Harbans kapoor biography of abraham lincoln

As a young man, Lincoln pursued various occupations, including working as a farmhand, a store clerk, and a surveyor. Despite having very limited formal education, he was determined to improve himself intellectually, reading voraciously and teaching himself law. Inhe married Mary Todd, and they went on to have four sons together. However, tragedy struck when their beloved son, Willie, passed away at the age of His political career began when he was elected to the Illinois State Legislature in His involvement in the debates on slavery and his opposition to its expansion helped him gain national prominence.

Lincoln did not note what his children were doing or had done. Lincoln suffered from " melancholy ", a condition now thought to be clinical depression. Inhe declared his candidacy for the Illinois House of Representativesbut interrupted his campaign to serve as a captain in the Illinois Militia during the Black Hawk War. They offered a wide range of alcoholic beverages as well as food, including takeout dinners.

But Berry became an alcoholic, was often too drunk to work, and Lincoln ended up running the store by himself. He could draw crowds as a raconteurbut lacked the requisite formal education, powerful friends, and money, and lost the election. StuartMary Todd's cousin. He partnered several years with Stephen T. Her death was said to have left Lincoln severely depressed.

About a year after the death of Rutledge, Lincoln courted Mary Owens. The two saw each other for a few months, and harbans kapoor biography of abraham lincoln was considered. But in time, Lincoln called off the match. Political Career InLincoln began his political career and was elected to the Illinois state legislature as a member of the Whig Party.

More than a decade later, from tohe served a single term in the U. House of Representatives. His foray into national politics seemed to be as unremarkable as it was brief. He was the lone Whig from Illinois, showing party loyalty but finding few political allies. As a congressman, Lincoln used his term in office to speak out against the Mexican-American War and supported Zachary Taylor for president in His criticism of the war made him unpopular back home, and he decided not to run for second term.

Instead, he returned to Springfield to practice law. By the s, the railroad industry was moving west, and Illinois found itself becoming a major hub for various companies. Lincoln served as a lobbyist for the Illinois Central Railroad as its company attorney. Success in several court cases brought other business clients as well, including banks, insurance companies, and manufacturing firms.

Lincoln also worked in some criminal trials. Lincoln referred to an almanac and proved that the night in question had been too dark for the witness to see anything clearly. His client was acquitted. Lincoln and Slavery As a member of the Illinois state legislature, Lincoln supported the Whig politics of government-sponsored infrastructure and protective tariffs.

This political understanding led him to formulate his early views on slavery, not so much as a moral wrong, but as an impediment to economic development. InCongress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Actwhich repealed the Missouri Compromiseallowing individual states and territories to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery. Lincoln joined the Republican Party in There were times, in his journey from storekeeper and mill operator to lawyer and member of the Illinois state legislature, when Lincoln lost his nerve and self-confidence — on at least two occasions he became so despondent as to appear suicidal — and when his acute emotional vulnerabilities were exposed.

We see Lincoln as a boy: not the dutiful son studying by firelight, but the stubborn rebel determined to make something of himself. We see him as a young man: not the ascendant statesman, but the canny local politician who was renowned for his talents in wrestling and storytelling as well as for his extensive store of off-color jokes.

Harbans kapoor biography of abraham lincoln

Written by a native of England and originally published inthe biography is a rare blend of beautiful prose and profound historical insight. Lincoln forged a hard path toward mental health from the time he was a young man. Shenk draws from historical records, interviews with Lincoln scholars, and contemporary research on depression to understand the nature of his unhappiness.

Lincoln at Cooper Union by Harold Holzer This favorite among books on Abraham Lincoln explores his most influential and widely reported pre-presidential address — an extraordinary appeal by the western politician to the eastern elite that propelled him toward the Republican nomination for president. Douglas on the question of slavery.