Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, who led the country through the Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which began the process of ending slavery in America.
Lincoln rose from a self-educated frontier lawyer in Illinois to national prominence through a series of debates on slavery before winning the presidency in 1860, a result that prompted several Southern states to secede.
He led the Union through the Civil War from 1861 to 1865, and issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, declaring enslaved people in Confederate states to be free, reshaping the war's purpose around ending slavery.
Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth just days after the Confederacy's surrender in April 1865. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American presidents for preserving the Union and advancing civil rights.