16th President: Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) Political Party: Republican Abraham Lincoln, aside from George Washington, is arguably our most iconic President. His wisdom and sagacity is legendary, and it served to carry our war-torn nation to a rebirth of liberty and freedom, ascending it to new heights and endless possibilities. He was born in Hardin County, Kentucky in 1809. His parents were unlanded, obscure Virginia natives who found themselves migrating to the then-western frontier of Kentucky in search of land and opportunity. Young Lincoln lived the harsh trappings of a frontiersman who struggled for living and learning. Growing up in Illinois, he worked fervently to acquire an education. Self-taught, his tenacity for knowledge and learning knew no bounds as he struggled to lead a more distinguished life than the rugged frontier could provide. He was a storekeeper, a Captain in the Black Hawk War, served eight years in the Illinois legislature, and rode the circuit court for several years. In 1858, Lincoln ran against Stephen Douglas for Illinois Senator. He lost the election, but the exposure during the famed Lincoln-Douglas debates garnered him the reputation as a profoundly skilled orator. It also gave him national recognition that catapulted him to win the Republican presidential nomination in 1860. As President, he built the Republican Party into a strong and powerful organization. His folksy demeanor and steadfast belief in preserving the Union helped to rally northern Democrats to the Union cause. However, he was exasperated by the repeated Union losses to Confederate generals in battle after battle. He felt that to emancipate the slaves, he first needed a major Union victory on the battlefield to solidify and validate such a bold and provocative decision. Union losses in men and materiel continued to mount, but Lincoln soon found his victory at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862. On January 1 of the following year, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves held in Confederate territories only. Such a calculated move served to delegitimize the Confederate cause in the eyes of their European sympathizers, and prevent a backlash from Union border states that still practiced slavery. The Civil War dragged on, and a frustrated Abraham Lincoln cycled through a series of less-than-competent Union generals. He issued the now-famous Gettysburg Address after the battle to dedicate the new national cemetery. His piously humble, short words helped to rekindle a “new birth of freedom” in a war-weary population that was willing to negotiate to end it, even if it meant the fragmentation of the Union. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address reminded people of the larger issue at stake, that this nation must not, and “shall not perish from the earth.” He soon found the military leadership he sought in Ulysses S. Grant. Through his dogged generalship and the Union’s superior resources, the Confederates relented, and Grant accepted their surrender in April 1865. The Civil War finally over, Abraham Lincoln ironically became one of its last casualties. He was brutally assassinated by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. At the moment of his death hours later, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton aptly stated: “He now belongs to the ages.”
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 04:44:35 +0000
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