Changes

As a Whig, Wade won a special election to Ohio's Class I Senate seat in 1851.<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=142492 OH US Senate Special Race - Mar 14, 1851]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved November 9, 2021.</ref> When the party collapsed due to internal division over [[slavery]], he helped form the [[Republican Party]], which he joined.<ref name=battlefieldtrust/>

As a Whig, Wade won a special election to Ohio's Class I Senate seat in 1851.<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=142492 OH US Senate Special Race - Mar 14, 1851]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved November 9, 2021.</ref> When the party collapsed due to internal division over [[slavery]], he helped form the [[Republican Party]], which he joined.<ref name=battlefieldtrust/>

Joining GOP ranks as a Radical Republican, Wade was an ardent supporter of [[women's suffrage]] and trade unions.<ref name=battlefieldtrust/> He voiced heavy opposition towards the [[Fugitive Slave Act]] and the [[Kansas-Nebraska Act]], drawing the ire of Southerners.

Joining GOP ranks as a Radical Republican, Wade was an ardent supporter of [[women's suffrage]] and trade unions.<ref name=battlefieldtrust/> He voiced heavy opposition towards the Fugitive Slave Act and the [[Kansas-Nebraska Act]], drawing the ire of Southerners.

During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Wade became chair of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of War.<ref name=battlefieldtrust/> He frequently criticized the policies of President Lincoln, viewing them as too lenient and hesitating against the [[Confederacy]]. Indeed, Wade even doubted Lincoln's abolitionist stances and said that the latter's viewpoints:<ref name=battlefieldtrust/>

During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Wade became chair of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of War.<ref name=battlefieldtrust/> He frequently criticized the policies of President Lincoln, viewing them as too lenient and hesitating against the [[Confederacy]]. Indeed, Wade even doubted Lincoln's abolitionist stances and said that the latter's viewpoints:<ref name=battlefieldtrust/>