# Abraham Lincoln — The Education of Henry Adams character guide

> Abraham Lincoln in The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. Lincoln, Lincoln, poor Mr. Lincoln, President Lincoln

**First appearance:** 0010-viii-diplomacy-1861

## Snapshot

The President whose election Henry Adams greeted on the same day he began studying law—a coincidence that tossed him into the chaos of Civil War politics.

## Who they are

Adams cast his vote for Lincoln in November 1860 and immediately found himself plunged into the secession winter, packing his trunk for Washington as private secretary to his father. Lincoln remained a distant but defining presence: the 'poor Mr. Lincoln' whose election had shattered the old political order and made Adams's diplomatic education possible. For a young man who admitted he was profoundly ignorant, anxious, and curious, Lincoln's presidency was the crucible in which Adams's assumptions about politics, history, and human nature would be tested and broken.

## In the story

### [VII: Treason (1860–1861)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/vii-treason-1860-1861)

President-elect whose arrival and inaugural address mark the end of the winter's political tactics.

### [VIII: Diplomacy (1861)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/viii-diplomacy-1861)

President who selected Charles Francis Adams as Minister to England.

### [IX: Foes or Friends (1862)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/ix-foes-or-friends-1862)

President Lincoln's perceived brutality is cited as the motive behind Palmerston's desire for a quarrel over General Butler's order.

### [X: Political Morality (1862)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/x-political-morality-1862)

Mentioned indirectly as the American president during the crisis, though not a direct participant in this chapter.

### [XIV: Dilettantism (1865–1866)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xiv-dilettantism-1865-1866)

Assassinated while Adams's family was in Rome; his reelection had earlier solidified the Minister's position.

### [Chaos (1870)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xix-chaos-1870)

Referenced as a model of the quiet, sad, tragic American character seen in Washington.

### [XXIV: Indian Summer (1898–1899)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xxiv-indian-summer-1898-1899)

Mentioned in the context of schoolboys reading about him as they do Julius Caesar, highlighting the passage of time since the Civil War.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/characters/abraham_lincoln
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/characters