Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the sixteenth President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, saving the Union and ending slavery, only to be assassinated as the war was virtually over. Before becoming the first Republican elected to the Presidency, Lincoln was a lawyer, an Illinois state legislator, a member of the United States House of Representatives, and twice an unsuccessful candidate for election to the Senate.
As an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery in the United States,[1][2] Lincoln won the Republican Party nomination in 1860 and was elected president later that year. During his time in office, he contributed to the effort to preserve the United States by leading the defeat of the secessionist Confederate States of America in the American Civil War. He introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery, issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which passed Congress before Lincoln's death and was ratified by the states later in 1865.
Lincoln closely supervised the victorious war effort, especially the selection of top generals, including Ulysses S. Grant. Historians have concluded that he handled the factions of the Republican Party well, bringing leaders of each faction into his cabinet and forcing them to cooperate. Lincoln successfully defused a war scare with the United Kingdom in 1861. Under his leadership, the Union took control of the border slave states at the start of the war. Additionally, he managed his own reelection in the 1864 presidential election.
Opponents of the war (also known as "Copperheads") criticized Lincoln for refusing to compromise on the slavery issue. Conversely, the Radical Republicans, an abolitionist faction of the Republican Party, criticized him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery. Even with these road blocks, Lincoln successfully rallied public opinion through his rhetoric and speeches; his Gettysburg Address is but one example of this. At the close of the war, Lincoln held a moderate view of Reconstruction, seeking to speedily reunite the nation through a policy of generous reconciliation. His assassination in 1865 was the first presidential assassination in U.S. history and as a result Lincoln is seen as a martyr for the ideal of national unity.[citation needed] Lincoln has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents.
林肯一生简介<英文版>
[ 2007-4-22 17:40:00 | By: xing_zmc ]
1809.2.12, birthday
1818(9 years old), the mother die.
1831(22 years old), go into business the failure.
1832(23 years old), the election state the councilman fail to be elected.
At the same year(23 years old), the work threw.Want to study in the law school, but did not get the admission.
1833(24 years old), borrow money to go into business toward the friend.
At the end of at the same year, again bankrupt.Connect down, he spends 16 years to just repay fully the obligation.
1834(25 years old), again campaign the state councilman, won this time.
1835(26 years old), will soon get married after betroth, the fiancee died.
1836(27 years old), the complete breakup of spirit, lies sick in bed six months.
1838(29 years old), fight for become the state councilman of spokesman- have no successfully.
1840(31 years old), fight for becoming the voter- fail to be elected.
1843(34 years old), attend the national legislature election- failed to be elected again.
1846(37 years old), attend the national legislature election again- won an election this time.Go to Washington's special area, express can the turn can order.
1848(39 years old), look for the parlia****rian to serve another term, failure.
1849(40 years old), think the work that serves as the land bureau chief in oneself's state, encounter the brush-off.
1854(45 years old), campaign the American senator, fail to be elected.
1856(47 years old), fight for the nomination of the vice-president in Republican party- get 100 of the ticket shortage.
1860(51 years old), win an election the American president.Become one of the greatest presidents in American history.