The 16th POTUS Abraham Lincoln was born on this day in 1809.

Ten Notes On Abraham Lincoln.

1. I don’t know what I can say about Abraham Lincoln that already hasn’t been said a million times. Along with George Washington the big 1-2 on the Greatest Presidents of All Time list and the Greatest Americans ever list. There have probably been more books and interest about Abraham Lincoln than any other American in history. Maybe it is because we have pictures of Lincoln and we don’t of Washington, maybe its because Lincoln is more recent but Lincoln has always seemed like a real living person whereas Washington is more hard to visualize as a person.

2. Lincoln was our tallest POTUS at 6’4″ 180. He had gray eyes and black hair. He had no particular denomination as far as religion went. He was a lawyer.  Born in Kentucky, spent a brief period of time in Indiana before finally growing up into adulthood in Illinois. He was a Whig before they died out, then he became a Republican.

3. Lincoln was the first POTUS to be assassinated. He was the first POTUS to be born in a state outside of the original 13. The first POTUS to have a beard. The first Republican POTUS and the first and only POTUS to be granted a patent.

4. Lincoln was not close at all with his father Thomas. Thomas never saw the value of education. Thomas could write his name that was it. That was one of the conflicts between the two. Abraham’s mother Nancy Hanks Lincoln died when he was 9. His step-mother Sarah Bush Lincoln was a big influence on Abraham. She encouraged him to educate and better himself. How distant was Abraham and Thomas Lincoln? Thomas never met his grandchildren and when he died Abraham didn’t make the journey to his funeral. Before Lincoln left for Washington, D.C. to become POTUS he did make the journey to see his step-mother one last time.

5. Abraham and Mary Lincoln had four sons. Only Robert lived to adulthood and he lived to be an old man 1843-1926 and he had a distinguished career in government} Eddie died before turning 4,  Willie died in the White House while Lincoln was POTUS at age 12 and Tad died at age 18 in 1871. Mary Lincoln would consult mediums and held a seance in the White House to try and contact Willie who was Abraham’s favourite, the one who was most like him.

6. There are dozens of great books about Lincoln the one I love the most is the massive two part “Abraham Lincoln: A Life” which came out a couple years ago by Lincoln scholar Michael Burlingame. Everything you wanted to know about Lincoln and more. Excellent work.

7. This past summer on vacation Mrs. Postcard and I spent two days in Springfield, Illinois where Lincoln spent most of his adulthood before going to Washington, D.C. to become POTUS.  A trip well worth making. Saw all the Lincoln sites in and outside of town, the Lincoln Library and Museum, the Lincoln home, his law office, this grave etc. We were very impressed with the city of Springfield.

8. Lincoln suffered from periods of depression thoughout his life. Those who knew him said that there always seemed to be a sadness about him, although he liked to tell humourous jokes and stories. He also was not a stranger to defeat and tragedy. He overcame. During his life he suffered the following defeats. 1831 His business failed. 1832 he was defeated in a bid for the Illinois State legislature. 1833 the death of who some claim was his first and only true love-Ann Rutledge, 1834his second failure at business. 1836 a nervous breakdown, 1838-defeated in a bid for speaker of the Illinois house. 1840-defeated in bid for for being a Whig elector. 1848-defeated in a bid for the US House of Representative. 1855-defeated in a bid for the U.S. Senate. 1856-defeated in a bid for the Republican vice-presidential nomination and in 1858 in the famous Lincoln vs Douglas Senate race in Illinois he lost to Stephen Douglas. 1860 incredibly he was elected POTUS.

9. Supposedly his last words were in response to Mary Lincoln asking him if the audience at Ford’s Theater would mind if they held hand, “They won’t think anything of it.”

10. If you haven’t seen the recent movie “Lincoln” I would highly recommend it. It is not a biography but deals with the passing of the 14th Amendment and the last part of Lincoln’s life. Also I couldn’t imagine a more believeable Lincoln than the great Daniel Day-Lewis.After 5minutes I thought Day-Lewis WAS Lincoln. I would also highly recommend the book the movie was based on “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin.