Abraham Lincoln represented the state of Illinois in the Thirtieth Congress from 1847-1849 as a Whig. According to historian Charles Strozier, Lincoln focused on three specific issues during his time in Congress, which included coming out “strongly against the Mexican War; he tried to introduce a bill in Congress to abolish the slave trade in Washington, D.C.; and he worked against Henry Clay and for Gen. Zachary Taylor in the 1848 presidential struggle. Lincoln was, in other words, antiwar, anti-slavery, and anti-Clay.”1 Lincoln would only successfully accomplish one of his three specific tasks he set out to do as Congressman, as Zachary Taylor would be elected president. Lincoln’s time in Congress has typically been only a footnote or passing topic in the life of the man who saved the Union and historians have rarely dedicated more than a section of an article or chapter of a book to his first time in the District of Columbia. Lincoln failed as a Congressman, but his time in Congress and campaigning for Taylor in the 1848 presidential campaign were politically influential and personally shaping for the man who would go on to lead the nation as president. Despite his failings, Lincoln’s time in Congress was a transformational moment in his life that saw the beginnings of the fine-tuning of his speaking and writing style, the sharpening of his political aptitude, and the solidifying of his views on the extension of slavery.