Abraham Lincoln

Years in Office: 1861 to 1865

Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin. He attended school only a few months, but read every book he could borrow in order to prove himself. While growing up he worked as a storekeeper and laborer in order to earn enough money to study law. In 1856, Lincoln joined the newly formed Republican Party. He debates with Stephen A. Douglas against slavery won him national recognition.

In 1860 he won his party's nomination for president and his election made him our first Republican President. Lincoln was president during the most difficult time in our nation's history. Eleven slave states left the Union to the Confederate States of America. The Civil War started only days after his election in 1861 and lasted until 1865. Lincoln put an end to slavery in our country with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.

Just 6 days after Robert E. Lee surrendered and our nation was reunited, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theater in Washington D.C. by John Wilkes Boothe. The states of Nevada and West Virginia were admitted to the Union. West Virginia was formed from a part of Virginia which did not leave with the Union.