The Early Political Career of Abraham Lincoln: He was United
States Congressman after his service in Illinois. Congressman-
elect Lincoln was a popular, masterful politician in Illinois.
Having succeeded in the rough-hewn Illinois legislature, he was
confident that he would make his mark in Congress. Once in
Washington, D.C., however, Lincoln became one of many unknown
freshman congressmen. The inner councils of government were
closed to him, as was the Washington social life that Mary
Lincoln was looking forward to. However, Lincoln never lost
confidence in himself. He wrote Herndon, “As you are all so
anxious for me to distinguish myself, I have concluded to do so
before long.” The Lincolns, with their two sons, lived quietly
in a modest boardinghouse. Lincoln had a small body of friends
with whom he could relax and discuss politics. Among them was
Alexander H. Stephens, the Whig congressman from Georgia, who
later became vice president of the Confederate States of
America. The Early Political Career of Abra