Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809 in Kentucky and grew up on a small farm, walking miles to borrow books. He became a lawyer and began his political career, first being elected to the Illinois state legislature in 1838. Lincoln served as the 16th President of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865, preserving the Union during the American Civil War and issuing the Emancipation Proclamation to free all slaves.