This Day in History: <br />Abraham Lincoln Is <br />Elected President.<br />November 6, 1860.<br />Receiving only 40% of the popular vote, President Abraham Lincoln defeated three other candidates <br />to become the first Republican President.<br />A month after the Kentucky-born lawyer was sworn in on March 4, 1961, the U.S. Civil War began with the Battle of Fort Sumter.<br />The announcement of <br />Lincoln’s victory signaled <br />the secession of the Southern states.<br />In 1863, as the tide turned against the Confederacy, Lincoln emancipated the slaves and won reelection in 1864.<br />In April 1865, he was <br />assassinated by John Wilkes Booth <br />at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.<br />Lincoln is hailed as one of <br />the greatest American presidents
