Lincoln family in 1861, painted by F.B. Carpenter, engraved by J.C. Buttre. Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States, from March 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led his country through the A

Lincoln family in 1861, painted by F.B. Carpenter, engraved by J.C. Buttre. Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States, from March 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led his country through the American Civil War, preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and promoting economic and financial modernization. Reared on the western frontier, Lincoln was mostly self-educated. He became a country lawyer, an Illinois state legislator and member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected president in 1860, but before Lincoln took office, seven southern slave states declared their secession and formed the Confederacy. When war began Lincoln concentrated on both the military and political dimensions of the war effort, seeking to reunify the nation. He exercised unprecedented war powers, including the arrest and detention without trial of thousands of suspected secessionists. He prevented British recognition of the Confederacy by skillfully handling the Trent affair late in 1861. He issued his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoted the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery. The Gettysburg Address was delivered at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery on November 19, 1863. Lincoln married Mary Todd in 1842. They had four sons; Robert Todd, Edward Baker, Willie and Tad, but only Robert and Tad survived to adulthood, and only Robert outlived his mother. Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at the Ford Theater on April 14th, 1865. After being in a coma for nine hours, Lincoln died at 7:22 am on April 15.