Abraham Lincoln

1809-02-12 - 1865-04-15 Contemporaries

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the Civil War, defeating the Confederacy, and played a major role in the abolition of slavery. A self-educated Illinois lawyer, he became a leader of the new Republican Party after the 1854 Kansas–Nebraska Act and gained national prominence in the 1858 Senate debates against Stephen A. Douglas.