He was born in a log cabin on the frontier in Kentucky. He was self-educated and became a lawyer in Illinois. He also became a United States representative from the state of Illinois. He met his wife, Mary Ann Todd in 1839, and was engaged in 1840. They married on November 4th, 1842. During their marriage, Mrs. Lincoln was very verbally abusive towards Mr. Lincoln. Prior to become president, they had four children which were all boys.
Sadly though, two of them passed in their childhood to diseases. Due to their deaths at an early age and the verbal assaults from his wife, Mr. Lincoln suffered from clinical depression.
He was the First Republican President that was elected in November 1860. Due to the constant rumblings of a Civil War between North and South, there were in ballots for him that were counted in the southern states. However, even with this stat, he received 39.8% of the total votes. His inaugural address was in March 1861, only about a month prior to the firing on Fort Sumter, South Carolina on April 12th, 1861.
President Abraham Lincoln appointed and fired many general during this time in office during the first four years of his time in office. Here is the list below:
- Lincoln appointed George B. McClellan, and fired him after his loss at Antietam
- Lincoln appointed Ambrose Burnside, and fired him after his loss at Fredericksburg
- Lincoln appointed Joseph Hooker, and fired him after his loss at Chancellorsville
- Lincoln appointed George G. Meade on June 28th, 1863
Mr. Lincoln sought to join the North and the South, and he ran for re-election in 1864. His challenger for the Democratic Party was George B. McClellan, a war general and a politician. However, once again, President Abraham Lincoln won again, with 55% of the popular vote. His second inaugural address was on March 4, 1865. Shown below is the location of John Wilkes Booth and Lincoln stood during the address.
On April 9th, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, thus signaling the end of the Civil War. Mr. Lincoln and his wife Mary wanted to unite the North and the South within his second term. However, Abraham Lincoln’s life would come to an end only a few days after the surrender of the south at Ford’s Theater a few miles from the White House.