Okla-homey
12/3/2008, 08:35 AM
December 3, 1839: Lincoln reaches legal milestone
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/8964/lincolnpic1lq9.jpg
169 years ago, on this day in 1839, future President Abraham Lincoln advances to another stage in his legal career when he is admitted to the bar of the U.S. Circuit Court. It was during his years practicing law that Lincoln honed his now famous oratorical skills.
Lincoln made the first step toward becoming a lawyer in 1836 when the state of Illinois certified him as being "a person of good moral character." (He did not attend law school but studied on his own while working as a clerk in a law office.)
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/5325/linc1837lawofficerentedwp8.jpg
"The First Law Office Rented in 1837 by Abraham Lincoln, in Hoffman's Row, Third Division, Upstairs, Springfield, Ill.," engraving made in 1860, when the artist visited the office. "When Abraham Lincoln first went to Springfield, nearly thirty years ago, he ran for the Legislature, was elected, and served several terms. In 1837 he opened a law office under the firm of Stuart & Lincoln, in Hoffman's Row."
In 1838, he delivered closing arguments in the Jacob Early murder case, persuading the jury that his client, the defendant, had acted in self defense.
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/2978/lin001dqfr2.jpg
Lincoln's business card
In 1840, Lincoln was re-elected to the Illinois State Assembly--his third term since 1834--and by 1846 earned a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. By that time, Lincoln had begun to use his debate and speaking skills to help fellow Whigs campaign for state and national offices and, in 1848, he delivered a blistering attack on President James Polk for what Lincoln believed was an ill-advised war against Mexico. He called Polk "a bewildered, confounded, and miserably perplexed man" for waging a war that ended up costing the nation 13,780 lives and a whopping $100 million.
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/7508/lincoln345ma1.jpg
After losing his House seat in the election of 1848, Lincoln returned to practicing law in the state of Illinois, where he helped to establish the new Republican Party.
His oratorical skills came in handy while speaking out against the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) and the Dred Scott decision (1857), which both served to perpetuate the practice of slavery, an institution Lincoln saw as immoral and illegitimate in a nation founded on the principle that all men are created equal.
In his 1858 campaign for a seat in the U.S. Senate, as secessionist sentiment brewed among the southern states, Lincoln warned in a campaign speech that "a house divided against itself cannot stand." Although he did not win a Senate seat that year, he earned national recognition as a strong political force. In 1860, Lincoln was elected to the presidency.
25 of the 44 persons elected to the Presidency have been lawyers. Here's a list from the WSJ:
#2 — John Adams (Harvard, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#3 — Thomas Jefferson (College of William & Mary, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#4 — James Madison (College of New Jersey — now Princeton — then read law)
#6 — John Quincy Adams (Harvard, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#7 — Andrew Jackson (self-taught lawyer)
#8 — Martin Van Buren (Kinderhook Academy, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#10 — John Tyler (College of William & Mary, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#11 — James Polk (University of North Carolina, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#13 — Millard Fillmore (clerked for and studied under New York Judge Walter Wood)
#14 — Franklin Pierce (Bowdoin College, then studied law)
#15 — James Buchanan (Dickinson College, then studied law)
#16 — Abraham Lincoln (No formal education, a self-taught lawyer)
#19 — Rutherford Hayes (Kenyon College, Harvard law)
#21 — Chester Arthur (Union College, then studied law)
#22 — Grover Cleveland (apprenticed as a lawyer)
#23 — Benjamin Harrison (Miami University in Ohio, then studied law)
#25 — William McKinley (Allegheny College, Albany law)
#27 — William Howard Taft (Yale, Cincinnati law)
#28 — Woodrow Wilson (College of New Jersey — now Princeton — then UVA law)
#30 — Calvin Coolidge (Amherst, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#32 — Franklin Roosevelt (Harvard, Columbia law)
#37 — Richard Nixon (Whittier College, Duke law)
#38 — Gerald Ford (University of Michigan, Yale law)
#42 — Bill Clinton (Georgetown University, Yale law)
#44 — Barack Obama (Columbia, Harvard law)
NOTE: Our 33rd president, Harry Truman, was the only president who served after 1897 not to earn a college degree. However he did study law for two years at the Kansas City Law School, now the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. We’ll also point out that Warren Harding, our 29th president, enjoyed great success as a journalist before rising to the White House, yet, sadly, never became a lawyer.
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/6133/insane7zolh2.jpg
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/8964/lincolnpic1lq9.jpg
169 years ago, on this day in 1839, future President Abraham Lincoln advances to another stage in his legal career when he is admitted to the bar of the U.S. Circuit Court. It was during his years practicing law that Lincoln honed his now famous oratorical skills.
Lincoln made the first step toward becoming a lawyer in 1836 when the state of Illinois certified him as being "a person of good moral character." (He did not attend law school but studied on his own while working as a clerk in a law office.)
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/5325/linc1837lawofficerentedwp8.jpg
"The First Law Office Rented in 1837 by Abraham Lincoln, in Hoffman's Row, Third Division, Upstairs, Springfield, Ill.," engraving made in 1860, when the artist visited the office. "When Abraham Lincoln first went to Springfield, nearly thirty years ago, he ran for the Legislature, was elected, and served several terms. In 1837 he opened a law office under the firm of Stuart & Lincoln, in Hoffman's Row."
In 1838, he delivered closing arguments in the Jacob Early murder case, persuading the jury that his client, the defendant, had acted in self defense.
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/2978/lin001dqfr2.jpg
Lincoln's business card
In 1840, Lincoln was re-elected to the Illinois State Assembly--his third term since 1834--and by 1846 earned a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. By that time, Lincoln had begun to use his debate and speaking skills to help fellow Whigs campaign for state and national offices and, in 1848, he delivered a blistering attack on President James Polk for what Lincoln believed was an ill-advised war against Mexico. He called Polk "a bewildered, confounded, and miserably perplexed man" for waging a war that ended up costing the nation 13,780 lives and a whopping $100 million.
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/7508/lincoln345ma1.jpg
After losing his House seat in the election of 1848, Lincoln returned to practicing law in the state of Illinois, where he helped to establish the new Republican Party.
His oratorical skills came in handy while speaking out against the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) and the Dred Scott decision (1857), which both served to perpetuate the practice of slavery, an institution Lincoln saw as immoral and illegitimate in a nation founded on the principle that all men are created equal.
In his 1858 campaign for a seat in the U.S. Senate, as secessionist sentiment brewed among the southern states, Lincoln warned in a campaign speech that "a house divided against itself cannot stand." Although he did not win a Senate seat that year, he earned national recognition as a strong political force. In 1860, Lincoln was elected to the presidency.
25 of the 44 persons elected to the Presidency have been lawyers. Here's a list from the WSJ:
#2 — John Adams (Harvard, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#3 — Thomas Jefferson (College of William & Mary, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#4 — James Madison (College of New Jersey — now Princeton — then read law)
#6 — John Quincy Adams (Harvard, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#7 — Andrew Jackson (self-taught lawyer)
#8 — Martin Van Buren (Kinderhook Academy, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#10 — John Tyler (College of William & Mary, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#11 — James Polk (University of North Carolina, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#13 — Millard Fillmore (clerked for and studied under New York Judge Walter Wood)
#14 — Franklin Pierce (Bowdoin College, then studied law)
#15 — James Buchanan (Dickinson College, then studied law)
#16 — Abraham Lincoln (No formal education, a self-taught lawyer)
#19 — Rutherford Hayes (Kenyon College, Harvard law)
#21 — Chester Arthur (Union College, then studied law)
#22 — Grover Cleveland (apprenticed as a lawyer)
#23 — Benjamin Harrison (Miami University in Ohio, then studied law)
#25 — William McKinley (Allegheny College, Albany law)
#27 — William Howard Taft (Yale, Cincinnati law)
#28 — Woodrow Wilson (College of New Jersey — now Princeton — then UVA law)
#30 — Calvin Coolidge (Amherst, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#32 — Franklin Roosevelt (Harvard, Columbia law)
#37 — Richard Nixon (Whittier College, Duke law)
#38 — Gerald Ford (University of Michigan, Yale law)
#42 — Bill Clinton (Georgetown University, Yale law)
#44 — Barack Obama (Columbia, Harvard law)
NOTE: Our 33rd president, Harry Truman, was the only president who served after 1897 not to earn a college degree. However he did study law for two years at the Kansas City Law School, now the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. We’ll also point out that Warren Harding, our 29th president, enjoyed great success as a journalist before rising to the White House, yet, sadly, never became a lawyer.
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/6133/insane7zolh2.jpg