By: History.com Editors

1860

Mathew Brady photographs presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln

History.com Editors

Published: November 16, 2009

Last Updated: January 31, 2025

On February 27, 1860, President Abraham Lincoln poses for the first of several portraits by noted Civil War-era photographer Mathew Brady. Days later, the photograph is published on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar with the caption, "Hon. Abram [sic] Lincoln, of Illinois, Republican Candidate for President."

Abraham Lincoln

Today he is known as one of the greatest American presidents, but at the time of his election no one would have predicted Lincoln's success.

A relatively new art form, the photograph (or daguerreotype) showed an unusually beardless Lincoln just moments before he delivered an address at Cooper Union that day. The address, in which he articulated his reasons for opposing slavery in the new territories, received wild applause and garnered strong support for his candidacy among New Yorkers.

Lincoln was re-introduced to Brady a year after his election. The president shook Brady’s hand and said Mr. Brady and the Cooper Institute made me president. Brady went on to photograph Lincoln several more times before Lincoln’s death in 1865. Brady also snapped photos of first lady Mary Todd Lincoln and two of Lincoln’s sons.

Brady’s works also include shots of President Zachary Taylor at his inauguration in 1849, President Millard Fillmore in 1850 and Confederate President Jefferson Davis in 1861. After Brady’s wife approached Mrs. Grant on behalf of her husband, General Ulysses S. Grant agreed to let Brady tag along with the Union Army during the Civil War. Many of his resulting works now reside in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery.

Lincoln was not the first presidential candidate, or president, to be photographed—that honor went to John Quincy Adams in 1843.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on February 27th

1827

New Orleanians take to the streets for Mardi Gras

The first Mardi Gras celebrations are held in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1844

Dominican Republic declares independence as a sovereign state

On February 27, 1844, revolutionary fervor boils over on the eastern side of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Finally coming into the open after years of covert planning, a group known as La Trinitaria seizes the fortress of Puerta del Conde in the city of Santo Domingo, beginning the Dominican War of Independence. Much of […]

1922

Supreme Court defends women’s voting rights

In deciding the case Leser v. Garnett, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of the 19th Amendment—which, when ratified two years earlier, provided American women with the right to vote. The justices were unanimous in their decision to dismiss the challenge. In the case, a prominent Baltimore lawyer named Oscar Leser sued to strike […]

1935

6-year-old Shirley Temple receives special miniature Oscar

At the seventh Academy Awards ceremony, on February 27, 1935, 6-year-old ascendant Hollywood star Shirley Temple receives the first-ever kid-sized, “juvenile” Oscar. The trophy measured roughly half the height of a full-sized Oscar. Temple’s Hollywood career had shot into the stratosphere in 1934, when the tot appeared in no fewer than six films, including Stand […]

1942

U.S. aircraft carrier Langley is sunk

The U.S. Navy’s first aircraft carrier, the Langley, is sunk by Japanese warplanes (with a little help from U.S. destroyers), and all of its 32 aircraft are lost. The Langley was launched in 1912 as the naval collier (coal transport ship) Jupiter. After World War I, the Jupiter was converted into the Navy’s first aircraft carrier […]

1960

U.S. Olympic hockey team beats Soviet Union

Two decades before the famed “Miracle on Ice,” another underdog U.S. Olympic hockey team defeats the Soviet Union team in the semifinals at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, California on February 27, 1960. The next day, the U.S. beats Czechoslovakia to win its first-ever Olympic gold medal in hockey. The 1960 U.S. team was led […]

1964

Italian government seeks aid for fixing Leaning Tower of Pisa

On February 27, 1964, the Italian government announces that it is accepting suggestions on how to save the renowned Leaning Tower of Pisa from collapse. The top of the 180-foot tower was hanging 17 feet south of the base, and studies showed that the tilt was increasing by a fraction every year. Experts warned that […]

1973

AIM occupation of Wounded Knee begins

On the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, some 200 members of the Oglala Lakota tribe, led by members of the American Indian Movement (AIM), occupy Wounded Knee, the site of the infamous 1890 massacre of 300 Sioux by the U.S. Seventh Cavalry. The AIM members, some of them armed, took 11 residents of the […]

View of several members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) as they stand next to a sweat lodge erected on a hill below the Sacred Heart Church during the occupation of the town of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, 1973. AIM occupied the town, exchanging gunfire with local and federal troops, from February 27 through May 8, 1973, following internal reservation disputes as well as disatisfaction with the US government's treatment of Native American peoples in general. (Photo by Peter Davis/Getty Images)

1980

“I Will Survive” wins the first—and last—Grammy ever awarded for Best Disco Recording

On February 27, 1980, the first—and final—Grammy for Best Disco Recording is awarded to Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” After watching disco music utterly dominate the musical landscape of the late 1970s, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences had finally decided to give it their stamp of approval, with the category Best Disco […]

1980

Buddy Holly’s glasses, lost since his death in 1959, are found in Mason City, Iowa

On February 27, 1980, the long-lost glasses of rocker Buddy Holly, who died in the deadly plane crash in 1959, were found—filed away in an envelope in a court clerk’s office. When the Beechcraft Bonanza carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper crashed outside Clear Lake, Iowa, in the early morning hours of […]

2006

Effa Manley becomes first woman elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

On February 27, 2006, baseball pioneer Effa Manley becomes the first woman elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Manley, who died in 1981, was co-owner of the Newark (New Jersey) Eagles, a Negro League powerhouse, and a huge advocate for Black ballplayers and civil rights causes.  “She’s deserving; she did a lot for the […]

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Citation Information

Article title
Mathew Brady photographs presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
March 25, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
January 31, 2025
Original Published Date
November 16, 2009

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