Abraham Lincoln is perhaps one of the most famous presidents. When he took office in March of 1861, seven states (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas) had already seceded from the Union. Seceding states immediately seized the federal property within their boundaries, but Fort Sumter off the coast of South Carolina had not surrendered. Lincoln then sent aid to the fort, and declared any attack on the ships would be an attack on the federal government. The newly born Confederacy decided to attack the ships, to not appear like cowards, and thus the civil war was started. However, before all this Lincoln emerged from the Lincoln-Douglass debates of 1858, where Lincoln and Douglass debated slavery. Lincoln believed slavery was morally wrong, but was not an abolitionist. This later contributed to his policy at the beginning of the civil war: he believed in the war not to free slaves, but to keep the Union together. Throughout the war, Lincoln used his own authority, ignoring inconvenient parts of the Constitution because he said that it would be foolish to lose the whole by being afraid to disregard a part. Lincoln oppressed opposing parties and economic policies such as the National Bank Acts financing the war, the Pacific Railway Act, and many more. Thanks to several Northern military victories at the crucial moment (especially the capture of Atlanta, Georgia), the Northern morale was rejuvenated and Lincoln was reelected. In his next term he realized that it would be necessary not only to fight just to retain the South in the Union, but to now fight for the freedom of slaves. On January 1st, 1863, he formally signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln was a successful commander in chief because he realized the numbers and resources were on his side, and also had a good grasp of strategy: he realized it was important to destroy Confederate armies, not to occupy the South. Lincoln’s plan for reconstruction was called ‘Lincoln’s 10% Plan’, but it was never successful, and on the night of April 14th, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth making him from a controversial president to an instant martyr.