Ohio-born Rutherford B. Hayes was an attorney, Civil War veteran, Congressman and former governor of Ohio when he became the Republican presidential nominee in 1876. But behind the public persona lay a more complex personality, prone to keeping secrets and holding his innermost thoughts to himself. Abraham Lincoln (/lkn/ LINK-n; February 12, 1809 April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Following the bombardment, Lincoln mobilized forces to suppress the rebellion and restore the union. But he eventually abandoned the diet, and by the time he was elected in 1908, he tipped the scales at more than 350 pounds. His relevance endures and grows especially because of his eloquence as a spokesman for democracy. [169] A few weeks before the war, Lincoln sent a letter to every governor informing them Congress had passed a joint resolution to amend the Constitution.[170]. In 1860 he was nominated at the Republican National Convention to be the partys presidential candidate, and he embarked on a presidential campaign that he would win. Lincoln responded, "I could not afford to hang men for votes. Pro-slavery elements in the South viewed his election as a threat to slavery, and Southern states began seceding from the nation. It's worth a visit, not just to appreciate the historic cooper shop, the 12 timber residences, the saw and grist mill, the schoolhouse, or the blacksmith's shop, but to imagine and appreciate the life lived here by New Salem's most famous resident: Abraham Lincoln. [345] Instead of focusing on the legality of an argument, he focused on the moral basis of republicanism. Lincoln instructed his backers to vote for Lyman Trumbull. He believed in his own integrity and worked diligently to maintain his reputation as an honest politician and lawyer something that was not always easy in either of those fields. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. Lincoln earned the nickname ``Honest Abe'' here long before it became popular in the press. [71] Lincoln emerged as a formidable trial combatant during cross-examinations and closing arguments. How to Use, Emancipation Digital Classroom When she asked where he was going Abe replied "I don't have five dollars" and she exclaimed "You are the most honest S.O.B. Lincoln is remembered as a martyr and a national hero for his wartime leadership and for his efforts to preserve the Union and abolish slavery. Sherman's capture of Atlanta in September and David Farragut's capture of Mobile ended defeatism. When Lincoln unsuccessfully ran against Stephen Douglas in an 1858 Senate race, Douglas confided in a friend that Lincolns reputation for truthfulness and honesty made him an attractive candidate. In Louisiana, Lincoln ordered General Nathaniel P. Banks to promote a plan that would reestablish statehood when 10 percent of the voters agreed, and only if the reconstructed states abolished slavery. In this famous dedication of the battlefield cemetery, he urged citizens to ensure "that these dead shall not have died in vainthat this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedomand that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." The Lincoln memorial postage stamp of 1866 was issued by the U.S. Post Office exactly one year after Lincoln's death. Check out our 2016 Syllabus Real news, real hope. Lincoln replaced Buell with William Rosecrans; and after the 1862 midterm elections he replaced McClellan with Ambrose Burnside. Lincoln was the tallest president among all US presidents so far. [360], Lincoln's assassination left him a national martyr. At an annual reporters dinner that year, Roosevelt was presented with an 8-foot tall papier- mch sphinx in his likeness. The convention platform endorsed Congress's right to regulate slavery in the territories and backed the admission of Kansas as a free state. [231], Lincoln spoke at the dedication of the Gettysburg battlefield cemetery on November 19, 1863. He was shot during his eventual capture and died from his wounds. [84], Lincoln had pledged in 1846 to serve only one term in the House. When the state of Illinois set about reconstructing New Salem in 1932, no original buildings remained. Hoover established a volunteer relief effort to send food to Belgium and France. [2] He was a descendant of Samuel Lincoln, an Englishman who migrated from Hingham, Norfolk, to its namesake, Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1638. But he soon came into conflict with fellow Whigs, and his growing list of political enemies quickly dubbed him His Accidency. A man without a party, he briefly ran for election in 1844 before withdrawing his candidacy for lack of support. The nation had been arguing for more than a hundred years about enslaving people and each states right to allow it. He elevated Henry Halleck in July and appointed John Pope as head of the new Army of Virginia. Alternate titles: Honest Abe, The Great Emancipator, The Rail-splitter, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History, University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Here are nine lesser-known nuggets about America's most-beloved president. [152] People of the Northern states knew the Southern states would vote against Lincoln and rallied supporters for Lincoln. He also hired John George Nicolay as his personal secretary, who would remain in that role during the presidency. I do not expect the Union to be dissolvedI do not expect the house to fallbut I do expect it will cease to be divided. He signed Senator Charles Sumner's Freedmen's Bureau bill that set up a temporary federal agency designed to meet the immediate needs of former slaves. The political documents sometimes involve campaign experiences, but we have tried to exclude general campaign materials from this category (you will find them in The Railsplitter theme) and instead have concentrated here on moments in Lincolns political career when his ethics seemed to be in jeopardy by the circumstances of his first chosen profession. [83] Lincoln later regretted some of his statements, especially his attack on presidential war-making powers. One of his greatest preoccupations as a political thinker was the issue of self-governance and the promise and problems that could arise from it. For the first time, Illinois Republicans held a convention to agree upon a Senate candidate, and Lincoln won the nomination with little opposition. [159] His victory in the Electoral College was decisive: Lincoln had 180 votes to 123 for his opponents. [67] In 1837, he declared, "[The] Institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy, but the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate its evils. Lincoln's work as an everyman's store clerk and trustworthy business owner helped lead to his nickname as "Honest Abe". His willingness to get into the muck with his men earned him their undying loyalty and the nickname Old Rough and Ready. He became a national star thanks to his victories during the Mexican-American War at Palo Alto, Monterrey and Buena Vista, earning him comparisons to George Washington and Jackson. [101] In his 1852 eulogy for Clay, Lincoln highlighted the latter's support for gradual emancipation and opposition to "both extremes" on the slavery issue. The party did the leg work that produced majorities across the North and produced an abundance of campaign posters, leaflets, and newspaper editorials. [150] When Douglas was selected as the candidate of the Northern Democrats, delegates from eleven slave states walked out of the Democratic convention; they opposed Douglas's position on popular sovereignty, and selected incumbent Vice President John C. Breckinridge as their candidate. February 10, 1987 By the spring of 1863, Lincoln was ready to recruit black troops in more than token numbers. hdivided@dickinson.edu [132] In the aftermath of the 1858 election, newspapers frequently mentioned Lincoln as a potential Republican presidential candidate, rivaled by William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Simon Cameron. purchase. However, despite his overwhelming support in the Midwestern United States, he was less appreciated in the east. PDF Honest Abe Classroom Practice Download View. Still, somehow, I could read, write, and cipher to the rule of three; but that was all. Apparently the young Lincoln did not read a large number of books but thoroughly absorbed the few that he did read. [34], In March 1830, fearing another milk sickness outbreak, several members of the extended Lincoln family, including Abraham, moved west to Illinois, a free state, and settled in Macon County. Throughout the 1850s, Lincoln had doubted the prospects of civil war, and his supporters rejected claims that his election would incite secession. [361] Historians have said he was "a classical liberal" in the 19th-century sense. According to his own statement, however, his early surroundings provided absolutely nothing to excite ambition for education. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Boston Globe, The New York Times, and National Geographic Traveler. He was the only Whig in the Illinois delegation, but as dutiful as any participated in almost all votes and made speeches that toed the party line. Lincoln managed his own successful re-election campaign. [284] The passage of the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railway Acts was enabled by the absence of Southern congressmen and senators who had opposed the measures in the 1850s. [110], In 1854, Lincoln was elected to the Illinois legislature but declined to take his seat. In 1941 he lost a close race for the U.S. Senate, amid allegations of fraud on both sides. [346], His position on war was founded on a legal argument regarding the Constitution as essentially a contract among the states, and all parties must agree to pull out of the contract. [304] After being attended by Doctor Charles Leale and two other doctors, Lincoln was taken across the street to Petersen House. As a flatboatman, he made a voyage down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, Louisiana. [394] Memorials in Springfield, Illinois, include the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Lincoln's home, and his tomb. Lincoln was ethical not only in his legal dealings with clients, but with his personal relationships. And having begun, He could give the final victory to either side any day. "The Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, 1862", "Andrew Johnson and Emancipation in Tennessee - Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)", "Message of President Abraham Lincoln Nominating Ulysses S. Grant to Be Lieutenant General of the Army", "Primary Documents in American History: 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution", "The United States Secret Service in History", "OUR GREAT LOSS; The Assassination of President Lincoln", "Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings Lincoln Tomb, Illinois", "Religious Quotations by Abraham Lincoln", "Letter by Abraham Lincoln to Albert Hodges", "Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States: from George Washington 1789 to George Bush 1989", "Abraham Lincoln's Blue Pills: Did Our 16th President Suffer from Mercury Poisoning? The Lincoln family ate at the White House dinner table with their cat. He was self-educated and became a lawyer, Whig Party leader, Illinois state legislator, and U.S. Lincoln ordered Gen Pope send all of the trial transcripts to Washington where he and two of his staff pored over the trials. He also signed the Revenue Act of 1861, creating the first U.S. income taxa flat tax of 3 percent on incomes above $800 (equivalent to $24,100 in 2021[289]). When Abraham was 9 years old in 1818, his mother, Nancy, died of a mysterious milk sickness that swept across southern Indiana. As a flatboatman, he made a voyage down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, Louisiana. Just months after the war formally ended in 1848, he was elected president, but he served just 16 months before dying of gastroenteritis. [355], In his company, I was never reminded of my humble origin, or of my unpopular color. [79] He supported the Wilmot Proviso, a failed proposal to ban slavery in any U.S. territory won from Mexico. When Lincoln was nine years old, his mother died. google_ad_width = 120; While Lincoln was popular in the Midwest, he lacked support in the Northeast and was unsure whether to seek the office. Journalist Noah Brooks reported, "No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience. [218], In June 1862, Congress passed an act banning slavery on all federal territory, which Lincoln signed. Abraham Lincoln, byname Honest Abe, the Rail-Splitter, or the Great Emancipator, (born February 12, 1809, near Hodgenville, Kentucky, U.S.died April 15, 1865, Washington, D.C.), 16th president of the United States (1861-65), who preserved the Union during the American Civil War and brought about the emancipation of. [252], The Democratic platform followed the "Peace wing" of the party and called the war a "failure"; but their candidate, McClellan, supported the war and repudiated the platform. 5. [262], After implementing the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln increased pressure on Congress to outlaw slavery throughout the nation with a constitutional amendment. [86] The administration offered to appoint him secretary or governor of the Oregon Territory as consolation. [274] When the Confederates protested forcing Confederate prisoners to fight Indians, Lincoln revoked the policy and none set foot in Minnesota. Carlisle, PA 17013 His opponents immediately cried foul, accusing Hayes and the Republicans of making a back-room deal (known as the Compromise of 1877) that gave Hayes the White House in exchange for his pledge to end Reconstruction and dubbing him His Fraudulency and Rutherfraud Hayes. [328][m], In the 1850s, Lincoln asserted his belief in "providence" in a general way, and rarely used the language or imagery of the evangelicals; he regarded the republicanism of the Founding Fathers with an almost religious reverence. [187], It was clear from the outset that bipartisan support was essential to success, and that any compromise alienated factions on both sides of the aisle, such as the appointment of Republicans and Democrats to command positions. New Salem, Ill. The president ended his address with an appeal to the people of the South: "We are not enemies, but friends. He declared that the deaths of so many brave soldiers would not be in vain, that slavery would end, and the future of democracy would be assured, that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth". Six feet four inches tall, he was rawboned and lanky but muscular and physically powerful. 12 Presidential Nicknames and Their Unusual Origins, Photo: ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images, Photo: Universal History Archive/Getty Images, Every Candidate in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Race, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. He earned a reputation for honesty while working the circuit as a lawyer. [332], This spirituality can best be seen in his second inaugural address, considered by some scholars[333] as the greatest such address in American history, and by Lincoln himself as his own greatest speech, or one of them at the very least. Lincoln led the Union through the American Civil War to defend the nation as a constitutional union and succeeded in abolishing slavery, bolstering the federal government, and modernizing the U.S. economy. Historians disagree on who initiated the move; Thomas Lincoln had no obvious reason to do so. Catherine Clinton Once there, he taught himself law, opened a law practice, and earned the nickname "Honest Abe.". We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. you are agreeing to our, One month free trial to theMonitorDaily, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor. [95] His legal reputation gave rise to the nickname "Honest Abe". One Illinois newspaper derisively nicknamed him "spotty Lincoln". Lincolns primary goal as president was to hold the country together. People relied implicitly upon his honesty, integrity, and impartiality.". [38] He made his home in New Salem, Illinois, for six years.