Every American knows Abraham Lincoln as the emancipator of slaves, the man who held America together in its darkest days, and one of
the country’s most mythic figures. But few know the Lincoln who battled suicidal urges
and at times called himself “The loneliest man in the world.” Academy Award-winning
producer Vikram Jayanti goes inside a life scarred by loss, a mind ravaged by tragedy, a
man whose grand achievements were fueled by his own personal turmoil, in The History
Channel special presentation LINCOLN.
Born in the back woods of Kentucky in 1809, Abraham Lincoln witnessed the deaths of
his infant brother, his mother, and his grandparents before the age of ten. He was raised
by an abusive father who didn’t support Abraham’s desire for an education and a better
life. One biographer calls it “almost farcical” how many awful things happened to
Lincoln at a young age. While forging a legacy of success as a lawyer and politician later
in life, Lincoln was haunted by the trauma of childhood, prone to depression brought
about by self-doubt and personal crises.
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