Abraham Lincoln
November 1861: Flare Ups in the Chain of Command
As Union generals came and left, personalities clashed and Southern farmers set fire to their fields
November 2011 |
By David Zax
Ask an Expert: What Did Abraham Lincoln’s Voice Sound Like?
Civil War scholar Harold Holzer helps to decode what spectators heard when the 16th president spoke
June 07, 2011 |
By Megan Gambino
Documenting the Death of an Assassin
In 1865, a single photograph was taken during the autopsy of John Wilkes
Booth. Where is it now?
May 06, 2011 |
By Ashley Luthern
The Death of Colonel Ellsworth
The first Union officer killed in the Civil War was a friend of President Lincoln's
April 2011 |
By Owen Edwards
The Legend of Lincoln's Fence Rail
Even Honest Abe needed a symbol to sum up his humble origins
February 2011 |
By Owen Edwards
From Election to Sumter: How the Union Fell Apart
Historian Adam Goodheart discusses the tumultuous period between Lincoln’s election and the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter
November 15, 2010 |
By Brian Wolly
Lincoln's Missing Bodyguard
What happened to Officer John Parker, the man who chose the wrong night to leave his post at Ford's Theater?
April 08, 2010 |
By Paul Martin
Abraham Lincoln, True Crime Writer
While practicing law in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln defended a man in a highly unusual case and later recounted the mystery as a short story
February 10, 2010 |
By Laura Helmuth
Dancing Around Abraham Lincoln
Bill T. Jones, one of America’s foremost living choreographers, tackles Lincoln’s complicated legacy in his newest work
September 11, 2009 |
By Rebecca Milzoff
Lincoln's Pocket Watch Reveals Long-Hidden Message
The Smithsonian opens one of its prized artifacts and a story unfolds
March 11, 2009 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Lincoln's Contested Legacy
Great Emancipator or unreconstructed racist? Each generation evokes a different Lincoln. But who was our sixteenth president?
February 2009 |
By Philip B. Kunhardt III
How Lincoln and Darwin Shaped the Modern World
Born on the same day, Lincoln and Darwin would forever influence how people think about the modern world
February 2009 |
By Adam Gopnik
Darwin on Lincoln and Vice Versa
Two of the world’s greatest modern thinkers are much celebrated, but what did they know of one another?
January 22, 2009 |
By Laura Helmuth, Mark Strauss and Terence Monmaney
Lincoln as Commander in Chief
A self-taught strategist with no combat experience, Abraham Lincoln saw the path to victory more clearly than his generals
January 2009 |
By James M. McPherson
Gettysburg Address Displayed at Smithsonian
Lincoln's timeless speech during the Civil War endures as a national treasure
December 2008 |
By Owen Edwards
Ted Sorensen on Abraham Lincoln: A Man of His Words
Kennedy advisor Ted Sorensen found that of all the U.S. presidents, Lincoln had the best speechwriter—himself
October 2008 |
By Theodore C. Sorensen
Face the Nation
Abraham Lincoln's debates with Stephen A. Douglas turned the backwoods rail-splitter into presidential timber
September 2008 |
By Fergus M. Bordewich
Lincoln-Douglas Debate Negotiations
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas engaged in pre-debate negotiations in 1858.
September 01, 2008 |
By Smithsonian.com
Inventive Abe
In 1849, a future president patented an ingenious addition to transportation technology.
October 2006 |
By Owen Edwards
"My Whole Soul Is In It"
As his army faltered and his cabinet bickered, Abraham Lincoln determined that "we must free the slaves or be ourselves subdued." In 1862, he finally got his chance
January 2006 |
By Doris Kearns Goodwin
