This Day in History:
Abraham Lincoln Is
Elected President November 6, 1860 Receiving only 40% of the popular vote,
President Abraham Lincoln defeated
three other candidates to become the
first Republican President. A month after the Kentucky-born lawyer
was sworn in on March 4, 1961, the
U.S. Civil War began with
the Battle of Fort Sumter. The announcement of
Lincoln’s victory signaled
the secession of the Southern states. In 1863, as the tide turned
against the Confederacy, Lincoln
emancipated the slaves and
won re-election in 1864. In April 1865, he was
assassinated by John Wilkes Booth
at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. Lincoln is hailed as one
of the greatest American presidents.