Who is Abraham Lincoln?
Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the US, is often the most admired by historians and politicians alike. As president it was his difficult responsibility to commission and oversee the Civil War and to bring an end to slavery, which he felt was an implied responsibility built into the US constitution. He is known as a great thinker, who tried without success to prevent the war, as well as a heroic figure who changed the course of a nation forever. Lincoln was born to a poor farming family in Kentucky on 12 February 1809. It’s true he was born in a log cabin, but this is not so uncommon as might be supposed — several presidents before him had also been born in log cabins. As a child he received little formal education, only getting to attend school ocasionally. Lincoln was known for his love of reading — he would walk miles from his home just to borrow books from neighbors. His family moved to Indiana when Lincoln was seven, partly because no slavery was allowed in Indiana terr
Think Tank Transcripts:Who Was Abraham Lincoln? ANNOUNCER: ‘Think Tank’ has been made possible by Amgen, arecipient of the Presidential National Medal of Technology. Amgen,bringing better, healthier lives to people worldwide throughbiotechnology. Additional funding is provided by the John M. Olin Foundation, theRandolph Foundation and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. MR. WATTENBERG: Hello, I’m Ben Wattenberg. It was here at Ford’sTheater in 1865 that America’s 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, wasshot by John Wilkes Booth. Afterward, the assassin leapt from thatbalcony shouting, ‘Sic semper tyrannus,’ or, Thus always the tyrants,and ‘The South is avenged.’ Lincoln has been called many things: savior, tyrant, liberator,racist, saint, poet, idealist, pragmatist. It has been said thatevery generation and almost every cause recasts Lincoln for its ownpurposes. Was he really a visionary leader who set out to reshapeAmerica, or was he just a practical politician forced to cope withextr
