Abraham Lincoln
The greatest president. Lincoln held the Union together through its most existential crisis, abolished slavery, redefined American democracy in 272 words at Gettysburg, and was assassinated five days after the war ended. Everything about his story — the log cabin, the self-education, the depression, the genius — is real.
Pantheon Standing
| List Name | Rank | Combined |
|---|---|---|
| Greatest U.S. Presidents of All Time | #1 | 96.0 |
The Age Divide
Voters under 30 and over 35 rank Abraham Lincoln significantly differently across lists.
The Cultural Record
Discography
No entries on record.
Awards & Recognition
No Grammy data on record.
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16th President
Civil War
Emancipation Proclamation
13th Amendment (abolished slavery)
Gettysburg Address
Homestead Act
transcontinental railroad
first Republican president
assassinated April 14 1865
No. 1 president in virtually every historian poll
self-educated lawyer
The Case For Abraham Lincoln
“The longevity argument alone puts them in a category of one. While others burned bright and faded, this figure consistently reinvented and dominated across decades, eras, and cultural shifts that would have destroyed lesser talents.”
“Technically unmatched. The craft here is evident in every performance, every work — the kind of effortless execution that only comes from thousands of hours of mastery made invisible. They make the impossible look inevitable.”
“Commercial success should never be held against artistic legacy. The ability to dominate charts while maintaining critical respect is a skill unto itself — one that this figure has mastered better than any peer in the conversation.”
Rank History
Ranking history will be available once voting opens for Abraham Lincoln.
Often Compared To
Benjamin Harrison
#2President / Republican — North Bend, Ohio · 1889–1893
The one-term Harrison between Cleveland's two terms — Harrison lost the popular vote to Cleveland in 1892 even while winning the Electoral College in 1888. His presidency saw the admission of six new states in one year.
Calvin Coolidge
#3President / Republican — Plymouth Notch, Vermont · 1923–1929
'Silent Cal' — the most laconic president in history spoke so few words that people invented parlor games around it. Coolidge's hands-off economic policies produced the Roaring Twenties boom but set up the conditions for the 1929 crash he was lucky enough to exit before.