The Evolution of a Leader

Lincoln's journey from cautious moderate to the president who ended slavery is one of American history's most important transformations.

• He framed the Emancipation Proclamation as a military measure, not a moral crusade
• Black soldiers gave the Union crucial manpower as white enlistment fell
• His assassination handed Reconstruction to a Southern Democrat who undermined it
• The Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery permanently, was his greatest achievement