with an impressive charisma and commanding presence. Though they never personally, Lincoln and Juarez formed a lifetime friendship and helped each other out at any costs.
             Juárez was born on March 21, 1806, in the Oaxaca village of San Pablo Gueletao. His parents, members of the Zapotec tribe prevalent in Oaxaca, were small farmers. When he came to Oaxaca City at the age of thirteen, he could neither read, write nor speak Spanish. His destination was the house of the Maza family, where his sister worked as a servant. Sr. Maza, head of the household, not only took in the boy, but showed an interest in his development. Antonio Salanueva taught the boy reading, writing, arithmetic, Spanish grammar and bookbinding. Juarez was sent to seminary school to become a priest, but something bigger pulled at his heart strings, upon graduating Seniary in 1827, Juarez enter the Institute of Science and Art. In 1834, Juarez left the institute with a degree in law. During his time in the Institute, Juarez read works by rationalist philosophers of the Enlightment; with this reading he abandoned the Catholic faith for something more spiritual.
             Much like Juarez, Lincoln yearned for an education, perhaps he, himself, explains his early life the best. "I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families--second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks.... My father ... removed from Kentucky to ... Indiana, in my eighth year.... It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up.... Of course when I came of age I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write, and cipher ... but that was all." Lincoln went through painful lengths to learn while working on a farm, splitting rails for fences, and keeping store at New Salem, Illinois. His education inclu...