The portrait of this American president was presumably lost in the 1934 fire and not repainted.
1809- 1865 | Artist: Unknown
Impact & Accomplishments
Although some of the U. S. Presidents and Founding Fathers whose portraits were originally hung in Chicago’s Saddle & Sirloin Club have little connection to agriculture, Abraham Lincoln is an exception.
The sixteenth president of the United States may be best known for leading the nation through its most difficult period—the Civil War—and for preserving the Union; but Lincoln’s administration also established many of the policy foundations that continue to shape agriculture today.
President Lincoln signed four key laws to advance agriculture in 1862, most especially the act creating the Department of Agriculture and the Morrill Land Grant College Act, establishing colleges of agriculture on public lands across the nation.
The Homestead Act and the act to create a transcontinental railroad were also significant, contributing much to Lincoln’s vision of expanded western settlement and increased agricultural production.
Abraham Lincoln is one of only three U. S. Presidents (along with Washington and Jefferson) inducted into the National Agricultural Hall of Fame.
Did You Know?
The first Department of Agriculture Building on the National Mall around 1895. Photo from U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
0:28 / 3:28 Montana Ranch Feature: Grant-Kohrs National Historic Site