President · 1809 – 1865
Abraham Lincoln
Little-Known Facts
- Largely self-educated, Lincoln had less than a year of formal schooling.
- The Gettysburg Address, one of history's most famous speeches, was only about 270 words long.
Myths & Misconceptions
Did Lincoln free all enslaved people with the Emancipation Proclamation?
Not immediately. The 1863 proclamation freed enslaved people in the rebelling states; nationwide abolition came with the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.