POTUS Lincoln, Abraham

Abraham Lincoln
16th President of the United States of America

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Abraham Lincoln was politician and lawyer from Illinois who served as the 16th President of the United States of America. He held his office from March of 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln's election led the nation into a secession crisis that turned into the American Civil War, the bloodiest war in this nations history. As president, Lincoln attempted to abolished slavery, and defeat the Confederate Rebellion in order to preserve the Union.

Born: February 12, 1809

Birthplace: Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky

Father: Thomas Lincoln 1778 – 1851
(Buried: Thomas Lincoln Cemetery, Pleasant Grove Township, Illinois)​

Mother: Nancy Hanks 1784 – 1818
(Buried: Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, Lincoln City, Indiana)​

Stepmother: Sarah Bush 1788 – 1869
(Buried: Thomas Lincoln Cemetery, Pleasant Grove Township, Illinois)​

Wife: Mary Ann Todd 1818 – 1882
(Buried: Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois)​

Married: November 4, 1842 in Springfield, Illinois

Children:

Robert Todd Lincoln 1843 – 1926​
(Buried: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia)​
Edward Baker “Eddie” Lincoln 1846 – 1850​
(Buried: Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois)​
William Wallace “Willie” Lincoln 1850 – 1862​
(Buried: Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois)​
Thomas “Tad” Lincoln 1853 – 1871​
(Buried: Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois)​
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Signature:
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Political Party:

Whig (before 1854)​
Republican (1854–1864)​
National Union (1864–1865)​

Nicknames: The Ancient One, The Great Emancipator, The Liberator, Honest Abe, The Rail-Splitter, The Tycoon, and Uncle Abe.

Religion: Lincoln was an undeclared, bible reader who sometimes used Christian imagery in his speeches, but never joined a church, although he did attend services with his wife.

Education: Minimal, perhaps 12 to 18 months of formal schooling from travelling teachers, otherwise self educated, and well read.

Occupation before the War:

Took Goods on flatboat to New Orleans witnessing slavery​
1832: Served in the Black Hawk War rising to Captain​
General Merchant in New Salem, Illinois​
1833 – 1836: United States Postmaster of New Salem, Illinois​
1834 – 1836: Deputy County Surveyor in Illinois​
1834 – 1842: Illinois State Representative​
1837 – 1847: Attorney in Springfield, Illinois​
Supporter of American Colonization Society​
1840: Whig Party Presidential Elector​
1842: On Sept 22, Lincoln agreed to meet James Shields at Bloody Island, Missouri to face a duel to the death with broadswords, a weapon of Lincoln's choosing. Despite his anger over Lincoln ridiculing him in the newspaper, Shields quickly realized his height disadvantage when Lincoln was able to cut a tree branch high above Shield's head. The two were able to quickly call a truce.​
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1844: Campaigner for Henry Clay’s Campaign​
1847 – 1849: U.S. Congressman from Illinois​
Member of Congressional Committee on Post Office & Post Roads​
Member of Congressional Committee on War Dept. Expenditures​
1848: Supporter of Zachary Taylor’s Presidential Campaign​
Lost out appointment as Commissioner of General Land Office​
1849
Returned to being an Attorney in Springfield, Illinois​
March 7 - As an Attorney, Lincoln argued and lost a case in front of the United States Supreme Court, the case helped him make a name for himself as a litigator in Illinois.​
May 22 - Lincoln's Patent for a Self-Buoying River Boat is Granted by the United States Patent Office, U.S. Patent No. 6469. (Lincoln goes on to become the only U.S. President in American History to hold a Patent.)​

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Improved River Boat With Inflatable Buoyant Chambers
for Navigating Shallow Water and Sandbars

Google: U.S. Patent 6469

1855: Unsuccessful Whig Candidate for United States Senator​
1856: Joined the Republican Political Party, was supported to run for Vice President, but Party nominated a different candidate instead.​
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1856: Campaigned for John C. Fremont’s Campaign​

1858
June 16 - Lincoln Gives his famous "House Divided" Speech​
Aug to Oct - Leader after seven "Lincoln – Douglas Debates"​
1859: Lincoln loses Senate race to Douglas, despite getting more popular votes.​
1860
Feb 27 - Lincoln Gives his famous "Cooper Union" Speech​
May 18 - Lincoln wins the Republication Nomination as the parties Presidential Candidate.​
Nov 4 - Lincoln Wins the United States Presidential Election, beating 3 other candidates in the electoral collage, Lincoln's 180 to the opposition's 123 ballots all combined. Lincolns support came from mostly the North and West, he won only two of 996 counties in all the Southern states.​

Major Events in Lincoln's Presidency
During the American Civil War:


1861
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March 4 - Lincoln sworn in as 16th President of United States of America, and gives his first inaugural address​
April 15 - Calls for 75,000 troops to recapture forts, protect Washington, and "preserve the Union"​
April 19 - Lincoln orders a blockade of Confederate Ports​
August 6 - Signed the Confiscation Act that authorized judicial proceedings to confiscate and free slaves who were used to support the Confederates.​
November 1 - Lincoln names George McClellan as the new commander of the Union Army.​
1862
July 22 - Lincoln announces his intentions to issue the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet.​
September 22 - Announced the Emancipation of all slaves in the Confederate States if the rebellion did not end by January 1st, which came to be known as the Emancipation Proclamation.​
1863
January 1 - Effective date of the Emancipation Proclamation, changing the legal status under federal law of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in the Confederate states from slave to free.​
October 3 - Issues proclamation for a national day of thanksgiving.​
November 19 - Lincoln gives his famous "Gettysburg Address" at the battered and bloodstained battlefield, dedicating the battlefield cemetery.​
December 8 - Lincoln announces Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction: his administration will offer a pardon to any person who will swear, without coercion, his allegiance to the Union.​
1864
June 7 - Lincoln accepts the nomination of at the Republican National Convention for a second term as President. Andrew Johnson is selected as Lincoln's new running mate, replacing Hannibal Hamlin.​
July 11-12 - President Lincoln and his wife Mary visit Fort Stevens near Washington, D.C. during a Confederate attack and while attempting to observe the action and they are forced to take cover when they come under enemy fire.​
November 8 - Lincoln is re-elected in a landslide, defeating his opponent McClellan by a wide margin. Lincoln winning 55% of the popular vote, and 212 electoral votes over McClellan's 21.​
1865
March 4 - Lincoln gives his second inaugural address.​
April 14th (Good Friday) - John Wilkes Booth attacks and mortally wounds Lincoln with a gunshot to the back of the head while he's attending a performance of Our American Cousin with Mary Todd Lincoln, Major Henry Rathbone and Clara Harris at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., at around 10:15 p.m. Rathbone tries to capture Booth, but he escapes into the night.​

Lincoln's Last Word's: Thought to be, "She won't think anything about it", answering Mary's Query: "What will Miss Harris think of my hanging on to you so?" while holding Lincoln's hand...

Died: April 15, 1865

Time of Death: 7:22 a.m.

Age at Death: 56 Years Old

Place of Death: Peterson House, Washington, D.C.

Cause of Death: Assassination by gunshot wound to the head

Final Burial Place: Lincoln Tomb, Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois
 
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- Lincoln's Vice Presidents -

- Lincoln's Cabinet Members -
Includes Date of Appointment
Secretary of State
Secretary of War
Secretary of the Navy
Attorney General
Secretary of the Treasury
Postmaster General
Secretary of the Interior
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Lincoln met with his Cabinet for the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation draft on July 22, 1862.
L-R: Stanton, Chase, Lincoln, Welles, Smith, Seward, Blair and Bates. Painting by Francis Carpenter, 1864, Public Domain.
 
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- Quotes from Lincoln -

"Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today."
- Notes for a Law Lecture, given on or about July 1, 1850.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free."
- Lincoln's speech to the Republican State Convention in Springfield, Illinois on June 16, 1858.
"Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it."
- from Lincoln's Cooper Union Speech, February 27, 1860.
"We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection."
- Lincoln's first inaugural address, March 4, 1861.
"If McClellan is not using the army, I should like to borrow it for a while."
- A comment made on April 9, 1862 to express his frustration with General George B. McClellan.
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"I can't spare this man, he fights."
- Pennsylvania Republican Alexander McClure claimed Lincoln made this comment after McClure expressed the thought that Grant should be removed from command for being unprepared, as was reported in the newspapers after the Battle of Shiloh.
"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that."
- Lincoln's reply to the New York Tribune, printed on August 19, 1862.
"Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
- from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address delivered on November 19, 1863.
"It is not best to swap horses while crossing the river."
- Comments made during an address on June 9, 1864 while expressing a desire to run for another term.
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in."
- Lincoln's second inaugural address, March 4, 1865.
"Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."
- Lincoln's Speech to the 140th Indiana Regiment, March 17, 1865.



- Interesting Lincoln Facts -
  • Lincoln was never given a middle name.
  • Lincoln was the 1st president born outside of the 13 original states.​
  • He loved eating oysters.
  • Lincoln let his cat named Tabby eat dinner on the table at the White House.
  • Lincoln's dog was named Fido.
  • Chicken casserole was one of Lincoln's favorite foods.
  • Someone shot at Lincoln in 1864 and put a hole in his stovepipe hat.
  • Edwin Booth, John Wilkes brother, saved Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert, from serious injury or even death. The incident occurred on a train platform in Jersey City, New Jersey sometime between late 1864 or early 1865, the exact date is uncertain.
  • John Wilkes Booth managed to be photographed on a balcony near Lincoln at his second inauguration.
  • Lincoln's Last Words: The end is near, the play at Ford's Theater is going ahead, Lincoln and Mary Todd are enjoying the show. Booth is lurking somewhere behind them waiting for the right line in the play to unleash his plan. At one point Mary whispered to Lincoln, who was holding her hand, "What will Miss Harris think of my hanging on to you so?" Lincoln replied, "She won't think anything about it". In following years these words were traditionally considered Lincoln's last, though N.W. Miner, a family friend, claimed in 1882 that Mary Lincoln told him that Lincoln's last words expressed a wish to visit Jerusalem.
 
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The Funeral, Transport, and Burial of Lincoln's Remains:
  • From Saturday, April 15 to Tuesday, April 18, Lincoln lay in state in the East Room of the White House for public viewing.
  • On Wednesday, April 19, a funeral service was held at the White House, then Lincoln's body was moved for a ceremonial burial service to be held at the Capitol Rotunda where his body would lay in State through Thursday the 20th.
  • On Friday, April 21, the Lincoln coffin was taken by honor guard to the train depot, and was loaded aboard what became known as “The Lincoln Special.” This nine car funeral train also contained the body of Lincoln’s 11-year-old son, Willie, whose body was disinterred in order join his father in Springfield.
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  • Lincoln's Funeral Train departed at 8 a.m. beginning a 1654-mile, 12 stop, 13 day journey. This would be the first national commemoration of a president's death by rail. Lincoln was observed, mourned, and honored by the citizens and visitors in the following cities:
    • Baltimore, Maryland
    • Harrisburg & Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    • New York City, Albany & Buffalo, New York
    • Cleveland & Columbus, Ohio
    • Indianapolis, Indiana
    • Chicago & ending at Springfield, Illinois
  • The train passed 444 communities in 7 states.
    • Lincoln traveled through, but did not have any scheduled stops or viewings in the state of New Jersey.
  • After lying in State at the Old State Capitol Building in Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln's remains made one final journey, arriving at Oak Ridge Cemetery on May 4, 1865, at 1 p.m.
  • Lincolns remains are placed in the Oak Ridge Cemetery Receiving Vault, a temporary storage location while Lincoln's Tomb is constructed nearby.
  • On October 9, 1874, Lincoln's coffin with his remains were placed in a white marble sarcophagus in a burial room inside his completed Tomb behind a steel gate locked with a padlock.
  • Lincoln's tomb was dedicated on October 15, 1874. The event is attended by a large crowd; public speakers included Richard J. Oglesby and Ulysses S. Grant.
  • On November 7, 1876, Counterfeiters attempt to steal President Lincoln's remains for ransom, but their attempt is foiled by two undercover U.S. Secret Service agents that they've hired to assist move the coffin, the thieves escape, but are soon apprehended, the thieves only manage to move the coffin about 18 inches.
  • Lincoln's coffin has been moved 17 times within the tomb and the coffin has been opened 5 times to verify that the remains were secure from the threat of looters and thieves.
  • Mary Todd Lincoln and three of their four sons, Willie, Eddie, and Tad are also buried at the completed Tomb.
  • Lincoln's final burial took place on September 26, 1901, and a final reconstruction and re-dedication occurred on June 17, 1931.
Final Burial Place: Lincoln Tomb, Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois




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