Abraham Lincoln's Character

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Abraham Lincoln's Character

"The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it

can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to

be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here

have thus far so nobly advanced…that from these honored dead we take

increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full

measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead

shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a

new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the

people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), from The Gettysburg Address

How was his character formed?

To understand Lincoln's character and the influences on it, we must

comb through his life and find the people and experiences that

affected its result. As we travel from the small log cabin in Kentucky

to the simple townhouse in Washington, D.C. where Lincoln breathed his

last breaths, we will see a pattern of a life that was lived to its

utmost capacity in honesty, truth, and integrity.

Abraham Lincoln was born in 1908 in a small farmhouse in Kentucky. A

year after Abraham's mother (Nancy Lincoln) died of milk sickness, his

father, Thomas Lincoln, realized that he couldn't support the family

and parent them. He was quickly married to the widow Sarah Bush

Johnston, who was a widow herself and had three children.

The Lincoln and the Johnston children were treated with absolute

impartiality and equality, and as a result Abraham and his stepmother

were bonded in a close and understanding relationship. Lincoln's...

... middle of paper ...

... honorably before his opponent - court & jury."

Lincoln was "the glue that held our nation together," and his

influence should always be remembered as the single fiber that would

not let our country fall into pieces. I believe Lincoln's admirable

character was evident to those around him - as this quote from his

friend Leonard Swett reveals: "He believed in the great laws of truth,

the right discharge of duty, his accountability to God, the ultimate

triumph of the right, and the overthrow of wrong."ÿ

Works Cited

o Internet:

o http://www.topicsites.com/abraham-lincoln/facts-info-history.htm

o http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton/Lincoln2.html

o http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton/Lincoln34.html

o Lincoln(on tape), Simon & Schuster Inc., 1995

o Lincoln(documentary, 3 videos), Kunhardt Productions, 1992

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