What did Abraham Lincoln accomplish that made him a hero?

I have to write a report about someone from the past who I would like to meet. I chose Lincoln, but I can't think of enough things to make it a 250-300 word essay. I know he declared the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves and that's about it. Please Help! Thank You!|||He lead the nation through the Civil War and eventually reunified the country. You could trace back to his beginnings and write about the aspects of his life that shaped him into the presidential figure we admire so much. His genuine concern for the American people and the United States, I believe, was his most endearing quality.|||Emancipation Proclamation did not free the slaves . the Emancipation Proclamation was a war move to win the union back . slavery didn't end until 3 years after the war by that time lincoln was already did . the 13th amendment freed the slaves . Emancipation Proclamation was just a speech not a law . in fact in that speech lincoln says that if he could save the union without freeing slaves he would do it that way .|||Because of rising sectionalism in the American South, combined with slavery and tariff laws and finally the election of Lincoln as President, the US Civil War began. What made him a hero is that he stopped at nothing to maintain the Union (the USA/the North) as one and not allowing the Confederacy (the South) to become its own independent nation.|||why was freeing the slaves good