Second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln Second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln The second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States took place on Saturday, March 4, 1865. The inauguration marked the commencement of the second term of Abraham Lincoln as President and only term of Andrew Johnson as Vice President. Lincoln died days into this term, and Johnson succeeded to the presidency. Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase administered the Oath of office. Before the president was sworn in, Vice President-elect Andrew Johnson took his oath. At the ceremony Johnson, who had been drinking to offset the pain of typhoid fever (as he explained
Abraham Lincoln Other Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 16th President of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the nation through the Civil War, its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy. Born in Kentucky, Lincoln grew up on the western frontier in a poor family. Self-educated, he became a lawyer in Illinois. As a Whig Party leader, he served