One of the most famous president’s of all time would be celebrating his 217th birthday on February 12th, 2026. He was the one of a few presidents who was assassinated while in office. However, his work and contributions in providing safety, order, and leadership is well documented and revived among historians, collogues of his time, and historians still to the present day.
As a moderate Republican, he had to navigate political opinions across the parties, deal with a Civil War between the North and the South, and give tremendous speeches. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863 which declared the slaves in the states to be free. He delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 1863 after the battle of Gettysburg. He was re-elected in 1864 and sought to heal the nation through Reconstruction. He was able to witness and see the results of the surrender of the Confederate Army at Appomattox in April 1865.
However, your life ended far too soon on April 14, 1865 at Ford’s Theatre by receiving a shot to the head by stage actor John Wilkes Booth. You were carried from the Theatre across the street on a door to the Petersen House where you passed away at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1864. Even though you don’t remember, your wife Mary Todd Lincoln and your son Robert Todd Lincoln were at your bedside with numerous others as you slipped into the ages.
Today is the day of your birth, so even though it’s with great sadness that you passed away at an early age (55), your still a legend and a symbol for the American people. You were born in Illinois and became a notable president that people still remember.
Happy Birthday, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States!!