Meeting of February 13, 2020

Michael Wunsch on “Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson & the National Union Party Convention, Baltimore, June 7–8, 1864”

Michael discusses the proceedings and key players of the two-day convention held at the Front Street Theater in Baltimore, including an overview of the National Union Party platform, the re-nomination of President Lincoln, and Abraham Lincoln’s role (or non-role) as master ‘wire puller’ behind the decision to replace the sitting vice-president Hannibal Hamlin with lifelong Democrat Andrew Johnson.

Born in Brooklyn, NY, Michael has been a resident of Philadelphia since 1966, graduated from La Salle College in 1980, and is employed by a Social Services company in Blue Bell, PA. He has been speaking on Civil War topics since 2002 including ‘Abraham Lincoln & the Great Central Sanitary Fair”, “Philadelphia and the Surrender of Robert E. Lee”, and “The Palmetto Flag, A Secessionist Newspaper in Philadelphia”. Michael is a member of the Delaware Valley CWRT, the GAR Civil War Museum & Library, the Lincoln Forum, and is currently the Corresponding Secretary for the General Meade Society of Philadelphia.

February 2020 Newsletter