Presidency of Abraham Lincoln
U.S. presidential administration from 1861 to 1865 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The presidency of Abraham Lincoln began when he took office as the 16th President of the United States on March 4, 1861.[1] It ended with his death on April 15, 1865.[2] During his presidency he claimed more prerogatives than any other president had done before him.[3] As a result, the small and relatively limited powers of the president grew enormously during his time in office.[3] When Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election, he did it without the support of any of the Southern states.[4] Since the 1830s, Southern states had talked about secession, but it became a serious issue in 1860.[4] Between the election and Lincoln's Inauguration in March of 1861, seven states had seceded from the Union.[1] They formed the Confederate States of America (CSA). When Confederates attacked Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 and captured it the next day, this started the American Civil War.[5] While having little previous military experience, Lincoln still managed to stand out as a great war president.[6] In 1863, his Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in Southern states.[7] It led directly to the abolition of slavery in the United States.[7] Given later that year, his Gettysburg Address is and remains one of the most important speeches in American history.[7] In 1865, as the Civil war was ending he was shot and killed by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer.[7] His death made Lincoln a martyr to the Union cause.[7] He is widely recognized as the greatest president in U.S. history.[7]