Abraham Lincoln lived in 1858.
Abraham Lincoln . In 1858 , while taking part in a series of highly publicized debates with his opponent and rival , Democrat Stephen A. Douglas , Lincoln spoke out against the expansion of slavery , but lost the U.S. Senate race to Douglas . He suspended habeas corpus , leading to the controversial ex parte Merryman decision , and he averted potential British intervention in the war by defusing the Trent Affair in late 1861 . On April 14 , 1865 , five days after the surrender of Confederate commanding general Robert E. Lee , Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth , a Confederate sympathizer .