7 Abraham Lincoln 7

Abraham Lincoln, 1863. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Abraham Lincoln

(b. Feb. 12, 1809, near Hodgenville, Ky., U.S.—d. April 15, 1865,
Washington, D.C.)

T

he 16th president of the United States (1861– 65),
Abraham Lincoln preserved the Union during the
American Civil War and brought about the emancipation
of the slaves. His extraordinary ongoing appeal for
Americans and also for people of other lands derives from
his engaging life story, his distinctively human and humane
personality, as well as from the huge shadow he casts on
history. His experiences at different points of his life
generated the well-known bynames of Honest Abe, the
Rail-Splitter, and the Great Emancipator.