Once reviled in NJ, Lincoln to get star treatment

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - December 28, 2008 Gov. Jon S. /*Corzine*/ has created a commission to arrange events honoring Abraham Lincoln in February, in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.

Included in the celebration will be a display of Lincoln-related documents at the /*New Jersey*/ State Archives in Trenton.

During his lifetime, Lincoln was revered in most of the North, but reviled in New Jersey for his anti-slavery views.

One New Jersey lawmaker once offered a resolution describing him as the "ugliest man in the country."

Lincoln lost the popular vote in New Jersey in both presidential elections and was criticized by future governor George McClellan as a "well-meaning baboon."