The presidency of Abraham Lincoln began on March 4, 1861, when he was inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States, and ended upon his assassination and death on April 15, 1865, 42 days into his second term. Lincoln was the first member of the recently-established Republican Party elected to the presidency. He was succeeded by Vice President Andrew Johnson. His election served as the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the American Civil War. After being sworn in as president, Lincoln refused to accept any resolution that would result in Southern secession from the Union. Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation freed about 20,000 of slaves in Confederate-held territory, and established emancipation as a Union war goal. The South blundered in embargoing cotton exports in 1861 before the blockade was effective; by the time they realized the mistake, it was too late. 'King Cotton' was dead, as the South could export less than 10 percent of its cotton.