Abraham Lincoln, Family Man

February Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Statues”

Lincoln Was Not the Civil War

President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) looms large in the history of the United States. As president during the American Civil War (1861–1865), he leveraged power to preserve the Union. Also, in mid-war, he issued his Emancipation Proclamation that declared the slaves of the southern states to be free.

But what had made this man, who had been born into poverty, into a successful lawyer, leader, and savior of a nation?

Abraham was self-taught and had scarcely twelve months of formal education. His mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, died when he was nine years old. Fourteen months later, his father, Thomas, married Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow and mother of three children. Abraham came to love his stepmother and called her “mother.”

Lincoln married Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois, in 1843. They produced four sons: Robert, Edward, Willie, and Tad. He was known as a loving husband and father. While he was often away from home giving political lectures, he was fond of his boys. Sadly, only Robert lived to adulthood.

Abraham Lincoln’s 56 years were interspersed with successes and tragedies at the individual, family, political, and national levels. But it was the love of and for his family that built him into the person he needed to be.

Thank you to Mary Chang Story Writer for bringing the Six Word Photo Story Challenge to life. Also, thanks to editors Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles, and Sandi Parsons. Lastly, Vidya, thanks for this month’s challenge.