Abraham Lincoln When people are asked to identify which president they feel had the greatest impact on our history, Lincoln's name consistently comes up. But why? Lincoln had little formal education and did not serve in public office but for brief periods prior to becoming president. In short, based on his background, Lincoln would not seem to be someone likely to succeed as President. Yet his innate wisdom and humanity made him one of the …showed first 75 words of 1872 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1872 total…of the Civil War: It had "uprooted institutions that were centuries old, changed the politics of a people, transformed the social life of half the country, and wrought so profoundly upon the entire national character that the influence cannot be measured short of two or three generations." (Images of the Civil War, pg. 172) With Lincoln's stong, moralistic leadership, the North went to war to preserve the Union; it ended by preserving and strengthening a nation.