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Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) Political Party: Republican Term 1:(1861-1865), Hamlin Term 2:(1865), Andrew Johnson

After the terrible presidency of James Buchanan, the nation needed someone the clean up the mess that was left. The nation was going into chaos and was on the verge of civil war. Abraham Lincoln was that someone. To some, Lincoln was America's greatest president considering that he was forced to face the greatest challenge ever faced by an American president, which was the bloody American Civil War. Abraham Lincoln deserves an A+ for his presidency, because he lead his country through the Civil War, preserved the Union, emancipated slavery, and became the largest influences in American history.

With the country going crazy, President Lincoln had to set some goals for the nation once he was elected. The first goal the Lincoln set was too do everything to his ability to keep the United States peaceful, which was obviously unaccomplished. The next goal that Lincoln set was preserve the Union. The following goal was to find good leaders to lead the Union. Lincoln's final and most important goal was to deal with the problem of slavery.

Before the country broke out in civil war, Lincoln was determined to keep the country peaceful. He supported the 13th amendment, which guaranteed slavery in the existing slave states. This shows how he compromised with the south to keep things less hostile. Lincoln also showed his peaceful intentions in his inaugural address, in which he promised not to interfere with slavery where it was located and that the Union would not attack the Confederates. He stated "We must not be enemies". Even through these efforts, Lincoln failed and civil war began once he sent supply ships to Fort Sumner, which is where the Confederates first attacked.

Lincoln had a strong relationship with the majority of Congress since the country was split in two at the time. Many supported him through all of his desicions, however many others opposed them. Lincoln handled this very cleverly. In an attempt to keep the non Confederate slave states on the Union's side, the President establish martial law. This suspended the right of habeas corpus, which meant that they could through anyone in jail with out cause and keep them there as long as they wanted. This kept Lincoln's political enemies' mouths shut and kept those states in the Union, in turn helped preserve the Union.

President Lincoln's did many great things, but he was not perfect. When searching for great leaders for the Union's army, Lincoln started out very unsuccessful. He was very picky with his decision making. Abraham started out with General McClellan. He then, swiftly dismissed McClellan after his victory of the Confederate general, Robert E. Lee, at Antietam. He then preformed the same actions with George C. Meade after his victory at Gettysburg. He removed both generals because, they both failed to pursue the Confederates after victory. Lincoln then choose General Grant, who had the mind of a Spartan Warrior. Grant never retreated nor did he ever surrender. The President also favored Sherman who tour up South Carolina. This was the worst part of Lincolns presidency because many lives could have been save if Grant and Sherman were chosen earlier and the war would have concluded much sooner.

As mentioned before, Lincoln accomplished many great things and the greatest accomplishment was the writing of the Emancipation Proclamation. He possessed a great hatred of slavery even though he compromised and supported the 13th amendment. As thousands of slaves began to run away and rebel, many people pushed Lincoln to encourage rebellion. He then wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. this freed all slaves in the state which were still in rebellion. This helped keep the border slave states with the Union because they were not required to free their slaves. This was also the thing that impacted the nation forever. Life changed for everyone as they knew it and the change was not over with slaves becoming free.

Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth shortly after the Civil War ended. There is no doubt that Abraham Lincoln deserves an A+. He changed the nation with the Emancipation Proclamation, which led to the 14th amendment, which freed all slaves. Through this act, the world continued to gain leaders who fought for black rights, such as Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. By facing the greatest challenge faced by any American President, Lincoln became one of the greatest presidents that served this great country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln#Presidency_and_the_Civil_War

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/AbrahamLincoln/

http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/lincoln