“I will prepare, and someday my chance will come.”

—Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States of America. Driven by a consistent devotion to the law and to anti-slavery principles, he guided the United States through the Civil War and on Jan. 1, 1863, issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in the Confederate States. The Emancipation Proclamation led to the adoption of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery throughout the nation.

President Lincoln came from humble beginnings. Born Feb. 12, 1809, in Kentucky, Lincoln had no formal schooling, but he loved to read. Lincoln's enduring passion was for government and law. He studied law informally and passed the bar examination in 1836.

Lincoln first ran for public office in the Illinois State Legislature in 1832, but was defeated. He persevered and ran again in 1834, this time serving four consecutive terms in the State Legislature before returning to full-time law practice. In 1846, he re-entered politics and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives but lost his re-election bid. Lincoln ran for the U.S. Senate in 1854 but lost that race and a subsequent race in 1855 for a different Senate seat. However, he gained national recognition, and in 1860, he was nominated for President of the United States.

Even this success was not to be attained easily. Before President Lincoln could take the oath of office on March 4, 1861, seven Southern states seceded from the United States. Following the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, Lincoln raised an army and fought to save the United States as a union.

In 1864, amid the grim Civil War, President Lincoln was re-elected, and he oversaw the surrender of the Confederate States on April 9, 1865. He proposed a speedy reunion between the Northern and Southern States, but before he could see this outcome, he was shot by John Wilkes Booth on April 14 at Ford's Theatre. President Lincoln died the morning of April 15, 1865.

Today, nearly 150 years after his death, Lincoln is remembered as one of the greatest U.S. presidents. He is recognized not for his failures—of which there were many—but for his remarkable successes, which he achieved due to one overriding characteristic: Persistence.

Persistence. Pass It On!

This billboard about Persistence features Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865); 16th President of the United States ofAmerica.

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