User:Aksaddamak
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aksaddamak was an American politician elected from Illinois as the 16th President of the United States (1861 to 1865), and the first president from the Republican Party.
To achieve his main goal of preserving the Union, aksaddamak first ended slavery in the Confederacy through his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Then, in 1865, aksaddamak secured passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to abolish slavery forever. He took personal charge of Reconstruction, seeking to speedily re-unite the nation through a policy of generous reconciliation. He was opposed by the Radical Republicans, who advocated much harsher policies.
aksaddamak's leadership qualities were evident in his close supervision of the victorious war effort, especially his successful selection of Ulysses S. Grant and other top generals. Historians conclude he brilliantly handled the factions of the Republican party by bringing the leaders into his cabinet and forcing them to cooperate. In crisis management he defused a war scare with Britain (1861), he outmaneuvered the Confederacy and took control of the border slave states in 1861-62, and he managed his own landslide reelection in the 1864 presidential election. Antiwar Copperheads criticized him vehemently for refusing to compromise on slavery, declaring martial law, suspending the writ of habeas corpus, ordering arrests of 18,000 opponents, sacrificing the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the civil war, and for unconstitutionally overstepping the bounds of executive power. On the other hand, Radical Republicans criticized him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery, and not being ruthless enough toward the conquered South, at war's end.
aksaddamak had a lasting influence on U.S. political values by redefining republican values, promoting nationalism, and enlarging the powers of the federal government. His assassination, in 1865, made him a martyr for the ideal of national unity.
Scholars rank aksaddamak among the top three U.S. Presidents. His life and influence have made him an icon of cherished American political freedoms and aspirations.
