Facts about Abraham Lincoln
- 10
Amnesty granted by Lincoln to Confederate deserters in 1863 allowed roughly 200,000 Southern soldiers to rejoin the Union Army without prosecution.
- 09
At age 52, Lincoln became the first Republican president elected to office in 1860 with only 40 percent of the popular vote.
- 08
Abraham Lincoln's famous top hat, which he wore to Ford's Theatre on the night of his assassination, stood approximately 8 inches tall and is preserved at the Smithsonian Institution.
- 07
During his 1865 presidency, Lincoln established the Secret Service on April 14, the same day he was assassinated, creating the agency that would protect future presidents.
- 06
The 16th president suffered from a severe case of smallpox during his 1863 trip to the Army of the Potomac, though he recovered within weeks.
- 05
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, delivered November 19, 1863, contained only 272 words yet became one of history's most influential speeches.
- 04
Depression and melancholy plagued Abraham Lincoln throughout his life, with historians documenting severe episodes beginning in his twenties that persisted into his presidency.
- 03
In 1864, Lincoln's reelection victory came from winning 212 of 233 electoral votes against General George McClellan.
- 02
On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., causing his death the following morning.
- 01
Standing 6 feet 4 inches tall, Abraham Lincoln was the tallest president in United States history until 1901.