Lincoln meets August Willich, Pt. 1

In April, 2021, we deemed Union General August Willich the AC/DC of the left in our talk with Willich biographer David Dixon and George Washington University’s Andrew Zimmerman, about Willich’s two meetings with Abraham Lincoln. Part 1 of our interview discusses the first meeting between Willich and Lincoln, in 1861 during Lincoln’s stop in Cincinnati on his way to his first inauguration. We touch on Willich’s role as editor of the Cincinnati Republikaner, John Brown, the German immigrant vote in Ohio, the international implications of Lincoln’s 1860 election, and the “Twitter beef” between Marx and Willich over Willich’s sexuality.

Stay tuned for Part 2 about the second meeting in May, 1863, at the White House upon Willich’s release from Confederate Libby Prison after his capture at the Battle of Murfreesboro.