10 famous political leaders who were assassinated (With Pictures)

5.  Abraham Lincoln: USA

Abraham Lincoln, nicknamed Honest Abe, was the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Honest Abe steered his country through the American Civil War and ended slavery within the country’s boundaries. He also had the reputation of being respectful and fair. His tenure in office was occupied primarily with the defeat of the secessionist Confederate States of America in the American Civil War. Lincoln successfully defused the Trent affair, a war scare with Britain late in 1861. Lincoln successfully rallied public opinion through his rhetoric and speeches; his Gettysburg Address (1863) became an iconic symbol of the nation’s duty. Also See: Top 10 Animated films of all time. At the close of the war, Lincoln held a moderate view of Reconstruction, seeking to speedily reunite the nation through a policy of generous reconciliation. Lincoln has consistently been ranked by scholars as one of the greatest of all U.S. Presidents. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, as the American Civil War was drawing to a close. The assassination occurred five days after the commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, General Robert E. Lee, surrendered to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and the Union Army of the Potomac. Lincoln was the first American president to be assassinated, though an unsuccessful attempt had been made on Andrew Jackson thirty years before in 1835.