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Lincoln had little family of his own. His mother died when he was 9. He took considerable trouble to visit his affectionate stepmother but he was never close to his father, who had never seen any sense in young Abe's taste for book learning. A sister died young.

Mrs. Lincoln's favorite sister married an officer who rose to be a Confederate general, after refusing Lincoln's offer of a post in the Union army. When he was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga, 27-year-old Emilie called her sister and was taken into the White House with her three young children.

A Union general complained about the situation, after a visit that saw a sharp exchange between Emilie and a senator who had come with him. Lincoln, the man who brought humor into American politics, first tried to make a joke of it. The general, who had lost a leg at Gettysburg, got mad.

Lincoln's little son Tad and Emilie's daughter Katie had a disagreement over who was president ---- Lincoln or Jefferson Davis, the head of the Confederacy. Lincoln, amused, settled it with one child sitting on either knee.

The incident occurred while a group of passengers were late at night purchasing their sleeping car places from the conductor who stood on the station platform at the entrance of the car. The platform was about the height of the car floor, and there was of course a narrow space between the platform and the car body. There was some crowding, and I happened to be pressed by it against the car body while waiting my turn. In this situation the train began to move, and by the motion I was twisted off my feet, and had dropped somewhat, with feet downward, into the open space, and was personally helpless, when my coat collar was vigorously seized and I was quickly pulled up and out to a secure footing on the platform. Upon turning to thank my rescuer I saw it was Edwin Booth, whose face was of course well known to me, and I expressed my gratitude to him, and in doing so, called him by name.

Presence at assassinations

There is coincidence in regard to Lincoln and presidential assassinations. He was either present or was nearby when three of them occurred.

* Lincoln was invited to accompany his parents to the Ford's Theatre the night his father was shot by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, but declined and remained behind at the White House. He was informed of the President's being shot just before midnight.

* At President James A. Garfield's invitation, Lincoln was at the Sixth Street Train Station in Washington, D.C. where the President was shot by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881 and was an eyewitness to the event. Lincoln was serving as Garfield's Secretary of War at the time.

* At President William McKinley's invitation, Lincoln was at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York where the President was shot by Leon F. Czolgosz on September 6, 1901, though he was not an eyewitness to the event.

Of course, any other person with similarly close access to presidents and with such active involvement in the Federal government during that period of 36½ years would have had a similar likelihood of being "at or near" these assassinations. However, it is interesting that each time, his presence had been requested by the President in question.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Todd_Lincoln

According to Jacobi, when well-known photographers such as Brady or Gardner took images of Lincoln, he had to hold his pose for 30 seconds or longer because a smile or a laugh would often ruin the plate.

His closet and dearest friends spoke of his jovial demeanor and the merry expression that was often the embodiment of his face. His mirthful and animated expression often evolved into profound and enthusiastic belly laughter. Furthermore, his storytelling was underscored with his own laughter, and he was known to often double up before he could get to the punch line of the story.

"No element of his personality was so marked, obvious and ingrained as his mysterious melancholy." This was stated by a close friend, Henry C. Whitney. He also stated that such episodes were not uncommon.Whitney recalled a story revealed to him by Lincoln's former law partner, John T. Stuart. Stuart stated that Lincoln was a hopeless victim of melancholy, and would sometimes sit in the courtroom, alone in a corner, and far from anyone else. He was often described as being engulfed in gloom.

Lincoln also had been described as rising early, on a daily basis, and sitting in front of the fire. There, he would muse, ponder, and recite lugubrious verses. This ritual would be done with the saddest of expressions. He also had been observed lost in thought well past the bedtime of others, and would sit by himself for hours. He was the ultimate picture of dejection and gloom.

President Abraham Lincoln, in his political life, was not the Great Emancipator that we have been led to believe. On March 04, 1861, in an attempt to reunite the states and prevent a war, Lincoln voiced his support for the pending Corwin Amendment to the Constitution. This Amendment would protect slavery in those states in which it already existed.

The Emancipation Proclamation was Lincoln's executive order issued in September 22, 1862. It declared the freedom of slaves in only the Confederate states not under his control. He specifically refused to free slaves in Union states or in states that were already under Union control. It did not, however, make the elimination of slavery permanent. Slavery continued until it was finally wiped out by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution on December 18, 1865.

In a letter to a newspaper on August 22, 1862, Lincoln wrote, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves, I would do it..."

In a 1858 debate, he said, "...I am not in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races...nor to intermarry with white people...that there is a physical difference between the white and black races...while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and as much as any other man, I am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race."

Elizabeth Keckley described Mrs. Lincoln's reaction to his visit to the levee following President Lincoln's Second Inauguration:

Many colored people in Washington, and large numbers had desired to attend the levee, but orders were issued not to admit them. A gentleman, a member of Congress, on his way to the White House, recognized Mr. Frederick Douglas, the eloquent colored orator, on the outskirts of the crowd.

'How do you do, Mr. Douglas? A fearful jam to-night. You are going in, of course?'

'No -- that is, no to your last question.'

'Not going in to shake the President by the hand! Why, pray?'

'The best reason in the world. Strict orders have been issued not to admit people of color.'

'I know of no one that would appreciate this more than Fred. Douglass.'

The general's wife, with her baby on her arm, met him at the door. She herself has told the story for us.

"Is this George Pickett's home?" he asked.

"With all the courage and dignity I could muster, I replied, "Yes, and I am his wife, and this is his baby."

"I am Abraham Lincoln"

"The President!" I gasped. I had never seen him, but I knew the intense love and reverence with which my soldier always spoke of him.

"The stranger shook his head and replied, "No - Abraham Lincoln, George's old friend."

"The baby pushed away from me and reached out his hands to Mr. Lincoln, who took him in his arms. As he did so an expression of rapt, almost divine tenderness and love lighted up the sad face. It was a look that I have never seen on any other face. The baby opened his mouth wide and insisted upon giving his father's friend a dewy kiss.

"As Mr. Lincoln gave the little one back to me he said, "Tell your father, the rascal, that I forgive him for the sake of your bright eyes."

"About ten days ago, I retired very late. I had been up waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not have been long in bed when I fell into a slumber, for I was weary. I soon began to dream. There seemed to be a death-like stillness about me. Then I heard subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping. I thought I left my bed and wandered downstairs. There the silence was broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but the mourners were invisible. I went from room to room; no living person was in sight, but the same mournful sounds of distress met me as I passed along. I saw light in all the rooms; every object was familiar to me; but where were all the people who were grieving as if their hearts would break? I was puzzled and alarmed. What could be the meaning of all this? Determined to find the cause of a state of things so mysterious and so shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered. There I met with a sickening surprise. Before me was a catafalque, on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were stationed soldiers who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of people, gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered, others weeping pitifully. 'Who is dead in the White House?' I demanded of one of the soldiers, 'The President,' was his answer; 'he was killed by an assassin.' Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which woke me from my dream. I slept no more that night; and although it was only a dream, I have been strangely annoyed by it ever since."

If Abraham Lincoln saw what his Republican Party has become he'd be rolling over in his grave in disgust!

One of the most fascinating characters in American political history, in my opinion, was Abraham Lincoln. He frequently tops the list as the best American president in opinion polls, and lead the nation through one of it's darkest and toughest times.

His other child, Robert Todd Lincoln , was saved from a similar fate in his early twenties by....the brother of John Wilkes Booth, Edwin.

Are there any descendants of Ab Lincoln in modern day America?

Lincoln has no direct descendants alive. Robert Todd Lincoln had three children, but none of his grandchildren had children. The last direct Lincoln relative died in 1985.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
discussion/2007/11/25/DI2007112501232.html

Lincoln's ghost seems to have been most active during the administration of Franklin Roosevelt, perhaps because they were both in power at times of great war for the United States. During their 13-year occupancy of the White House, the Roosevelts used the former Lincoln bedroom as a study for Eleanor, the first lady. Although she never claimed to have seen Lincoln's spirit, Eleanor spoke of the sense of someone watching her as she worked in the room. She believed Lincoln was there with her.

A young clerk in the Roosevelt White House claimed to have actually seen the ghost of Lincoln sitting on a bed and pulling off his boots.

While spending a night at the White House during the Roosevelt presidency, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was awakened by a knock on the bedroom door. Answering it, she was confronted with the ghost of Abe Lincoln staring at her from the hallway.

Ever the gentleman, it seems, Lincoln knocked often. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover and Harry Truman all reported hearing unexplained rappings on their bedroom doors. What made them think it was Lincoln is unknown.

It's well known how Lincoln anguished over the horrors of the Civil War. His spirit may have continued worrying long after his death. Calvin Coolidge's wife reported seeing on several occasions the ghost of Lincoln standing with his hands clasped behind his back, at a window in the Oval Office, staring out in deep contemplation toward the bloody battlefields across the Pototmac.

During one of Winston Churchill's visits to the United States during WW2, he spent the night in the White House. Churchill loved to retire late, take a long, hot bath while drinking a Scotch, and smoke a cigar and relax. On this occasion, he climbed out of the bath and naked, but for his cigar, walked into the adjoining bedroom. He was startled to see Abraham Lincoln standing by the fireplace in the room, leaning on the mantle. Churchill, always quick on the uptake, blinked and said "Good evening, Mr. President. You seem to have me at a disadvantage." Lincoln smiled softly and disappeared.

Lincoln's ghost was not confined to the White House however. His spirit is said to have been seen walking near his gravesite in Springfield, Ill. Some also claim to have seen his ghostly funeral train many years after it carried his body back to Springfield. There are two trains, according to some witnesses, seen on the anniversary of that journey. The first train pulls a line of black-draped cars, and the second pulls just one flatbed car on which is the slain president's casket.

http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa022100a.htm

Election day in the city dawned with rousing blasts from a cannon, with music and contagious excitement. Lincoln spent the day and evening with friends at a telegraph office. By midnight, it was clear that he had been elected President of the United States. A late night dinner was held in his honor and then he returned to the office for more news. Guns fired in celebration throughout the night.

Lincoln finally managed to return home in the early morning hours although news of victory and telegrams of congratulations were still being wired to his office. He went into his bedroom for some much needed rest and collapsed onto a settee. Near the couch was a large bureau with a mirror on it and Lincoln stared for a moment at his reflection in the glass. He then experienced what many would term a "vision"... an odd vision that Lincoln would later believe had prophetic meaning.

He saw that in the mirror, his face appeared to have two separate, yet distinct, images. The tip of one nose was about three inches away from the other one. The vision vanished but appeared again a few moments later. It was clearer this time and Lincoln realized that one of the faces was actually much paler than the other, almost with the coloring of death. The vision disappeared again and Lincoln dismissed the whole thing to the excitement of the hour and his lack of sleep.

Later on that evening, he told Mary of the strange vision and attempted to conjure it up again in the days that followed. The faces always returned to him and while Mary never saw it, she believed her husband when he said he did. She also believed she knew the significance of the vision. The healthy face was her husband�s "real" face and indicated that he would serve his first term as president. The pale, ghostly image of the second face however was a sign that he would be elected to a second term.... but would not live to see its conclusion.

http://www.prairieghosts.com/lincoln2.html

Witnesses have seen Lincoln on the balcony of Ford's Theatre with the ghost of the man who shot him, John Wilkes Booth. It have been said that they are trying to solve their differences.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln's_Ghost

Across the street from Fords Theater is the Parker House where Mr. Lincoln was taken after being critically wounded. When he died there the next day his body was taken back to the White House and autopsied. His lonely apparition still makes an occasional appearance at the Parker House however.

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/ghosts_and_haunted_spots/28309/2

One of the Most Liberal states in the US, California, would, all by itself, have the 16th largest economy in the world.

A pretty amazing life to have lived, isn't it ?

Meistro, we have already established that you don't know anything about economics. Please try to graduate from High School, before you pretend to know anything about economics. The average GDP growth rate in the 1980s was 1%, the average growth rate for the prior 40 years was ~ 3%. The 90s, under Clinton boomed. The only lean years were under Reagan. Bush Sr. did a pretty good job overall as well.