Underneath Pristine Clothes: Abraham Lincoln

A little farm is a place of impoverished state. It is a place where there is no much life; having none of the intricacies and grandeur of the city. But for a man with strong hopes and gallant dreams as Abraham Lincoln, it is a place where ambitions are born and where dreams start to be reality.

Lincoln grew up from an undistinguished family, or so he illustrates, but he rose into the highest of seats and was elected as the president of the United States of America for two terms. He was a most esteemed president of all times—a man of honour, justice, and equality who pledged to use impartial agreements rather than force. But underneath those pristine clothes and perfectly amiable character, who really is Abraham Lincoln?

Born to a simple family in a farm at the Hardin County, Kentucky, in February 12, 1809, young Lincoln grew up to days of hard work. There is no school at their area and there’s nowhere to learn about life, religion, and the world. What there are are only chores to finish and jobs to seek and get over with.

Yet, with his determined aspiration and passion for learning, he got through studying and acquired a license to practice law by the year 1836. He was a persistent and hardworking man, so to say; spending years of practice at the Illinois legislature that even his law partner said of him, “His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest.”

In the year1842, his days of solitude were broken for he met Mary Todd, a woman whom he had decided to tie the knot with. They lived a happy life from then on and were gifted with four boys. It is sad to note though that only one of them lived to grow into maturity.

After years as a lawyer he tried to compete in politics and run against Stephen Douglas for Senate in 1858. After their heated and diplomatic debate about the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Douglas won the election. But people who saw, heard, and witnessed their argument grew to love and favor Lincoln. Their debate had given him a national reputation which in turn won him a Republican nomination for president after two succeeding years.

When he won the presidency, Lincoln focused to bring about equality and goodwill among his people. He was a gentle voice that hushes the mass during the cold turmoil of the Civil War.

The Emancipation Proclamation which he issued in 1863 greatly affected the war, ending at last the state’s fights, scores of deaths, and concluding a blood lusting combat. The results of the war he took carefully into consideration, making certain that the vast damage a war could bring would not be forgotten by the people and that the deaths of those who were involved in the confrontations would not be put to waste.

Throughout his term, he stood as an example to every one; a man of simplicity and generosity who is willing to lay back his defenses if it would mean peace and unity for the nation. His regal personality was more than valued by the public, proven by his re-election in 1864.

However, he was cut short of his service a year after, when he was crudely assassinated—shot in the head by an actor named John Wilkes Booth— ending abruptly his patriotic goals and ambitions.

It had been a sorrowful moment for all of America; having lost a man as placid and liberal as Abraham Lincoln. But his efforts were not wasted for he left his people the idea that would unite them: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds….”