Alexander Gardner (1821-1882)

Abraham Lincoln, 16^th president of the United States, guided the nation through its darkest hours during four years of civil war that claimed over 700,000 lives. The war freed the slaves in 1863 with the Emancipation Proclamation Act, and the South eventually surrendered to the North on April 9, 1865, five days before Lincoln was assassinated.

President Lincoln was the first U.S. President to be photographed, and frequently, throughout his career and the presidency.

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