon County.
5. Early national politics
in 1846, Lincoln was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served one two-year term. He was the only Whig in the Illinois delegation, but showed his party loyalty, showing up for almost all votes and making speeches that echoed the party line. He used his office as an opportunity to...