Americans admire the self-made man, the man who, with neither money nor family influence fights his way to the top. Lincoln was born of poor parents. His mother died when he was young. The shack in which he and his father lived, one winter, had only three walls; the fourth side was open to the weather. He had little opportunity for schooling. Most of his early study was done by himself, at night, by the light of a fireplace. He did hard manual labor through the day. But as he grew older he studied law in his spare time and set up practice. His ability finally made a name for him and eventually he became President of the United States.