Today Is November 6

Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States on November 6, 1860, defeating three rival candidates. Lincoln, a Republican, won with just under 40 per cent of the popular vote, but secured a comfortable majority in the Electoral College. He was the first Republican to become president. 

Portrait of Lincoln c. 1862

His election was deeply unpopular in the Southern states, where his opposition to the expansion of slavery caused alarm. Within weeks, South Carolina voted to secede from the Union, and by the time Lincoln took office in March 1861, seven Southern states had broken away. The country was heading towards the American Civil War.