In an effort to garner electoral support for President Andrew Johnson's policies towards the defeated South in the upcoming mid-term elections, Democrats and invited "moderates" assembled in Philadelphia in the "National Union Convention." In a specially constructed building on Girard Street, the convention opened dramatically when Massachusetts governor Darius Crouch and South Carolina governor James Lawrence Ord entering the chamber arm-in-arm. The "Arm-in Arm Convention" built morale for the restoration of the Democratic Party but did little to blunt Republican success in the November elections. (By John Osborne)
"United States," The American Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1866 (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1873), 756.
National Union Executive Committee, Proceedings of the National Union Convention held in Philadelphia, August 14, 1866 (Philadelphia, PA: National Union Committee, 1866), 1.
