Facts about Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln Biography
Abraham Lincoln was the president of the United States from 1861 until his shocking assassination in 1865.
The colorful stories about Abe Lincoln’s life really are true: He was born in a log cabin and grew up on the American frontier, educated himself by reading borrowed books, worked splitting fence rails and clerking in a general store, and then was a country lawyer long before he became president. He served in the Illinois General Assembly for eight years and in the U.S. House of Representatives for a single term (1847-49) before his election as the nation’s first Republican president in 1860.
As president, he is best remembered for leading the Union through the Civil War and freeing Confederate slaves with the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation; for delivering the Gettysburg Address, the most famous oration in American history, on November 19, 1863; and for his tragic assassination by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C.
Upon Lincoln’s death, Andrew Johnson assumed the presidency. The Lincoln Memorial, with its famous statue of Abraham Lincoln by Daniel Chester French, was dedicated in Washington in 1922.
Extra credit
Abraham Lincoln married the former Mary Anne Todd in 1842. They had four children: Robert (1843–1926), Edward (1846–1850), William (1850–1862), and Thomas (known as Tad, 1853–1871)… Abraham Lincoln’s oldest son, Robert Todd Lincoln, was present at three assassinations: his father’s, President Garfield’s in 1881 and President McKinley‘s in 1901… Yes, that’s Abe Lincoln on the U.S. penny and the five dollar bill. Lincoln also named Salmon P. Chase to be Chief Justice of the United States in 1864, and Chase is on the $10,000 bill… Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president. He was preceded by James Buchanan, the only president to remain a bachelor for life… Abe Lincoln was the first president to be born outside the original thirteen states. He was also the first president to wear a beard while in office… A famous (and enormous) biography of Abraham Lincoln was written by 20th-century author Carl Sandburg.
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4 Good Links
- Readable in-depth bio from the Miller Center at the University of Virginia
- With good essays for students on the Emancipation Proclamation and on his assasination
- Nifty history of his time in the mansion, from the White House Historical Association
- Hard-core facts and figures for Lincoln and his administration