Credit: White House Historical Association, White House Collection, Bequest of Mrs. Robert Todd Lincoln, 1939.
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was born on the Kentucky frontier, raised in the wilds of Indiana, and carved out a life for himself in Illinois. After the Civil War began in April, 1861, Lincoln struggled to hold the Union together through four years of horrendous human losses. Less than two years after the Battle of Gettysburg, he would be shot in the head at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. and die on April 15, 1865, only days after Lee surrendered. Lincoln sat for this painting in August of 1864.
