Named in memory of Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), sixteenth president of the United States. Lincoln served tirelessly during the great drama of the American Civil War as commander-in-chief of the Union armies in a struggle to preserve the country. A self-taught prairie lawyer, Lincoln rose to greatness through sheer determination and hard work. His election as president in 1860 sparked the southern secession movement, which had smoldered for decades. Lincoln’s brilliance as a politician and army strategist is well documented. His efforts to preserve the Union and emancipate American slaves ended in Union victory just days before he was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., on Good Friday, 1865 Apr. 14. (M 16442) _ _.