Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest inte
al crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery.
Lincoln entered office at a critical period in U. S. history, just before the Civil War. He brought to the office personal integrity, intelligence, and humanity, plus the wholesome characteristics of his frontier upbringing. He was self-educated, culturally unsophisticated, and lacking in administrative and diplomatic skills. Sharp-witted, he was not especially sharp-tongued, but was noted for his warm good humor. Though he was relatively unknown and inexperienced politically when he was elected to be president he proved to be a consummate politician.
Generally admired and loved by the public, he was attacked on a partisan basis as the man responsible for everybody’s fails.
Once regarded as the "Great Emancipator" for his forward strides in freeing the slaves, he was criticized a century later, when the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum, for his caution in moving toward equal rights. But although his reputation has fluctuated with changing times, he was clearly a great man and a great president. He was perhaps the most esteemed and maligned of the American presidents.