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President Abraham Lincoln Bust Label on bottom of Bust: Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) Considered by many Americans to be one of their greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln despised war but viewed it as the only salvation of the Union. As president this former Illinois lawyer and congressman ensured the strength of his Republican party, issued the Emancipation Proclamation granting freedom to slaves, succeeded in the preservation of the Union, and planned for magnanimous peace. In April 1865, Lincolns life ended at the hands of a assassin, but his hope survived - "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth".