10 incredible facts about U.S. President Abraham Lincoln

Here at McLarty Daniel Ford of Bentonville, we’re proud to sell luxurious Lincoln vehicles. The pinnacle of style, comfort, luxury and technology, Lincoln vehicles are legendary, and are named for an equally-legendary American: sixteenth president of the United States Abraham Lincoln. Born on February 12, 1809, Lincoln shepherded the country through the fires of the Civil War before losing his life to an assassin’s bullet only days after peace had been declared.

We’re great admirers of President Lincoln, and are always finding out some interesting new fact about his life, his career and the history of one of our greatest Americans. Seen below, McLarty Daniel Ford Lincoln has compiled a list of interesting facts about Lincoln’s life, so read on to learn more about this incredible statesman who helped hold the United States together in our darkest hour. And if you’re ready to drive the latest in refined luxury in a vehicle that bears his name, stop in and check out the full lineup of 2020 Lincoln vehicles at McLarty Daniel Ford Lincoln of Bentonville!

1) Though Lincoln was one of the most famous lawyers the State of Illinois ever produced, he was almost entirely self-taught and never attended law school. In fact, Lincoln only completed 18 months of formal schooling.

2) Though “Honest Abe” has become synonymous with Lincoln, he apparently hated being called “Abe” and discouraged people from doing so his whole life. Instead, he preferred to be called by his last name: Lincoln.

3) Enjoy turkey with all the trimmings? You’ve got Abraham Lincoln to thank for Thanksgiving. In 1863, Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday by presidential proclamation. It has been an official U.S. holiday ever since.

4) Born in Sinking Spring Farm, Kentucky in 1809, Lincoln was the first U.S. President born in a state other than the 13 that originally made up the United States.

5) Lincoln signed legislation creating the U.S. Secret Service — which would go on to be the agency tasked with protecting U.S. presidents, among other duties — on April 14, 1865, just hours before he was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater.

6) In the closing days of the Civil War, Lincoln’s son Robert Todd Lincoln was saved from almost certain death after he fell from a train platform into the path of an oncoming locomotive in Jersey City, New Jersey. Amazingly, the stranger who pulled him to safety at the last second turned out to be the well-known actor Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth, who would eventually kill Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre.

7) Owing to his then-massive 6’3″ height and impressive strength, Lincoln was a wrestler in his youth, besting over 300 opponents in wild frontier brawls. He’s the only U.S. president in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

8) In 1876, a gang of grave-robbers attempted to steal Lincoln’s body from his tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, hoping to ransom the beloved president’s remains back to the government for $200,000. Luckily, the Secret Service caught wind of the plot and foiled the grave robbing, even though the gang managed to get Lincoln’s coffin out of his grave and into a wagon before they were stopped. Lincoln’s coffin was later wrapped in a steel cage and buried under ten feet of concrete to protect him from future thefts.

9) A rugged frontiersman, Lincoln personally test-fired and evaluated many of the rifles and muskets that were offered for sale to the U.S. Army during the Civil War. Lincoln even had a gun range constructed outside the White House near what is now the National Mall for test-firings. Safety first!

10) Lincoln was the first — and last — sitting U.S. President since George Washington to come under enemy fire. In July 1864, Lincoln visited Fort Stevens near Washington D.C., which was then on the front lines of a Confederate attack. While Lincoln was standing on the parapet of the fort surveying the battle, at least one Confederate sharpshooter took a pot shot at him, with Col. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. — who went on to become a U.S. Supreme Court Justice — barking at his Commander-in-Chief: “Get down, you fool!” Lincoln did, and thankfully left the battle unharmed.