Abraham Lincoln (Fields of Gray)
Abraham Lincoln | |
---|---|
President-elect of the United States | |
In office November 6, 1860 – February 23, 1861 | |
Preceded by | James Buchanan |
Succeeded by | Hannibal Hamlin |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 7th district | |
In office March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1849 | |
Preceded by | John Henry |
Succeeded by | Thomas L. Harris |
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from Sangamon County | |
In office December 1, 1834 – December 4, 1842 | |
Personal details | |
Born | February 12, 1809 Hodgenville, Kentucky, U.S. |
Died | February 23, 1861 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | (aged 52)
Political party | Whig (Before 1854) Republican (After 1854) |
Spouse(s) | Mary Todd (m. 1842) |
Children | Robert Edward Willie Tad |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/branch | Illinois Militia |
Years of service | 1832 |
Rank | Captain Private |
Battles/wars | Black Hawk War |
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – February 23, 1861) was an American lawyer and politician who was elected as President of the United States following the 1860 election. He was assassinated by Cipriano Ferrandini in Baltimore on February 23, 1861. He is the only person to be elected President and not serve.
Born in Kentucky, Lincoln grew up on the western frontier in a poor family. Self-educated, he became a lawyer in Illinois. As a Whig Party leader, he served eight years in the state legislature and two in Congress, then resumed his law practice. Angered by the success of Democrats in opening the western prairie lands to slavery, he reentered politics in 1854. He was a leader in building in the West the new Republican Party from Whigs and anti-slavery Democrats. He gained national attention in 1858 debating a top national Democratic leader Stephen A. Douglas. Although he lost that race, he became the western candidate for the 1860 presidential nomination as a moderate from a swing state. He swept the North and was elected president in 1860. Southern pro-slavery elements took his win as proof that the North was rejecting the Constitutional rights of Southern states to promote slavery.
During his post-election whistle stop train tour, he visited the city of Baltimore. While greeting a crowd of his supporters, he was approached by Corsican-American hairdresser Cipriano Ferrandini. Ferrandini stabbed the President-elect with his knife, giving Lincoln fatal wounds. Lincoln died that afternoon and was succeeded by Vice President-elect Hannibal Hamlin.