Story Highlights
- historical event: Lincoln reportedly lost as many as eight elections before winning the presidential ones.
On this day, Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th President of the United States. He defeated candidates Stephen A. Douglas, John C. Breckinridge, and John Bell. He won the most votes in the Northern states, while in the South the majority went to Breckinridge. The Southern states announced their intention to leave the United States before Lincoln was inaugurated for president. This indeed happened and the first to secede was South Carolina, followed by Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Later the Confederation was joined by Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. It is interesting that Lincoln reportedly lost elections eight times before winning the presidential ones. Besides that, he allegedly failed in business twice and suffered a mental breakdown, all well before his presidential term.
