U.S. Senator and Abolitionist Benjamin F. Wade Signed CDV Wade was s staunch abolitionist and fierce Radical Republican, he famously supported women’s suffrage, equal rights for Black Americans, and labor unions. During the Civil War, Wade chaired the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, aggressively pushing both Abraham Lincoln to pursue aggressive military and emancipation policies. He battled the enemies of the Freedman’s Bureau. Had the 1868 Senate trial convicted President Andrew Johnson during impeachment proceedings, Wade would have legally succeeded to the presidency. Signed on the front B.F. Wade Ohio and back marked Alex Gardner, Photographer to the Army of the Potomac, Published by Philp & Soloman’s, Washington D.C. with blue 2 cent revenue stamp.