During the [[American Civil War]], President [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s policies pertaining to the Union Army were criticized by [[Radical Republicans]] as too lenient against the South. This powerful GOP bloc which included [[H. Winter Davis]], [[Benjamin Wade]], [[Thaddeus Stevens]], and [[Charles Sumner]] continuously criticized Lincoln for failing to advance as efficiently as possible, and the president's more staunch supporters were the "moderate" Republicans.<ref group=note>"Moderate" in this specific context refers to the degree of eagerness in war policy without regard to overall political ideology; Lincoln in this sense was "moderate" in terms of leading the Union during the Civil War even though he was quite conservative on other issues such as economics.</ref> | During the [[American Civil War]], President [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s policies pertaining to the Union Army were criticized by [[Radical Republicans]] as too lenient against the South. This powerful GOP bloc which included [[H. Winter Davis]], [[Benjamin Wade]], [[Thaddeus Stevens]], and [[Charles Sumner]] continuously criticized Lincoln for failing to advance as efficiently as possible, and the president's more staunch supporters were the "moderate" Republicans.<ref group=note>"Moderate" in this specific context refers to the degree of eagerness in war policy without regard to overall political ideology; Lincoln in this sense was "moderate" in terms of leading the Union during the Civil War even though he was quite conservative on other issues such as economics.</ref> |