American President
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
Facts at a Glance
- Term
- 16th President of the United States (1861–1865)
- Born
- February 12, 1809, Hardin (now Larue) County, Kentucky
- Nickname
- “Honest Abe”; “Illinois Rail-Splitter”
- Religion
- No formal affiliation
- Marriage
- November 4, 1842, to Mary Todd (1818–1882)
- Children
- Robert Todd (1843–1926), Edward Baker (1846–1850), William Wallace (1850–1862), Thomas “Tad” (1853–1871)
- Career
- Lawyer
- Political Party
- Whig; Republican
- Writings
- Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (8 vols., 1953–55), ed. by Roy P. Basler
- Died
- April 15, 1865, Washington, D.C.
- Buried
- Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois
- A Life in Brief
- When Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860, seven slave states left the Union to form the Confederate States of America, and four more joined when hostilities began between the North and South. A bloody civil war then engulfed the nation as Lincoln vowed to preserve the Union, enforce the laws of the United States, and end the secession. More »
- With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan...
- March 4, 1865
Essays on Abraham Lincoln and His Administration
- Abraham Lincoln
- A Life in Brief
- Life Before the Presidency
- Campaigns and Elections
- Domestic Affairs
- Foreign Affairs
- Death of the President
- Family Life
- The American Franchise
- Impact and Legacy
- Key Events
- First Lady
- Mary Lincoln
- Vice President
- Hannibal Hamlin (1861–1865)
- Andrew Johnson (1865)
- Secretary of State
- William H. Seward (1861–1865)
- Secretary of War
- Simon Cameron (1861–1862)
- Edwin M. Stanton (1862–1865)
- Postmaster General
- Montgomery Blair (1861–1864)
- William Dennison (1864–1865)
- Secretary of the Interior
- Caleb B. Smith (1861–1863)
- John P. Usher (1863–1865)
- James Harlan (1865)
- Secretary of the Treasury
- Salmon P. Chase (1861–1864)
- William P. Fessenden (1864–1865)
- Hugh McCulloch (1865–1865)
- Attorney General
- Edward Bates (1861–1864)
- James Speed (1864–1865)
- Secretary of the Navy
- Gideon Welles (1861–1865)
Consulting Editor: Michael Burlingame
Professor Burlingame is the May Buckley Sadowski ’19 Professor Emeritus of History at Connecticut College. His writings include:
Abraham Lincoln: A Life (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008)
With Lincoln in the White House: Letters, Memoranda And Other Writings Of John G. Nicolay, 1860–1865 (Southern Illinois University Press, 2006)
Lincoln Observed: Civil War Dispatches of Noah Brooks (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998)
Inside Lincoln’s White House: The Complete Civil War Diary of John Hay (Southern Illinois University Press, 1997)
The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln (University of Illinois Press, 1994)
Presidential Speeches
Below are selections from the Miller Center’s Abraham Lincoln speech collection.
June 16, 1858—“A House Divided” Speech
February 27, 1860—Cooper Union Address
Scholarship and Speakers
The Miller Center of Public Affairs is a national nonpartisan center to research, reflect, and report on American government, with special attention to the central role and history of the presidency. Below is a selection of Miller Center resources on Abraham Lincoln.
Watch
Professor William Lee Miller’s 2004 presentation at the Miller Center on Lincoln as War President.
President Abraham Lincoln led the Union as Commander in Chief during the Civil War. Learn more about the Miller Center’s National War Powers Commission.
Learn more about the Center’s National Commission on Presidential Disability and the 25th Amendment and its relationship to Lincoln.
Scripps Library Reference Resources
Below are links to reference resources prepared by the Miller Center’s Scripps Library, designed to help students and scholars conduct their research quickly.
Information on Abraham Lincoln’s Private and Public Papers
The Miller Center is committed to presenting the most accurate information on our American Presidents. Please make a gift to the Miller Center Foundation today. Your gift will ensure free access to American President for thousands of students, teachers and individuals who wish to learn more about the leaders whose contributions shaped our great country.