Volk was responsible for making one of the only two life masks of Lincoln. Clark Mills made the other in February 1865. When Volk went to Springfield to present the Lincolns with a completed cabinet bust in May 1860, Lincoln permitted the sculptor to make casts of both his hands. Lincoln had just been nominated […]

Published in 1868, this admiring Italian biography of Lincoln testifies to his importance in the eyes of the world, particularly as a role model for the unification of Italy.

This World War I recruiting poster harnesses the power of Lincoln’s language in the Gettysburg Address and the example of the black troops who fought in the Civil War. Ultimately, despite the indignity of serving in segregated units, some 350,000 African Americans enlisted and fought in World War I.

Throughout the Civil War, liberal member of Parliament John Bright was Britain’s leading supporter of Lincoln’s policies. In a series of speeches in 1862–63 he argued that the Southern states were fighting for the maintenance of slavery, not independence, and that emancipated labor would improve the supply of cotton to British factories. Bright was almost […]

In 1929 Franklin D. Roosevelt told a journalist that it was time for “us Democrats to claim Lincoln as one of our own.” Thereafter, his speechwriters and close associates seldom lost an opportunity to connect the two presidents. FDR mentioned Lincoln often in his speeches and quoted him in support of policy initiatives. On 3 […]

Despite initial differences, Douglass and Lincoln forged a relationship over the course of the Civil War based on a shared vision. Fifteen years after Lincoln’s death, Douglass described him as “one of the noblest wisest and best men I ever knew.” This stirring tribute to Lincoln was later published in Osborn H. Oldroyd’s The Lincoln […]

In 1836, Lincoln found himself in a torturous situation. He felt obligated to his friend Elizabeth Abell to fulfill a promise to marry her sister, Mary Owens, if she came to Illinois from Kentucky. He regretted his rash promise and struggled to find an honorable way to get out of it. In this letter, he […]

Six months after black troops began enlisting in the Union army, Lincoln faced the problem of the Confederacy committing atrocities against them. In this startling executive order, Lincoln reacts with vehemence invoking the law of nations. He orders that for every black soldier killed by the Confederacy “a rebel soldier shall be executed; and for […]

Four months after the Battle of Gettysburg, which caused 50,000 casualties—soldiers dead, wounded, and missing—President Lincoln was invited to speak at the dedication of a national cemetery at the site. A mere 275 words, Lincoln’s three-minute-long address redefined the significance of the Civil War. Drawing upon biblical ideas of suffering, consecration, and resurrection, Lincoln framed […]