Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865), sometimes called Abe Lincoln and nicknamed Honest Abe, the Rail Splitter, and the Great Emancipator, was an American politician who served as the 16th President of the United States (1861 to 1865), and as the first president from the Republican Party. Today, he is best known for ending slavery and preserving the Union by overseeing the war effort during the American Civil War. He selected the generals and approved their strategy; selected senior civilian officials; supervised diplomacy, patronage and party operations; and rallied public opinion through messages and speeches. His influence has been magnified by his powerful oratory; his Gettysburg Address had a lasting impact on American values. His leadership qualities were evident in his first diplomatic handling of the border slave states at the beginning of the fighting, in his defeat of a congressional attempt to reorganise his cabinet in 1862, in his many speeches and writings which helped mobilise and inspire the North, and in his defusing of the peace issue in the 1864 presidential campaign. Copperheads criticised him for violating the Constitution, overstepping the bounds of executive power, refusing to compromise on slavery, declaring martial law, suspending habeas corpus, ordering the arrest of 18,000 opponents including public officials and newspaper publishers, and killing hundreds of thousands of young men who were soldiers in the war. Radical Republicans criticised him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery, and not being ruthless enough towards the conquered South.