ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Dal 1861 fino al suo assassinio nel 1865, Abraham Lincoln fu il presidente degli Stati Uniti.

Lincoln was elected to the United States Congress in 1846. His career got off to a rocky start because he was a vocal opponent of the Mexican War and claimed that slavery should be abolished. Both of these views were unpopular in his Illinois district, and he did not win re-election. Lincoln practiced law for the next 12 years, growing his business. With a bill introduced by Stephen Douglas to organise the Kansas-Nebraska Territory in 1854, the controversial question of slavery exploded. This bill enraged Lincoln so much that he returned to politics. After failing to win a senatorial nomination in 1855, Lincoln joined the new Republicans, believing his former faction, the Whigs, were effectively dead, and became a leading figure in the party.