Description Before he was president Abraham Lincoln, he was a lawyer in a large hat. Following his rise to the presidency offers readers an inside look at how the signer of the Emancipation Proclamation came to run the nation. From Lincoln's birth in a one-room log cabin to his early days practicing law and working in politics, his life is full of triumphs and tragedy. The places he lived and the people he loved are all chronicled in this exciting work, filling in the blanks in the life story that often starts for many when he assumed the role as America's 16th president..