B. F. (Benjamin Franklin) Wade

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1800, Benjamin Franklin Wade grew up in modest circumstances and later moved to Ohio, where he studied law and built a career in public life. He served as a judge and state legislator before winning election to the U.S. Senate.

Wade is best remembered for his strong opposition to slavery and his blunt, uncompromising style. During the 1850s and the Civil War, he emerged as a leading Radical Republican, pushing for emancipation, civil rights for formerly enslaved people, and a tougher approach to the Confederacy.

He also came unusually close to the presidency: as president pro tempore of the Senate, he would likely have succeeded Andrew Johnson if Johnson had been removed from office in his 1868 impeachment trial. Though he never became president, Wade remained an important figure in the political struggles that shaped Reconstruction and the future of the United States.