Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American statesman and lawyer who served as the sixteenth President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through the Civil War, its bloodiest war and perhaps its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis.[2][3] In doing so, he preserved the Union, paved the way for the abolition of slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Born in Hodgenville, Kentucky, Lincoln grew up on the western frontier of Kentucky and Indiana. Largely self-educated, he became a lawyer in Illinois, a leader of the Whig Party, and was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, in which he served for eight years. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1846, Lincoln promoted rapid modernization of the economy and opposed the Mexican-American War. After just one term, he returned to Illinois and resumed his successful law practice. Returning to politics in 1854, he became a leader in building the new Republican Party, which had a statewide majority in Illinois. As part of Lincoln's 1858 campaign for U.S. senator from Illinois, he took part in a series of highly publicized debates with his opponent and rival, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas; Lincoln spoke out against the expansion of slavery, but lost the race to Douglas. In 1860, Lincoln secured the Republican Party's presidential nomination as a moderate from a swing state, although most delegates originally favored other candidates. Although he gained very little support in the Southern slave states, he invaded the North and was elected president in 1860. Although there were attempts to bridge the differences between North and South, Lincoln's victory ultimately prompted seven Southern slave states to secede from the United States and forms the Confederate States of America before moving to the White House. The Confederate attack on Fort Sumter inspired the North to rally behind the Union. As the leader of the moderate faction of the Republican Party, Lincoln faced the radical Republicans, who called for harsher treatment of the South, the war Democrats, who rallied into his camp a large faction of former opponents, the anti-war Democrats (called Copperheads) , who despised him, and the irreconcilable secessionists, who plotted his assassination. Lincoln responded by pitting his opponents against each other, with carefully planned political advocacy, and by appealing to the American people with his oratory powers. His Gettysburg Address became an iconic endorsement of nationalism, republicanism, equal rights, freedom, and democracy. He suspended habeas corpus, leading to the controversial ex parte Merryman decision, and averted potential British intervention by defusing the Trent affair. Lincoln closely oversaw the war effort, particularly the selection of generals, including his most successful general, Ulysses S. Grant. He made important decisions about Union war strategy, including a naval blockade that disrupted Southern trade. As the war progressed, his complex moves toward ending slavery included the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863; Lincoln used the U.S. Army to protect escaped slaves, encouraged border states to outlaw slavery, and had Congress pass the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which permanently..