LINCOLN MEMORIAL T-Shirt
braham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American politician who was elected the 16th President of the United States (serving from 1861 to 1865), and was the first president from the Republican Party. Today, he is best known for ending slavery and preserving the Union through his supervision of the Federal (i.e., Northern) forces during the American Civil War. He selected the generals and approved their strategy; selected senior civilian officials; supervised diplomacy, patronage and party operations; and rallied public opinion through messages and speeches. Lincoln's influence was magnified by his potently persuasive rhetoric; his Gettysburg Address became and remains a core component of the American value system. To achieve his main goal of preserving the Union, Lincoln first ended slavery in the Confederacy through his Emancipation Proclamation (1863), and looked forward to its total demise by rigorously endorsing passage and ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1865). He took personal charge of Reconstruction, seeking to speedily re-unite the nation through a policy of generous reconciliation. He was opposed by some members of his own party, the Radical Republicans, who advocated much harsher policies. His leadership qualities were evident in his diplomatic handling of the border slave states at the beginning of the fighting, his defeat of a Congressional attempt to reorganize his cabinet in 1862, and in his success in the 1864 presidential campaign. Copperheads criticized him vehemently for refusing to compromise on slavery, declaring martial law, suspending the writ of habeas corpus, ordering arrests of 18,000 opponents including public officials and newspaper publishers, needlessly ending the lives of hundreds of thousands of young soldiers in the war, and for overstepping the bounds of executive power as set forth in the Constitution. On the other hand Radical Republicans criticized him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery, and not being ruthless enough toward the conquered South. Lincoln had a lasting influence on U.S. political and social institutions, importantly setting a precedent for greater centralization of power in the federal government, and for diminishing the power of the individual state governments. Lincoln is perennially ranked as one of the two or three greatest presidents. His assassination in 1865 as the war ended made him a martyr for national unity.