When a person today thinks of Abraham Lincoln they think of a great man. Perhaps they think of his assassination, or as the 16th President, or bringing our country from one sustained by slavery to one sustained by equality. What people don’t think of is a man that never stopped going towards what he believed to be his calling despite many set backs. I would rather focus on the “little known Licoln”.
February 12, 1809 and Abraham Lincoln is born in a small one bedroom cabin in Nolin Creek, Kentucky. When he was 7 years old, he shot a turkey and felt so guilty about it that he never hunted again. He was kicked in the head by a horse at the age of 9 and was thought to be dead. Luckily for us, he recovered. In 1828 at the age of 19, while taking a flatboat of produce to New Orleans, he and the farmer he was working for, fight off an attack by several black men. It was during this trip that the boy from Kentucky witnessed his first slave auction.
Throughout his life he continued to study, finally studying law and moving into politics. In 1849 he still stands as the only President ever to receive a patent. His was for a method of buoying ships over shoals. He enjoys a long career as an attorney, traveling several counties. Due to his reputation of being very honest and just as an attorney, he was known as “Honest Abe”.
To me, Lincoln is a man who overcame much, but kept going towards his calling. He felt a deep sense of justice and fairness and used his position in politics and as a lawyer to uphold that sense of right and wrong.
LINCOLN’S ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE
Failed business in 1831.
Defeated for Legislature in 1832.
Second failure in business in 1833.
Suffered nervous breakdown in 1836.
Defeated for Speaker in 1838.
Defeated for Elector in 1840.
Defeated for Congress in 1843.
Defeated for Congress in 1848.
Defeated for Senate in 1855.
Defeated for Vice President in 1856.
Defeated for Senate in 1858.
Elected President in 1860.
For a time line of Lincoln’s life and political career, I suggest The History Place.
