Abraham Lincoln was in politics.
Abraham Lincoln . Lincoln 's victory prompted seven southern slave states to form the Confederate States of America before he moved into the White House -- no compromise or reconciliation was found regarding slavery and secession . Confederate States of America . Each state declared its secession from the United States following the November 1860 election of Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln to the U.S. presidency on a platform which opposed the expansion of slavery . The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly , the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois . John Wilkes Booth ( May 10 , 1838 -- April 26 , 1865 ) was an American actor and assassin , who murdered President Abraham Lincoln at Ford 's Theatre in Washington , D.C. on April 14 , 1865 .