Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, was born in Hardin County, Kentucky on February 12, 1809. He married Mary Todd in 1842; she died in 1865 during his presidency.
Lincoln was a member of the Whig Party, which existed in the United States from 1834 to 1856. The Whig Party was a political party that supported states’ rights and limited federal power; they opposed protective tariffs on imported goods; they also opposed any land grant policy for railroads or other internal improvements that would benefit only one state or section at another’s expense.
The party emerged in opposition to Jacksonian Democracy in 1833–34, but collapsed after 1854 when it divided over slavery. Three members of this group later became presidents: William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore (as an American Party candidate).
Abraham Lincoln led the nation through its bloodiest war and greatest constitutional crisis. He abolished slavery and strengthened the federal government while preserving the Union.
Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865 at Ford’s Theater in Washington DC.
