Lived

February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865

Home State

Illinois

Party

Republican; National Union (1864)

Vice President

Hannibal Hamlin; Andrew Johnson

Abraham Lincoln preserved the Union through the Civil War, issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and secured passage of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. A self-taught Illinois lawyer and one-term congressman, he rose to national prominence through the Lincoln–Douglas debates. His leadership produced the Homestead Act, the Pacific Railway Act, and land-grant colleges. He suspended habeas corpus in parts of the country and authorized military tribunals, actions later checked by Ex parte Milligan. His assassination five days after Lee's surrender left Reconstruction to lesser hands. Illinois lawyer, Illinois state legislator, single-term U.S. Representative; nationally known through the 1858 Lincoln–Douglas debates.

Roughly one year of formal schooling total; entirely self-taught in law.

Issued the Emancipation Proclamation (1863). Delivered the Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural. Secured passage of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. Signed the Homestead Act, the Pacific Railway Act, the Morrill Act creating land-grant colleges, and the Legal Tender Act. Signed the Homestead Act (1862), the Morrill Land-Grant Act (1862), the Pacific Railway Act (1862), the National Banking Act (1863), and the Emancipation Proclamation (executive order, 1863).

Suspended habeas corpus in parts of the country and authorized military tribunals — actions later checked by Ex parte Milligan. His conduct of the war produced casualties on a scale never seen before on the continent.