Can you talk about the American political history without mentioning the 16th president? Certainly not!
From ‘Honest Abe’ to ‘Father Abraham’, Lincoln is by far the most chanted, mighty and finest president that America has ever witnessed. Sheer hard work, honesty, and determination, in spite of initial failures, kept him going in the long stretched journey of his political career. Read on to find out why he is still the best—greatest president of the USA till date!
Lincoln’s early life
On a bright sunny Sunday of February 12th, 1809, the county of Hodgenville in Kentucky welcomed the birth of one of the greatest men in the history of America, Abraham Lincoln. His parents, Thomas and Nancy Hanks were members of the Baptist congregation that came into being after oppositions were raised against slavery in another church.
Only after seven years, Abraham along with his family moved to Southern Indiana. He attended most of his schooling in Indiana with sister, Sarah. At the age of 9 years, Abraham lost his mother Nancy to a poisonous disease that affected her after consuming milk from a cow that ate white snakeroot. However, Abraham was too young to be deeply affected by her demise, so when his father married a second wife, Abraham was happy to welcome a new mother, Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln.
As Abraham grew up, in all he spent less than 12 months at school and did not attend college at all. He was more interested in farming and reading. His love for reading books took him miles away to borrow them. This was, very unlike Thomas Lincoln, who was extremely opposite in nature. This led to a rocky relationship between the father and son.
Adulthood: First step towards the political journey!
In 1831 the Lincoln’s moved to Coles County, Illinois fearing the milk sickness that had swept like a wildfire in Southern Indiana. By the age of 22, Abraham set on his own, and took up his first job of transferring goods on a flatboat from one place to another. This did not go on for a very long time, and after a year, Abraham along with his friend moved to New Orleans, where he bought a small general store along with his friend. But since the odds were not in his favor, the venture did not turn out to be profitable. The losses faced in the business led Abraham to try his luck in politics!
Due to his impressive personality and conscientiousness, Abraham was titled ‘Honest Abe’ by the people of New Orleans. With his unusual height of 6’4 and 180 pounds of weight, he was eligible to perform services in the Black Hawk War, as the captain. Meanwhile, he also took part in the assembly but proved to be unsuccessful.
After working unsuccessfully at several jobs, Abraham pursued his dreams of becoming a lawyer. He soon became an avid reader of law books to gather as much knowledge that led him to enter the field. This phase of life saw Abraham’s social skills and story-telling tactics to flourish and be useful in this matter.
In a span of about two years, Abraham was back on track with his campaign that turned out to be victorious. He then ran as a Whig under the state legislature. After a year or two, Lincoln moved to Springfield Illinois where he enrolled to the bar and practiced law under Mr. John Stuart.
In no time, Abraham’s reputation flourished as an efficient lawyer who was famous for tough at cross-examinations and arguments. On the other hand, his political career was also reaching new highs. With 4 successful years at the Illinois House of Representatives, Abraham was pictured as a man who stood up for voicing against an unpopular topic of discussion—slavery and abolitionism.
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