On November 6th, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected as our 16th president. He is the first republican to win the presidency and only won 40% of the popular vote. Lincoln defeated the three other candidates: Southern Democrat John C. Breckenridge, Constitutional Union candidate John Bell, and Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas (a U.S. senator for Illinois).

Abraham Lincoln was a Kentucky-born lawyer. He first gained popularity in 1858 during his campaign against Stephen Douglas of Illinois for a U.S. Senate seat. Both campaigns featured important topics, especially the topic of slavery. Douglas maintained that each territory should have the right to decide for itself whether it would become a free territory or a slave territory, while Lincoln believed that slavery should be abolished (although he did not want to abolish it in his campaign). Lincoln lost the race for the senate, but he gained popular interest from young republicans. His campaign for the 1860 election was successful, and he won the presidential nomination.

During the time of Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration, the confederate states of America had been officially established. A month later, the American Civil War began. In 1863, as the tide turned against the Confederacy, Lincoln emancipated the slaves and in 1864, he won reelection. In April 1865, he was assassinated by the Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. The assassination occurred only five days after the American Civil War had effectively ended with the surrender of the Confederate General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox.

Known for freeing the slaves from the Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln is considered as one of the greatest presidents of all time and his name is instantly recognized by Americans.