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Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809–April 15, 1865), sometimes
called Abe Lincoln and nicknamed Honest Abe, the Rail Splitter,
and the Great Emancipator, was the 16th (1861–1865) President
of the United States, and the first president from the Republican
Party.
Lincoln staunchly opposed the expansion of slavery, and his
election polarized the nation and soon led to the Civil War.
During the war, Lincoln assumed more power than any previous
president in U.S. history. Taking a broad view of the president's
war powers, he proclaimed a blockade, suspended the writ of
habeas corpus, spent money without congressional authorization,
and personally directed the war effort, which ultimately led the
Union forces to victory over the rebel Confederacy.
Lincoln was an extremely deft politician who emerged as a
wartime leader skilled at balancing competing considerations
and adept at getting rival groups to work together toward a
common goal. His leadership qualities were evident in his handling
of the border slave states at the beginning of the fighting, in
his defeat of a congressional attempt to reorganize his cabinet
in 1862, and in his defusing of the peace issue in the 1864
presidential campaign.
Lincoln had a lasting influence on U.S. political and social
institutions. The most important was setting the precedent of
sweeping executive powers in a time of national emergency.
Lincoln was also the president who declared Thanksgiving as a
national holiday, established the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(though not as a Cabinet-level department), revived national
banking and banks, and admitted West Virginia and Nevada as
states. He also greatly encouraged the settling and development
of the American West, signing the Homestead Act (1862). His
assassination, shortly after the end of the Civil War, made
him a martyr to millions of Americans. His reputation was
forever sealed by the victory that he won, but without the
tarnishing that could have resulted from the disorder of
Reconstruction in the aftermath of the war. He is usually
ranked as one of the greatest presidents.
