ABRAHAM LINCOLN

 

February 12

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky.

Lincoln attended school as a child for only a few months, and was essentially self-educated. However, he read widely, and many stories about his youth concern him striving to borrow books. Stories about him tell of him reading even while working in the fields.

As an adult, Lincoln practiced law in Illinois, and became a well-respected litigator. He handled all sorts of cases, and his legal practice, often with frontier characters for clients, provided many stories he would tell as president.

Lincoln was often called "Honest Abe." In the 1860 campaign his history of having worked with an ax prompted him to be called the “The Rail Splitter.”

Lincoln ran for president as the candidate of the Republican Party in 1860, and was strongly supported by those who opposed the extension of slavery into new states and territories.

The most devoted Lincoln supporters had organized themselves into marching societies, called Wide–Awake Clubs and Lincoln received support from a broad base of Americans, from factory workers to farmers to New England intellectuals who opposed slavery.

In the election of 1860, Lincoln had three opponents, the most prominent of whom was Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. Lincoln had run for the senate seat held by Douglas two years previously, and that election campaign featured the seven Lincoln-Douglas Debates.

In the election of 1864 Lincoln was opposed by General George McClellan, whom Lincoln had removed from command of the Army of the Potomac in late 1862. McClellan’s platform was essentially a call to bring an end to the Civil War.

Lincoln ran for president in 1860 and 1864, in an era when candidates did not do much campaigning. In 1860 Lincoln only made one appearance at a rally which was in his own hometown, Springfield, Illinois.

Lincoln was married to Mary Todd Lincoln. Their marriage was often rumored to be troubled, and there were many rumors focusing on her alleged mental illness, which was exacerbated by the deaths of three of their children. The Lincolns had four sons, only one of whom, Robert Todd Lincoln, lived to adulthood.

The untimely death of her husband at the hand of assassin John Wilkes Booth while she and her husband attended a play at Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865, also traumatized Mrs. Lincoln.

President Lincoln died early the next morning. He was in the second month of his second term when he was assassinated.

President Lincoln’s funeral train traveled from Washington, D.C. to Springfield, Illinois, stopping for observances in major cities of the North. He was buried in Springfield, and his body was eventually placed in a large tomb.

Lincoln’s legacy is enormous. For his role in guiding the country during the Civil War, and his actions which led to the end of slavery, he will always be remembered as one of the greatest of American presidents.