From a childhood marked by poverty on the American frontier to the presidency of a nation on the verge of collapse, this three-part historical biography traces how Abraham Lincoln became one of the defining figures in American history. Blending dramatic reconstruction with commentary from historians and political figures, it explores the ambition, empathy, wit and moral conviction that shaped his rise, his belief in democracy and equality, and the immense personal and political pressures that would eventually place him at the center of the struggle over slavery, union and the future of the United States.
In the first episode, Lincoln’s journey begins far from power. Growing up in hardship, enduring the death of his mother and receiving little formal education, he develops a fierce determination to rise beyond obscurity. Through hard physical labor, self-education, storytelling and an emerging talent for public speaking, he begins to build the character and political instincts that will define him. His early encounters with slavery, his move into law and politics, and the relationships that shape his ambitions reveal the making of a man who is still searching for his place in the world, but already driven by the conviction that his life must amount to something.