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American Heritage
April/May 2005

The Sixteenth President • 1861-1865

Abraham Lincoln

“The Great Emancipator”

Biographical Facts

Birth: Hardin County, Kentucky, February 12, 1809

Ancestry: English

Father: Thomas Lincoln

Birth: Rockingham County, Virginia, January 6, 1778

Death: Coles County, Illinois, January 17, 1851

Occupations: Farmer; Carpenter

Mother: Nancy Hanks Lincoln

Birth: Virginia, February 5, 1784

Death: Spencer County, Indiana, October 5, 1818

Stepmother: Sarah Bush Johnson Lincoln

Birth: Hardin County, Kentucky, December 12, 1788

Death: Charleston, Illinois, April 10, 1869

Brother: Thomas Lincoln (1811-1813)

Sister: Sarah Lincoln (1807-1828)

Marriage: Springfield, Illinois, November 4, 1842

Wife: Mary Todd Lincoln

Birth: Lexington, Kentucky, December 13, 1818

Death: Springfield, Illinois, July 16, 1882

Children: Robert Todd (1843-1926); Edward Baker (1846-1850); William Wallace (1850-1862); Thomas "Tad" (1853-1871)

Religious Affiliation: None

Education: Local tutors; Self-educated

Occupations Before Presidency: Store Clerk; Store Owner; Ferry Pilot; Surveyor; Postmaster; Lawyer

Military Service: Served in volunteer company for three months during Black Hawk War (1832)

Prepresidential Offices: Member Illinois General Assembly; United States Congressman

Inauguration Age: 52

Death: Washington, D.C., April 15, 1865

Place of Burial: Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois

First Administration

Inauguration: March 4, 1861; The Capitol, Washington, D.C.

Vice President: Hannibal Hamlin

Secretary of State: William H. Seward

Secretary of the Treasury: Salmon P. Chase; William P. Fessenden (from July 5, 1864)

Secretary of War: Simon Cameron; Edwin M. Stanton (from January 20, 1862)

Attorney General: Edward Bates; James Speed (from December 5, 1864 )

Postmaster General: Montgomery Blair; William Dennison (from October 1, 1864)

Secretary of the Navy: Gideon Welles

Secretary of the Interior: Caleb B. Smith; John P. Usher (from January 1, 1863)

Supreme Court Appointments: Noah H. Swayne (1862); Samuel F. Miller (1862); David Davis (1862); Stephen J. Field (1863); Salmon P. Chase, Chief Justice (1864)

Congress #37 (July 4, 1861-March 3, 1863):

Senate: 31 Republicans; 11 Democrats; 7 Others

House: 106 Republicans; 42 Democrats; 28 Others

Congress #38 (December 7, 1863-March 3, 1865):

Senate: 39 Republicans; 12 Democrats

House: 103 Republicans; 80 Democrats

States Admitted: West Virginia (1863); Nevada (1864)

Election of 1860
Candidates	Electoral Vote	Popular Vote
Abraham Lincoln (Republican)	180	1,865,908
Stephen Douglas (Democratic)	12	1,380,202
John C. Breckinridge (Southern Democratic)	72	848,019
John Bell (National Constitutional Union)	39	590,901

Second Administration

Inauguration: March 4, 1865; The Capitol, Washington, D.C.

Vice President: Andrew Johnson

Secretary of State: William H. Seward

Secretary of the Treasury: Hugh McCulloch

Secretary of War: Edwin M. Stanton

Attorney General: James Speed

Postmaster General: William Dennison

Secretary of the Navy: Gideon Welles

Secretary of the Interior: John P. Usher

Congress #39 (December 4, 1865-March 3, 1867):

Senate: 42 Unionists; 10 Democrats

House: 145 Unionists; 46 Democrats

Election of 1864
(Because eleven Southern states had seceded from the Union and did not participate in the presidential election, eighty-one electoral votes were not cast)
Candidates	Electoral Vote	Popular Vote
Abraham Lincoln (National Union)	212	2,218,388
George McClellan (Democratic)	21	1,812,807