Which Civil War era president is described as saving the Union and emancipating the slaves, and was assassinated by Booth?

• A. Abraham Lincoln
• B. Jefferson Davis
• C. Ulysses S. Grant
• D. Stephen Douglas

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is identifying the Civil War era leader who preserved the Union and moved toward ending slavery, while also being assassinated during his presidency. That description points to Abraham Lincoln. He kept the United States from splitting apart by leading the Union to victory in the Civil War. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which began the process of freeing enslaved people in rebelling states, and he supported the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to abolish slavery nationwide. His assassination in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre made him a symbol of both union and emancipation. The other figures don’t fit: Jefferson Davis led the Confederacy, not the United States, so he didn’t save the Union; Ulysses S. Grant was the prominent general who later became president, but emancipation and leading the Union through the war are most closely associated with Lincoln; Stephen Douglas was a rival politician and never president.