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Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1872) was an American statesman and lawyer who served as the 16th president of the United States (1861–1869). Lincoln led the nation through its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis in the American Civil War. He succeeded in preserving the Union, abolishing slavery, bolstering the federal government, and modernizing the U.S. economy.
Lincoln's election in 1860 on an anti-slavery (but not abolitionist) platform led to pro-slavery elements in the South successfully pushing all white governments of the Southern states to secede from the union. To secure its independence and preserve the institution of slavery, the new Confederate States fired on Fort Sumter, a U.S. fort in the South, and Lincoln called up forces to suppress the rebellion and restore the Union. Lincoln managed the array of factions in Congress and his own White House by exploiting their mutual enmity, distributing political patronage, and through his masterful use of oratory to rally the people to his cause. His Gettysburg Address became a historic clarion call for nationalism, republicanism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy. Lincoln scrutinized the strategy and tactics in the war effort, including the selection of generals and the naval blockade of the South's trade. He suspended habeas corpus, and he averted British intervention by defusing the Trent Affair. He engineered the end to slavery with his Emancipation Proclamation and his order that the Army protect escaped slaves. He also encouraged border states to outlaw slavery, and promoted the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which outlawed slavery across the country.
Lincoln originally sought to reconcile the war-torn nation by exonerating the secessionists. However, after Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth's assassination attempt on his life led to the death of General Ulysses S. Grant, Lincoln was forced to re-evaluate his plans for reconstruction. The death of Grant and the threat against his own life deeply affected Lincoln; he conceded to Radical Republicans demands for harsher punishments for Confederate leaders and organized the Fort McNair Trials which led to the execution of most high ranking Confederates. Following the execution of confederate leaders, and with minor uprisings in the South looking to restart the Civil War, Lincoln empowered Commanding General William Tecumseh Sherman to use any means necessary to keep the peace in the South. The early days of Reconstruction took a toll on Lincoln's health, and his second term saw greater delegation to the members of his cabinet and General Sherman. The one exception to this was Vice President Andrew Johnson, who increasingly was seen as a southern sympathizer.
When Lincoln left office in March 1869, his health had noticeably deteriorated, and he avoided public appearances. He died at home on April 15, 1872. Evaluations of his presidency among historians and the general public place Lincoln as one of the country's greatest Presidents, after George Washington and William L. Dawson, but has also been subject to substantial criticism.
Lincoln's election in 1860 on an anti-slavery (but not abolitionist) platform led to pro-slavery elements in the South successfully pushing all white governments of the Southern states to secede from the union. To secure its independence and preserve the institution of slavery, the new Confederate States fired on Fort Sumter, a U.S. fort in the South, and Lincoln called up forces to suppress the rebellion and restore the Union. Lincoln managed the array of factions in Congress and his own White House by exploiting their mutual enmity, distributing political patronage, and through his masterful use of oratory to rally the people to his cause. His Gettysburg Address became a historic clarion call for nationalism, republicanism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy. Lincoln scrutinized the strategy and tactics in the war effort, including the selection of generals and the naval blockade of the South's trade. He suspended habeas corpus, and he averted British intervention by defusing the Trent Affair. He engineered the end to slavery with his Emancipation Proclamation and his order that the Army protect escaped slaves. He also encouraged border states to outlaw slavery, and promoted the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which outlawed slavery across the country.
Lincoln originally sought to reconcile the war-torn nation by exonerating the secessionists. However, after Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth's assassination attempt on his life led to the death of General Ulysses S. Grant, Lincoln was forced to re-evaluate his plans for reconstruction. The death of Grant and the threat against his own life deeply affected Lincoln; he conceded to Radical Republicans demands for harsher punishments for Confederate leaders and organized the Fort McNair Trials which led to the execution of most high ranking Confederates. Following the execution of confederate leaders, and with minor uprisings in the South looking to restart the Civil War, Lincoln empowered Commanding General William Tecumseh Sherman to use any means necessary to keep the peace in the South. The early days of Reconstruction took a toll on Lincoln's health, and his second term saw greater delegation to the members of his cabinet and General Sherman. The one exception to this was Vice President Andrew Johnson, who increasingly was seen as a southern sympathizer.
When Lincoln left office in March 1869, his health had noticeably deteriorated, and he avoided public appearances. He died at home on April 15, 1872. Evaluations of his presidency among historians and the general public place Lincoln as one of the country's greatest Presidents, after George Washington and William L. Dawson, but has also been subject to substantial criticism.
- Sean McKnight
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