Editing Abraham Lincoln (section)

===Second term===
[[File:Harper's_weekly_(1865)_(14577952769).jpg|thumb|alt=A large crowd in front of a large building with many pillars|Lincoln's [[Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address|second inaugural address]] at the nearly completed [[United States Capitol|U.S. Capitol]] on March 4, 1865]]
====Re-election====
{{Main|1864 United States presidential election}}

Lincoln ran for re-election in 1864; the Republican Party selected [[Andrew Johnson]], a [[War Democrat]], as his running mate. To broaden his coalition to include War Democrats as well as Republicans, Lincoln ran under the label of the new [[National Union Party (United States)|National Union Party]].{{sfnm|Donald|1996|1pp=494–507|Burlingame|2008|2loc=v. 2 p. 642}} Grant's bloody stalemates damaged Lincoln's re-election prospects, and many Republicans feared defeat; Lincoln rejected pressure for a peace settlement.<ref name=anb/> Lincoln prepared a confidential memorandum pledging that, if he should lose the election, he would "co-operate with the President elect, as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such ground that he cannot possibly save it afterward".<ref name=anb/>{{sfn|Donald|1996|p=529}} At the next cabinet meeting, Lincoln "asked each member to sign his name on the back of the document", but he did not allow them to read it.{{sfn|Donald|1996|p=530}}

Victories at [[Atlanta campaign|Atlanta]] and in the [[Valley campaigns of 1864#Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley campaign (August–October 1864)|Shenandoah Valley]] turned public opinion, and Lincoln was re-elected.<ref name=anb/> On March 4, 1865, Lincoln delivered his [[second inaugural address]]. Historian [[Mark Noll]] places the speech "among the small handful of semi-sacred texts by which Americans conceive their place in the world;" it is inscribed in the [[Lincoln Memorial]].{{sfn|Noll|2002|p=426}} Lincoln closed his speech with these words:

{{Blockquote|With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/linc/learn/historyculture/lincoln-second-inaugural.htm|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|title=Lincoln's second inaugural address|accessdate=April 27, 2025}}</ref>}}

====Reconstruction====
{{Main|Reconstruction era}}
Reconstruction preceded the war's end, as Lincoln and his associates considered the reintegration of the nation, and the fates of Confederate leaders and freed slaves. When a general asked Lincoln how the defeated Confederates were to be treated, Lincoln replied, "Let 'em up easy."{{sfn|Thomas|2008|pp=509–512}} Lincoln's main goal was to keep the union together, so he proceeded by focusing not on whom to blame, but on how to rebuild the nation.{{sfn|Koehn|2017|p=191}} Lincoln led the moderates in Reconstruction policy and was opposed by the Radicals, under [[Thaddeus Stevens]], Charles Sumner and [[Benjamin Wade]], who otherwise remained Lincoln's allies. Determined to reunite the nation and not alienate the South, Lincoln urged that speedy elections under generous terms be held. His [[Ten percent plan|Amnesty Proclamation]] of December 8, 1863, offered pardons to those who had not held a Confederate civil office and had not mistreated Union prisoners, if they signed an oath of allegiance.{{sfn|Donald|1996|pp=471–472}}

As Southern states fell, they needed leaders while their administrations were being restored. In Tennessee and Arkansas, Lincoln appointed Johnson and [[Frederick Steele]], respectively, as military governors.{{sfn|Donald|1996|p=484}} In Louisiana, Lincoln ordered General [[Nathaniel P. Banks]] to promote a plan that would reestablish statehood when 10 percent of the voters agreed, but only if the reconstructed states abolished slavery. Democratic opponents accused Lincoln of using the plan to ensure his and the Republicans' political aspirations. The Radicals denounced his policy as too lenient and passed their own plan, the 1864 [[Wade–Davis Bill]], but Lincoln pocket-vetoed it. The Radicals retaliated by refusing to seat elected representatives from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee.{{sfnm|Donald|1996|1pp=509&ndash;511|Burlingame|2008|2loc=v. 2 pp. 594&ndash;600, 659&ndash;664}}

[[File:Lincoln and Johnsond.jpg|upright=1.4|alt=Cartoon of Lincoln and Johnson attempting to stitch up the broken Union|thumb|An 1865 political cartoon, ''The 'Rail Splitter' At Work Repairing the Union'', depicting Vice President [[Andrew Johnson]], a former tailor, and Lincoln.]]
After implementing the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln increased pressure on Congress to outlaw slavery nationwide with a constitutional amendment. By December 1863 an amendment was brought to Congress.{{sfn|Donald|1996|p=554}} The Senate passed it on April 8, 1864, but the first vote in the House of Representatives fell short of the required two-thirds majority. Passage became part of Lincoln's re-election platform, and after his re-election, the second attempt in the House passed on January 31, 1865.{{sfn|Donald|1996|pp=562–563}} After ratification by three-fourths of the states in December 1865, it became the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]].{{sfn|Burlingame|2008|loc=v. 2 p. 751}}

Lincoln believed the federal government had limited responsibility to the millions of freedmen. He signed Senator Charles Sumner's [[Freedmen's Bureau]] bill that set up a temporary federal agency designed to meet the immediate needs of former slaves. The law opened land for a lease of three years with the ability to purchase title for the freedmen. Lincoln announced a Reconstruction plan that involved short-term military control, pending readmission under the control of southern Unionists.{{sfn|Carwardine|2003|pp=242–243}} [[Eric Foner]] argues:{{sfn|Foner|2010|p=335}}
{{Blockquote|Unlike Sumner and other Radicals, Lincoln did not see Reconstruction as an opportunity for a sweeping political and social revolution beyond emancipation. He had long made clear his opposition to the confiscation and redistribution of land. He believed, as most Republicans did in April 1865, that voting requirements should be determined by the states. He assumed that political control in the South would pass to white Unionists, reluctant secessionists, and forward-looking former Confederates. But time and again during the war, Lincoln, after initial opposition, had come to embrace positions first advanced by abolitionists and Radical Republicans.&nbsp;... Lincoln undoubtedly would have listened carefully to the outcry for further protection for the former slaves.&nbsp;... It is entirely plausible to imagine Lincoln and Congress agreeing on a Reconstruction policy that encompassed federal protection for basic civil rights plus limited black suffrage, along the lines Lincoln proposed just before his death.}}

Lincoln vetoed only four bills during his presidency, including the Wade-Davis Bill with its harsh Reconstruction program.{{sfn|Donald|1996|p=137}} The [[1862 Homestead Act]] made millions of acres of Western government-held land available for purchase at low cost. The 1862 [[Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act]] provided government grants for [[List of agricultural universities and colleges|agricultural colleges]] in each state. The [[Pacific Railway Acts]] of 1862 and 1864 granted federal support for the construction of the United States' [[first transcontinental railroad]], which was completed in 1869.{{sfn|Paludan|1994|p=116}} The passage of the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railway Acts was enabled by the absence of Southern congressmen and senators who had opposed the measures in the 1850s.{{sfn|McPherson|2009|pp=450–452}}

====Assassination====
{{Main|Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|}}
[[File:Lincoln assassination slide c1900 - Restoration.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Painting of Lincoln being shot by Booth while sitting in a theater booth.|An illustration of [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln's assassination]] on April 14, 1865, in the presidential booth at [[Ford's Theatre]], featuring (left to right): assassin [[John Wilkes Booth]], Abraham Lincoln, [[Mary Todd Lincoln]], [[Clara Harris]], and [[Henry Rathbone]]]]

[[John Wilkes Booth]] was a well-known actor and a Confederate spy from Maryland; though he never joined the Confederate army, he had contacts with the Confederate secret service.{{sfn|Donald|1996|pp=586–587}} After attending Lincoln's last public address, on April 11, 1865, in which Lincoln stated his preference that the franchise be conferred on some Black men, specifically "on the very intelligent, and on those who serve our cause as soldiers",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-last-public-address|title=The President's last public address|website=The American Presidency Project|publisher=University of California, Santa Barbara|accessdate=May 3, 2025}}</ref> Booth plotted to assassinate the President.{{sfn|Harrison|2010|pp=3–4}} When Booth learned of the Lincolns' intent to attend a play with General Grant, he planned to assassinate Lincoln and Grant at [[Ford's Theatre]].{{sfn|Goodwin|2005|pp=734&ndash;735}} Lincoln and his wife attended the play ''[[Our American Cousin]]'' on the evening of April 14. At the last minute, Grant decided to go to New Jersey to visit his children instead of attending.{{sfn|Donald|1996|pp=594–597}}

At 10:15 pm, Booth entered the back of Lincoln's theater box, crept up from behind, and fired at the back of Lincoln's head, mortally wounding him. Lincoln's guest, Major [[Henry Rathbone]], momentarily grappled with Booth, but Booth stabbed him and escaped.{{sfn|Donald|1996|p=597}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Lincolns-Missing-Bodyguard.html |title=Lincoln's missing bodyguard |first=Paul |last=Martin |date=April 8, 2010 |work=Smithsonian |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927221216/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Lincolns-Missing-Bodyguard.html |archivedate=September 27, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> After being attended by [[Charles Leale|Doctor Charles Leale]] and two other doctors, Lincoln was taken across the street to [[Petersen House]]. After remaining in a [[coma]] for nine hours, Lincoln died at 7:22 am on April 15.{{sfn|Steers|2010|p=153}} Lincoln's body was wrapped in a flag and placed in a coffin, which was loaded into a hearse and escorted to the White House by Union soldiers.{{sfn|Craughwell|2009|p=4}} President Johnson was sworn in later that same day.{{sfn|Trefousse|1989|p=194}} Two weeks later, Booth was located, shot and killed at a farm in Virginia by Sergeant [[Boston Corbett]].{{sfnm|Steers|2010|1p=153|Donald|1996|2p=599}}
==== Funeral and burial ====
{{Main|State funeral of Abraham Lincoln}}
From April 19 to 20, Lincoln lay in state, first in the [[White House]] and then in the [[United States Capitol rotunda|Capitol rotunda]].{{sfn|Burlingame|2008|loc=v. 2 p. 820}} The caskets containing Lincoln's body and the body of his third son [[William Wallace Lincoln|Willie]] then traveled for two weeks on a [[State funeral of Abraham Lincoln#Funeral train to Springfield, Illinois|funeral train]] following a circuitous route from Washington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois, stopping at many cities for memorials attended by hundreds of thousands.{{sfn|Burlingame|2008|loc=v. 2 pp. 822&ndash;825}} Many others gathered along the tracks as the train passed with bands, bonfires, and hymn singing or in silent grief.{{sfnm|Burlingame|2008|1loc=v. 2 p. 822|Goodrich|2005|2pp=231–238}} Historians emphasized the widespread shock and sorrow, but noted that some Lincoln haters celebrated his death.{{sfn|Hodes|2015|pp=84, 86, 96–97}} Poet [[Walt Whitman]] composed "[[When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd]]" to eulogize Lincoln.{{sfn|Peck|2015|pp=118–123}} Lincoln's body was buried at [[Oak Ridge Cemetery]] in Springfield and now lies within the [[Lincoln Tomb]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Survey of historic sites and buildings – Lincoln Tomb, Illinois |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/Presidents/site19.htm |publisher=U.S. National Park Service |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830182658/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/Presidents/site19.htm |archivedate=August 30, 2009 |url-status=dead|accessdate=May 4, 2025}}</ref>