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'''Abraham Lincoln''' (February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865) 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 the [[Republican Party]] that dominated national politics outside [[the South]] during the [[Third Party System]]. Veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) became the Grand Old Party (GOP).  Lincoln converted to [[Christianity]] upon visiting the grim site of the [[Battle of Gettysburg]] and honoring the fallen soldiers there; he attended [[church]] often afterwards.<ref>https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/abraham-lincoln-consecrated-to-christ-1184005.html</ref>

'''Abraham Lincoln''' (February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865) 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 the [[Republican Party]] that dominated national politics outside [[the South]] during the [[Third Party System]]. Veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) became the Grand Old Party (GOP).  Lincoln converted to [[Christianity]] upon visiting the grim site of the [[Battle of Gettysburg]] and honoring the fallen soldiers there; he attended [[church]] often afterwards.<ref>https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/abraham-lincoln-consecrated-to-christ-1184005.html</ref>

Lincoln was [[homeschooled]] and virtually entirely 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. Lincoln was a president, like [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Donald Trump]] after him, whose [[faith]] developed and grew while holding high public office.

Lincoln was [[homeschooled]] and virtually entirely 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. Lincoln was a president, like [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Donald Trump]] after him, whose [[faith]] developed and grew while holding high public office.

Lincoln joined the newly formed anti-slavery [[Republican Party]] after the [[Whig Party]] fell apart over the issue of [[abolition]].  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 all Americans. 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 newly formed anti-slavery [[Republican Party]] after the [[Whig Party]] fell apart over the issue of [[abolition]].  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 all Americans. 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."