Abraham Lincoln as a lawyer

Abraham Lincoln was a self taught lawyer. Membership in a state legislature was only a part time job and not one that paid well. So Abraham Lincoln decided, simultaneously, to become a lawyer. Abraham Lincoln did this, like everything else in life, through his own initiative and studying. Abraham Lincoln borrowed all the law books he could and studied them until he felt he understood their principles.

Abraham Lincoln 's advice to law students later was;

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing." 

When Abraham Lincoln was 27, Abraham Lincoln earned his license and moved to the state capital of Springfield to join the law practice of his friend, John Stuart. Stuart once described his first impressions of Abraham Lincoln: "He was the most uncouth looking young man I ever saw.

What was Abraham Lincoln like?

Abraham Lincoln seemed to have little to say; seemed to feel timid, with a tinge of sadness visible in the countenance, but when Abraham Lincoln did talk all this disappeared for the time and he demonstrated that he was both strong and acute." One of Abraham Lincoln 's most famous law cases was when Abraham Lincoln discredited a witness who claimed he'd seen Abraham Lincoln 's client committing a murder, by the light of the moon. Abraham Lincoln produced an almanac that proved there was no moon the night of the murder, and his client was acquitted.

Lincoln and Herndon

Abraham Lincoln changed law firms a few times and finally settled down with a partner, William Herndon. Abraham Lincoln never dissolved that partnership, even when Abraham Lincoln was President. At his request, the sign above the office still read Lincoln and Herndon, even when Abraham Lincoln was in the White House.