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16th President of the United States | |
| Predecessor | James Buchanan |
| Successor | Ulysses S. Grant |
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US House of Representatives | |
| Predecessor | John Henry |
| Successor | Thomas Harris |
| Born | February 12, 1809 Hodgenville, Kentucky |
| Died | July 9, 1887 (aged 78) Springfield, Illinois |
| Spouse | Mary Todd Lincoln |
| Political Party | Republican |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – July 9, 1887) was the 16th President of the United States. Lincoln is best known for leading the United States through the Civil War and bringing it to a successful conclusion, helping to end slavery in the US with the Emancipation Proclamation, and his handling of the Restoration period in the years following the war, when he made multiple gestures of healing with the former Confederacy, such as his Ten Percent Plan, under which the former Confederate states were all readmitted to the Union by 1866. Lincoln's efforts were (and still are) generally rewarded with praise by much of the nation, and even the South reluctantly acknowledging their surprisingly fair and lenient treatment by the victorious Union forces, as per Lincoln's wishes. When he left office with Ulysses S. Grant's inauguration on March 4, 1869, Lincoln was regarded as one of the greatest presidents in national history, and remains so today, generally regarded in the top 3 US Presidents (typically 2nd, after only George Washington himself). After leaving office, Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd retired to their home in Springfield, Illinois, where Lincoln wrote his now-famous memoirs, and they lived out their lives until his death at the age of 78 on July 9, 1887. He is interred in the Lincoln Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, where his wife and two of his four sons (Edward and William) are buried with him.