As temperatures in Washington DC soared past triple digits, a six-foot-tall wax replica of Abraham Lincoln's memorial faced structural issues due to the intense heat. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He is best known for leading the country through the Civil War, preserving the Union, and issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, which led to the abolition of slavery in the United States.