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Abraham Lincoln

Was Lincoln Bald And More Questions From Our Readers

Ask Smithsonian: You asked, we answered

Letters written by Abraham Lincoln

Letters from Mothers to President Lincoln

A sampling of motherly missives to the president

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The FBI Was Still Investigating John Wilkes Booth a Century After Lincoln’s Death

The blog Wonders and Marvels came across the FBI file on John Wilkes Booth

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The History of How We Came to Revere Abraham Lincoln

The slain president’s two personal secretaries battled mudslingers for a quarter-century to shape his image

An editorial that critiqued Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address as “silly remarks.”

My Great-Great-Grandfather Hated the Gettysburg Address. Now He’s Famous For It

It’s hard to imagine anyone could pan Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address, but one cantankerous reporter did just that

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Abraham Lincoln’s Top Hat: The Inside Story

Does the hat that links us to his final hours define the president? Or does the president define the hat?

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The Civil War

Will the Real Abraham Lincoln Please Stand Up?

A former Disney animator makes a provocative discovery by studying photos taken during the Gettysburg Address

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Interactive: Seeking Abraham Lincoln at the Gettysburg Address

A series of photographs captured in November 1863 give us a sense of what happened when Lincoln delivered his famous speech

John Surratt after he was captured

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The Family Plot to Kill Lincoln

Mary and John Surratt helped John Wilkes Booth assassinate Abraham Lincoln and then paid the ultimate penalty for their actions

Lincoln sat at the back of the train in disguise to escape his assassins.

The Civil War

The Unsuccessful Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln

On the eve of his first inauguration, President Lincoln snuck into Washington at night, evading the would-be assassins who waited for him in Baltimore

Illustration from Illustrated London News, April 8, 1865.

The Civil War

Document Deep Dive: The Menu From President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Ball

What delicacies and confectionaries were found on the 250-foot-long buffet table?

First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln by Francis Bicknell Carpenter.

The Civil War

Document Deep Dive: Emancipation Proclamation

When freeing the slaves 150 years ago, Abraham Lincoln traded in his famous lyricism for a dry, legal tone. Harold Holzer explains why

The Inkwell used by Lincoln, the Proclamation draft and Lincoln's pen.

How the Emancipation Proclamation Came to Be Signed

The pen, inkwell and one copy of the document that freed the slaves are photographed together for the first time

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The History of Pardoning Turkeys Began With Tad Lincoln

The rambunctious boy had free rein of the White House, and used it to divert a holiday bird from the butcher’s block

PHOTOS: The History of Abraham Lincoln on Film

The 16th president has been a Hollywood star and box office attraction since the earliest days of Hollywood

A still from Lincoln, directed by Steven Spielberg.

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Mr. Lincoln Goes to Hollywood

Steven Spielberg, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Tony Kushner talk about what it takes to wrestle an epic presidency into a feature film

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When LBJ Ordered Pants From the White House

Johnson liked his Haggar slacks slack—and colorfully described a special custom-cut

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The Civil War

Document Deep Dive: How the Homestead Act Transformed America

Compare documents filed by the first and last homesteaders in the United States

Caro’s hunt for the soul of LBJ has become a thrilling race against time.

Should LBJ Be Ranked Alongside Lincoln?

Robert Caro, the esteemed biographer of Lyndon Baines Johnson, talks on the Shakespearean life of the 36th president

Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s men drew Union fire in an attempt to destroy a Potomac River dam.

Frozen in Place: December 1861

President Lincoln addresses the State of the Union and grows impatient with General McClellan

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