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.

Lincoln was born only a few weeks after Poe. The author came to his attention through one of the numerous parodies of “The Raven,” first published in January 1845. Johnston, a fellow lawyer, sent Lincoln one such parody, “The Pole-Cat,” which led him to seek out Poe’s poem. It is said that Lincoln so appreciated […]

Lincoln seems to have been under no illusions about the literary merit of his poetry, telling Johnston in this letter, “I am not at all displeased with your proposal to publish the poetry, or doggerel, or whatever else it may be called, which I sent you. I consent that it may be done . . […]

Lincoln had a fractious relationship with Greeley, the founding editor of the pro-Republican New York Tribune. But, given that the Tribune’s circulation was the largest in the country, he could not afford to alienate its editor. Lincoln’s aide John Hay remarked that Greeley, a strident abolitionist, “grumbles because he is an honest old fanatic, and […]

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.

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 […]

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 […]

An amendment to end slavery had stalled in Congress in 1864. Aware that as commander in chief he had issued the Emancipation Proclamation as a temporary wartime measure, Lincoln led the attempt to abolish slavery forever through constitutional amendment. In this fragment of his last Annual Message—the equivalent of the current State of the Union […]

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 […]

This portrait of Lincoln was taken the year of his election as president.