There was a politician named Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln . Largely self-educated , he became a lawyer in Illinois , a Whig Party leader , and was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives , in which he served for eight years . As the leader of the moderate faction of the Republican Party , Lincoln confronted Radical Republicans , who demanded harsher treatment of the South , War Democrats , who called for more compromise , anti-war Democrats ( called Copperheads ) , who despised him , and irreconcilable secessionists , who plotted his assassination . The Emancipation Proclamation was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1 , 1863 .