Most people don't know that our 16th President Abraham Lincoln suffered from a depression also known as melancholy. Lincoln was, considered by most, one of our greatest presidents. As president of the United States, Lincoln accomplished many great things. For example, he was instrumental in preserving the Union during the Civil War, he ended slavery, he had good speeches and letters, and he was very humble. On the outside "Honest Abe" was a strong and intelligent man. Inside he was falling apart. Few people in this day and age know Lincoln's condition while in office. Oddly enough, though, Lincoln was very open about his depression while running for office. Since the public was aware of his condition, many people wonder whether this had any effect on people's voting preferences. He won the election, so apparently people didn't care. Some people became curious about Lincoln's case and whether depression ran in his family or if it was simply something that had come up. The melancholy of Abraham Lincoln is the perfect scenario of how people can be broken on the inside but seem perfectly fine on the outside. Did Abraham Lincoln suffer from depression early in his life or did he just get it as he got older? Well, many historians have found that Lincoln was diagnosed with melancholy as a young man. If he had suffered for a while, how had he learned to tolerate being sad all the time? Could you imagine being sad most of the time and having to deal with it and move on with life? It would be very difficult. Since Lincoln was diagnosed with the disease as a young man, he suffered numerous breakdowns throughout his life. His meltdowns consisted of saying things like "I'm the unhappiest man alive" and he often talked about trying... middle of paper... p://www.theatlantic.com/magazine /archive/2005/10 /lincolns-great-depression/304247/Siegel, Robert. "Exploring the 'Melancholy' of Abraham Lincoln" NPR. NPR and Web. 07 February 2014.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4976127"'Sadness and Grief': How Abraham Lincoln's Depression Got Him Elected." Yahoo! News. Yahoo!, May 1, 2013. Web. February 7, 2014. http://news.yahoo.com/gloom-sadness-abraham-lincolns-depression-got-him-elected- 181404681.html"11 Things You May Not Know About Abraham Lincoln." 11 Things You May Not Know About Abraham Lincoln. Np, nd Web. 04 February 2014.http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/history/2012/Abraham-Lincoln-Facts.html"NAMI - The National Alliance on Mental Illness." NAMI. Np, nd Web. 7 February 2014. http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=20054&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=27041