Sixteenth President of the USA:

Abraham Lincoln

Main Life Accomplishments:

 

He is a leader of faith, integrity, and determination. We recognize him as one who fought his way up to the highest office of the land—and did so without the benefit of wealth or formal education. We value his state papers, speeches, and letters as eloquent testimony of statesmanship and noble character. For decades since Lincoln’s death, people have acknowledged that his life is an excellent example of what determination, faith, and industry can accomplish in America.

 

Basics:

Born: February 12, 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky

Died:  April 15, 1865 (aged 56) at Washington, D.C.

Nationality: American

Religion: raised by Hard-shell Baptists; rented a pew in the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church; never officially acquired membership in a church

Fields: Politics

 

Main Accomplishments:· As President, he built the Republican Party into a strong national organization. Further, he rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy.

 

Chronology of Life Events:

1809 

Birth of Abraham Lincoln

 

1811 – 1812 

In 1811 the Lincolns moved to a farm on Knob Creek which was also near Hodgenville. In 1811 or 1812 (possibly as late as 1815) Abraham’s younger brother, Thomas died in infancy.

 

1815

Abraham spent a short time in a log schoolhouse

 

1816

Young Lincoln was saved from drowning by playmate Austin Gollahe

 

1818

Abraham’s mother passed away.

 

1819 Thomas Lincoln married Sarah Bush Johnson

1821

Abraham began borrowing books from neighbors 

 

1822

Abraham attended school taught by James Swaney for about 4 months

 

1824 

Abraham attended school taught by Azel Dorsey

 

1826 

Abraham’s sister, Sarah, married a neighbor named Aaron Grigsby

 

1827 

Abraham earned his first dollar ferrying passengers to a steamer on the Ohio River

1830

Lincolns moved from Indiana to Illinois

 

1831

Lincoln decided to leave his family and go off on his own

 

1832 

Lincoln joined the Illinois militia for the Black Hawk War

 

1833

Lincoln became a Postmaster of New Salem 

 

1834 

Lincoln ran for the Illinois State Legislature, but this time he was elected

 

1836

Lincoln was re-elected to the Illinois House of Representatives

 

1837 

Lincoln was admitted to the Illinois Bar

1838 

Lincoln was elected for the 3rd time to the Illinois House of Representatives 

 

1840

For the 4th and last time, Lincoln won election to the House of Representatives

 

1842

Lincoln Married Mary Todd

 

1850

Lincolns’ son “Eddie” died

 

1851

Lincoln was elected to the Illinois legislature, but he declined the office on Nov 27th to become a candidate for the U.S. Senate

 

1856

Lincoln helped organize the new Republican Party in Illinois

 

1857

Lincoln spoke against the Dred Scott decision

1858

Lincoln was nominated by the Republicans to run for the U.S. Senate against Stephen Douglas 

 

1860

Lincoln gained national fame because of his powerful speech at Cooper Union in New York City on February 27th 

1861

Abraham visited his beloved step-mother, Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln
1863 Lincoln approved the first draft law in the U.S. history Lincoln was inaugurated as President for the second time

 

1865

Death of Abraham Lincoln

Early Life:

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, on Nolin Creek in Kentucky. His father, Thomas Lincoln, was a poverty-stricken farmer, who could never seem to make ends meet. Consequently, Lincoln spent his childhood learning how to weld an axe, hunt and work a plow. He was tall, athletic and active. During his campaign for the Presidency, Lincoln liked to recount how during his childhood he was kicked in the teeth by a horse and "apparently killed for a time." His mother, Nancy Hanks, died soon after the family moved to Spencer County, Indiana, in 1819. 

 

Left with two children to support, Thomas Lincoln remarried Sarah Bush. In 1830, the Lincolns moved to Macon, Illinois, and had three more children. Although both of his parents were illiterate, Lincoln learned to read and some of his favorite books included Arabian Nights and Robinson Crusoe. Lincoln was also popular among his friends, known for his good humor and storytelling abilities. 

 

At the age of 22, Lincoln set out on his own for New Orleans. There, he became a partner in a grocery store, although the store eventually folded and left Lincoln deeply in debt. Before going into the law, Lincoln tried many different professions he worked as a postmaster, a land surveyor and a rail splitter. He also enlisted as a volunteer in the Black Hawk war, but he never saw any action during his time of service. Throughout all his odd jobs and failed professions, Lincoln racked up a significant amount of debt, but he later repaid it, earning the nickname "Honest Abe." In 1834, Lincoln was elected as a representative for the Illinois General Assembly.

 

In 1848, after working hard on Zachary Taylor's presidential campaign, Lincoln was turned down for the office of Commissioner of General Land Office. Coupled with waning support from his constituents over his opposition to the Mexican War, Lincoln retired from politics and returned to law.

 

In 1856, Lincoln became a member of the Republican party and quickly became a political front-runner as a moderate who could woo both conservatives and abolitionists. However, Lincoln did not completely oppose slavery as he believed that it was an evil that should be contained and not allowed to grow. After gaining recognition as a possible vice presidential candidate in 1856, he was picked to oppose Stephen Douglas in the Illinois senatorial race. It was during this race that Lincoln and Douglas began a series of famous debates over the topic of slavery. While Lincoln lost the race, he became a pick for the Republican presidential bid in 1860 and won the presidency with a minority of the popular vote. 

 

Lincoln presided over the country during one of its most tumultuous periods. However, despite the ravaging of America's Civil War, Lincoln was able to maintain the continuity of the Union. The main goals during his presidency were restoration and preservation of the Union. These ideas were succinctly communicated during his Gettysburg Address. Although he is often remembered as "The Great Emancipator," Lincoln, not wanting to alienate any American, at first tried to preserve the integrity of the Union by allowing for a gradual elimination to slavery. Yet, later he realized that in order for the Union to prevail slavery must end. Consequently, on September 22, 1862 Lincoln issued an Emancipation Proclamation, which attempted to free Confederate slaves. In addition to being both doubtful legally and feasibly, Lincoln's efforts only freed a minority of slaves and didn't come into full effect until after his death. 

Wife Background:

 

Born in Lexington, Kentucky, she was the daughter of Robert Smith Todd and Eliza Parker, prominent residents of the city. They were slaveholders, as were their other relatives. At the age of twenty, Mary Todd moved to Illinois where her sister Elizabeth was living. Elizabeth introduced Mary to the young lawyer who would later become her husband; she was also courted by Stephen A. Douglas

Father Background:

 

Thomas Lincoln was born in Rockingham County, Virginia. He moved to the state of Kentucky in the 1780s with his family. In May, 1786, Thomas witnessed the murder of his father by Indians "…when he was laboring to open a farm in the forest." That fall, his mother moved the family to Washington County, Kentucky (near Springfield), where Thomas lived until the age of eighteen. From 1795 to 1802, Thomas held a variety of jobs in several locations. These jobs increased his earning power and helped to feed the Lincoln family..

Mother Background:

She was born on January 20, 1784, in Fauquier County Virginia and baptized in the Broad Run Baptist Church of Fauquier County which still retains the baptismal record. She is thought to have been born out of wedlock. Little is known about her early life, but she was admired as an excellent seamstress. On June 12, 1806, she married Thomas Lincoln. They had three children. In 1816 Nancy Hanks and her family moved to Southern Indiana. Nancy Hanks Lincoln died of "milk sickness", a disease contracted from drinking the milk of a cow that has eaten the poisonous white snakeroot. In the same year, several other people also died of "milk sickness" in the small town of Little Pigeon Creek in Spencer County, Indiana, where the Lincolns lived. Nancy Hanks Lincoln was only thirty-four years old when she died, and her son Abraham was only nine.

 

Executive Search & Management Consulting:

Chalre Associates provides its Executive Search & Management Consulting services throughout the emerging countries of the Asia Pacific region with specific focus on Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.  Regional Managers use us to help bridge the gap between local environments and the world-class requirements of multinational corporations.