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'''Abraham Lincoln''' was the 16th [[President of the United States of America]] serving from 1861 to 1865.  He led his country through its greatest crisis, the [[American Civil War]], abolished [[slavery]] and built a [[Republican Party]] coalition that dominated the [[Third Party System]].  

'''Abraham Lincoln''' was the 16th [[President of the United States of America]] serving from 1861 to 1865.  He led his country through its greatest crisis, the [[American Civil War]], abolished [[slavery]] and built a [[Republican Party]] coalition that dominated the [[Third Party System]].  

Lincoln was [[homeschooled]] and almost completely self-taught, which likely gave him independent thinking, reliance on logic, and a desire to continue to learn as an adult.<ref>For example, Lincoln successfully proved all of Euclid's theorems while serving in Congress.</ref> He is considered the most eloquent writer of any American president in history thus far. He is also one of the very few whose [[faith]] developed and grew while holding high public office.

Lincoln was [[homeschooled]] and almost completely self-taught, which likely gave him independent thinking, reliance on logic, and a desire to continue to learn as an adult.<ref>For example, Lincoln successfully proved all of Euclid's theorems while serving in Congress.</ref> His eloquence as a writer was second only to [[Thomas Jefferson]] among presidents. He is also one of the very few whose [[faith]] developed and grew while holding high public office.

Lincoln joined the new [[Republican Party]] after his party, the [[Whig Party]], was increasingly falling apart.  With a profound sense of American history, unswerving commitment to [[Republicanism]], and an almost [[Shakespeare]]an command of the language, Lincoln articulated a vision of a new birth of freedom for the American nation. The destruction of the [[Confederacy]], and of the [[Slave Power|slave power]] that menaced [[conservative]] American values, affirmed Lincoln's vision in the [[Gettysburg Address]] (1863) and guaranteed that "government of the people by the people for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Lincoln joined the new [[Republican Party]] after his party, the [[Whig Party]], was increasingly falling apart.  With a profound sense of American history, unswerving commitment to [[Republicanism]], and an almost [[Shakespeare]]an command of the language, Lincoln articulated a vision of a new birth of freedom for the American nation. The destruction of the [[Confederacy]], and of the [[Slave Power|slave power]] that menaced [[conservative]] American values, affirmed Lincoln's vision in the [[Gettysburg Address]] (1863) and guaranteed that "government of the people by the people for the people, shall not perish from the earth."