Abe Lincoln

1 Pages 366 Words

Born: 1809

Died: 1893

Years in Office: 1861-1865

Elected From: Illinois

Party: Republican

Vice President: 1) Hammibal Hamlin 2) Andrew Johnson


The future president was born in the most modest of circumstances in a log cabin
near Hodgenville, Kentucky., on Feb. 12, 1809. His entire childhood and young manhood
were spent on the brink of poverty as his pioneering family made repeated fresh starts in
the West. Opportunities for education, cultural activities, and even socializing were
meager.

When his father could spare him from chores, Lincoln attended an ABC school.
Such schools were held in log cabins, and often the teachers were barely more educated
than their pupils. According to Lincoln, “no qualification was ever required of a teacher
beyond readin', writin', and cipherin', to the Rule of Three.” Including a few weeks at a
similar school in Kentucky, Lincoln had less than one full year of formal education in his
entire life.

5 important facts during term:

1. On March 4, 1861, Lincoln was sworn in as the 16th president of the United States.
Ironically, he received the oath of office from Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Roger
B. Taney, whose decision in the Dred Scott Case was a direct cause of the crisis Lincoln
now faced.

2. To his Cabinet, Lincoln appointed his rivals for the Republican presidential
nomination and other leading Republicans. He made Seward secretary of state, Chase
secretary of the treasury, Cameron secretary of war, and Bates attorney general. Gideon
Welles of Connecticut became secretary of the navy, and Caleb B. Smith of Indiana
became secretary of the interior. Montgomery Blair of Maryland was named postmaster
general.

3. Lincoln feared that taking direct action against the Confederacy would lead to the
secession of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. But events at Fort
Sumter forced him to act.

4. Lincoln now took decisive measures...