Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln (www.askjeeves.com)

Nathan S., from Oil City, Kansas, writes:

Abraham Lincoln is a hero because he freed the slaves. Abe was born on Feb. 12, 1809 near Hodgenville, Kentucky. When Lincoln was young, he attended an ABC school when he could get out of chores. In his entire life, he had less than a whole year of school. When he grew up, first he became a congressman. Then on March 4, 1861 Lincoln was elected the sixteenth president of the U.S.A.

For a long time Lincoln had thought about freeing the slaves. Then on Jan. 1, 1863 he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed all the slaves in the United States. I think Abe Lincoln is a hero because he was patient, respected and compassionate. He was patient because he didn't issue the Emancipation Proclamation until he could free the slaves and at the same time not lose any states to the confederacy. He was a very respected president. He showed compassion towards the slaves by freeing them. I think that I could try to act like Lincoln by showing kindness to others and helping them. Abe Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents the United States has ever had.

Megan, from Montvale writes:

Abraham Lincoln was born on Sunday, February 12, 1809, in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He was the son of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, and was named after his grandfather. His father was a carpenter and a farmer. Both of his parents were Baptists who had separated themselves from another church due to their opposition to slavery.

All through Lincoln's life his family moved from place to place so he really didn't have much friends to keep. When he got older he accomplished many things: he became a lawyer, and he became the 16th president of the United States of America.

On Good Friday, April 14,1865, the Lincolns attended a play entitled AMERICAN COUSIN at Ford's theatre. During the performance booth arrived at the theatre, entered the State Box from the rear, and shot the president in the back of the head at about 10:15 P.M. Lincoln was carried across the street to the Peterson house wher he passed away the next day at 7:22 A.M.

Kevin, from Winfield, writes:

Abraham Lincoln was born on a cold winter night in a log cabin in Kentucky. He was a very ambitious child: because his family was too poor to send him to school, he taught himself to read. When he was 15 he and a few of his friends went to Illinois to sell hogs. There Abe met Mary Todd, his future wife. Abe's friends went back to Kentucky and Abe stayed in Illinois. When he was 25 he became senator of Illinois. He was in office for 3 years. The people in Washington D.C. wanted to let him run for President. He excepted the challenge, and in 1860, he won the election. In 1963 Lincoln wrote the emancipation proclamation, which said that all people should be treated equal including slaves. The southerners knew that if they listened to Lincoln and freed their slaves, they would have to give up the way of life that had made many of them very rich. So the South seceded from the union, and so began the Civil War. The war went on for 4 years, finally ending with the surrender of the South. John Wilkes Booth hated Lincoln. On April 14, 1965, while the President and his wife sat in a box at Ford's Theater watching a play, Wilkes Booth sneaked in and shot Lincoln. President Lincoln was taken to the the boarding house across the street from the theater, where he died.

Paul from Burke, Virginia, writes:

These days it is impossible to be a public hero without being a role model. Lincoln is for the most part a good role model. Yes, there are things that he could have done better, but these were things that you would have to make a split second decision about. There are parts of his life that aren't something to be desired. I can't say what he was like when he was only around his family. I also can't say what his motivation was for the decisions that he made. I will never know if he had a personal motive for freeing all of the slaves, or if it was because he really cared for the slaves. The part of his life that was just a show was the the picture that was painted of him as a perfect model president. Like all other people, he had his shortcomings. He had a horrid temper. He was sometimes very irritable. But at other times he was a very patient man. If he had lived today, more would be known about what he was really like, and not what he was like when he was giving speeches.