A formidable figure at six -feet - four, spindly yet strong enough to hold an ax steady at arm's length, Abraham Lincoln is even larger in lore than he was in life. The 16th president, widely respected in his own era, is revered to this day as the homespun hero who saved the Union, freed the salves, and made true America's favorite belief: anyone can became president. "I am a living witness," he told visitors to the White House, "that any one of your children may… come here, as my father's child has."tion

Lincoln's common touch was rooted the Kentucky backwoods, where he was born to an "undistinguished" family. He overcame the poverty and privations of pioneer life through ceaseless work and sporadic schooling, and good-humored, Lincoln made his way on the frontier by working at everything from shopkeeping to surveying before discovering his calling: law and politics.

Years in the Illinois State legislature and courts honed Lincoln's storytelling skill to political poetry - especially when railing against injustice. "A house divided against itself cannot stand," began one memorable antislavery speech. His voice and views became more impassioned during seven debates with archival Stephen Douglas, who opposed Lincoln for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1858. Although Lincoln lost the seat, he won national attention and soon swept the Republican nomination and the presidential election.