Abraham Lincoln Quotes

The son of a Kentucky frontiersman, Abraham Lincoln rose to become the 16th President of the United States, reuniting a country divided by Civil War and struggles to end slavery. Born in 1809, Lincoln was largely self-educated and worked his way through the ranks of politics, first as an Illinois legislator, then the circuit courts. He won election to the White House in 1860 but his administration became embroiled in the Civil War a year later. Easily re-elected to a second term, Lincoln was making plans for peace and unification when he was gunned down by John Wilkes Booth in April 1865 while watching a play at Ford's Theatre.