Facts About Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 - 15 April 1865) was the 16th President of the United States of America. He served as president for five years, from March 4, 1861 until his assassination by John Wilkes Booth on 15 April 1865.

Lincoln is best known for his leadership during the American Civil War (1861 - 1865) and the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order that transforms the legal status of slaves into ‘free’.

1. He was highly educated

Despite being a successful lawyer, Lincoln had no qualifications. The full-time school, which he received from traveling teachers, is estimated to be complete in just 1 year.

2. Prior to pursuing national politics, Lincoln served four consecutive terms in the state legislature of Illinois

Although lawyers are often seen as dishonest, his reputation for honesty and impartiality helped ‘Honest Abe’ win local elections.

3. Lincoln was ‘first president’

He was the first bearded US President, the first to have a patent and the first to be in the first picture. John Wilkes Booth can also be seen in the photo, standing on the balcony above.

4. Lincoln's wife came from a wealthy family that had slaves

Lincoln married Mary Todd of Lexington Kentucky on November 4, 1842. Several of her brothers died while serving in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

5. Lincoln was not a total failure

Lincoln had long been in contact with the destroyers and illegal slavery by issuing Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, officially freeing three million slaves.

However, in his inaugural address, Lincoln said he had "no legal right" to "disrupt the American slave system where it exists".

6. His main objective in the Civil War was to preserve the Union

There were dissidents, supporters of slavery, supporters of unions and feelings of neutrality in the North and South, but it was the Confederate secessionists who started the war by shooting at Fort Sumter on 12 April 1861.

Lincoln responded by sending troops to retrieve the lost castles and ‘save the Union’.

7. The bill to make the US Secret Service was on the table of the President on the night of his assassination

One of the main objectives of the Secret Service is to protect the country's leaders such as the President. It is possible that their presence would have saved Lincoln's life.

8. At the time of his murder, Lincoln's bodyguard was not present

For the security of the President, John Parker, he resigned from his position to watch the play in Washington, DC at Ford’s Theater and went to a nearby salon during the break. It was the same place where John Wilkes Booth drank.

No one knows where Parker was when Lincoln was killed.

9. John Wilkes Booth's brother saved Lincoln's son

Shortly before the assassination of the President, Edwin Booth, a well-known actor at the time, pulled Robert Lincoln to safety at a railway station after he fell onto the tracks. It was as if the train were about to leave the station.

10. Lincoln is consistently listed as one of America’s ‘top three’ Presidents

Along with George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt, numerous surveys of academic historians, political scientists and the general public list Lincoln as one of the three greats.