With the American civil war looking like it might finally be drawing to a close, President Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) is increasingly turning his attention to the passing of the 13th amendment to the constitution. This will not only vindicate the whole point of his fighting the war in the first place, but will enshrine legally the prohibition of any person owning anyone else, or of forcing them into a life of indentured slavery. He is aided by his Secretary of State Seward (David Strathairn) and by his formidable wife Mary (Sally Field) but he is opposed by many in the House of Represe...