Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States. Lincoln
             entered office at a critical period in U. S. history, just before the Civil War, and
             died from an assassin's bullet at the end of the war before the greater
             of the conflicts could be resolved. He brought to the office personal integrity,
             intelligence, and humanity, plus the wholesome characteristics of his frontier
             upbringing.(Fuhrman, Joseph) He also had the liabilities of his upbringing he was self-educated,
             culturally unsophisticated, and lacking in administrative and diplomatic skills.
             Sharp-witted, he was not especially sharp-tongued, but was noted for his warm
             good humor. Although relatively unknown and inexperienced politically when
             elected president, he proved to be a consummate politician. He was above all firm
             in his Convictions and dedicated to the preservation of the Union.
             Lincoln was perhaps the most esteemed and maligned of the American presidents.Generally admired and loved by the public, he was attacked on a partisan basis as the man responsible for and in the middle of every major issue facing the nation during his administration. (Fuhrmann, Joseph) Although his reputation has deflated with changing times, he was clearly a great man and a great president. He firmly and fairly guided the nation through its most perilous period and made a lasting impact in shaping the office of chief executive.
             Once regarded as the "Great Emancipator" for his forward strides in freeing the slaves, he was criticized a century later, when the Civil Rights Movement got
             momentum, for his caution in moving toward equal rights. (Mitchell, Nelson)
             However towards the end of his presidency many people were quoted
             to say "a poor and uneducated man succeeding in business or politics became
             more of a rarity and the exception." The feeling behind that statement was not
             shared by many people of that time. Most th...