Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He is remembered as a national hero for his wartime leadership and for his efforts to preserve the Union and abolish slavery. Some of his key achievements and actions include:
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Civil War: Lincoln led the Union through the American Civil War to defend the nation as a constitutional union and succeeded in defeating the insurgent Confederacy.
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Emancipation Proclamation: He issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which declared that all slaves in Confederate-held territory were to be set free.
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Re-election: Lincoln managed his own successful re-election campaign in 1864, as Union military triumphs heralded an end to the war.
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Assassination: On April 14, 1865, while attending a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., Abraham Lincoln was fatally shot by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth.
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Preserving the Union: Lincoln confronted the secession of the South and the dissolution of the Union with all the political and practical tools at his command to defeat the Confederacy and restore the United States.
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Civil rights: Lincoln began the Civil War with thoughts only of restoring the Union, but ended up committing the nation to freedom for African-Americans.
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Executive authority: To do all of these things, Lincoln broke an assortment of laws and ignored one constitutional provision after another. He made war without a declaration of war, and indeed even before summoning Congress into special session.
Lincolns legacy is based on his momentous achievements, including successfully waging a political struggle and civil war that preserved the Union, ended slavery, and created the possibility of civil and social freedom for African-Americans.
