Weed led the New York Whigs for much of the 1830s and 1840s but abandoned the Whigs following the passage of the Kansas – Nebraska Act . He helped organize the Republican Party and supported Frémont 's nomination at the 1856 Republican National Convention . He led the effort to nominate Seward at the 1860 Republican National Convention , but the convention nominated Abraham Lincoln instead . After the Civil War , Weed and Seward allied with President Andrew Johnson and supported Johnson 's approach to Reconstruction . Weed retired from public life in 1867 and died in 1882
1856 Republican National Convention
1856 Republican National Convention
Thurlow Weed