![President Lincoln with officers at the Battle of Antietam](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115235205im_/http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/204*109/Lincoln-McClellan-Antietam-388.jpg)
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
![Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115235205im_/http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/204*109/objectathand_dec08_388.jpg)
Gettysburg Address Displayed at Smithsonian
Lincoln's timeless speech during the Civil War endures as a national treasure
![Lincoln Gettysburg Address](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115235205im_/http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/204*109/presence_lincoln_oct08_388.jpg)
Abraham Lincoln: a Man of His Words
Ted Sorensen finds that of all the U.S. presidents, Lincoln had the best speechwriter—himself
![Lincoln-Douglas debate](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115235205im_/http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/204*109/facethenation_sept08_388.jpg)
The Debates that Ignited Lincoln’s Rise to Fame
Abraham Lincoln's debates with Stephen A. Douglas for the U.S. Senate in 1858 turned the backwoods rail-splitter into presidential timber
![Lincoln-Douglas debate](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115235205im_/http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/204*109/lincoln_douglas388.jpg)
Letters Between Lincoln and Douglas Reveal Debate Negotiations
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas engaged in pre-debate negotiations in 1858
![Abraham Lincoln](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115235205im_/http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/204*109/object-oct06-388.jpg)
A Presidential Inventor
In 1849, Lincoln patented an ingenious addition to transportation technology, a floatation system for riverboats
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115235205im_/http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/204*109/lincoln-washington-388.jpg)
A Lincoln-centric Tour Through Modern D.C.
The house where the conspirators hatched their heinous plot now serves sushi, and the yard where they were hanged is a tennis court
![Reading of Emancipation Proclamation](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115235205im_/http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/204*109/lincoln_emancipation388.jpg)
Freeing the Slaves and Saving a Nation
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
![Presidential parade](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115235205im_/http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/204*109/jukebox_oct08_388.jpg)
Musical Mudslinging on the Campaign Trail
Before TV came on the scene, presidential candidates relied on campaign songs for negative advertising
![Lincoln](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115235205im_/http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/204*109/lincoln_2inauguration_thumb.jpg)
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Was One for the Ages
In a new book, Historian Ronald C. White, Jr., explains why Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, given just weeks before he died, was his greatest speech
Advertisement
Videos
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115235205im_/http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/lincoln-artifacts-thumb.jpg)
Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life
Behind the Scenes with Harry Rubenstein At the National Museum of American History
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115235205im_/http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/mask-of-lincoln-thumb.jpg)
One Life: The Mask of Lincoln
National Portrait Gallery historian David C. Ward discusses images of Abraham Lincoln that document his life in the White House
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115235205im_/http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/stories-vault-lincoln-thumb.jpg)
In the Footsteps of Lincoln's Assassin
Preview Scenes from the Smithsonian Channel's Visit with Civil War Historian Ed Bearss