Thaddeus Stevens (April 4, 1792 – August 11, 1868), of Pennsylvania, was a Republican Party leader and one of the most powerful members of the United States House of Representatives. Stevens dominated the House from 1861 until his death and wrote much of the financial legislation that paid for the American Civil War. Shortly before his death, he voted for the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. Historians have criticized Stevens' obsessive, monomaniacal hatred of the Confederate States, but praised his sincere desire for the equality of black people in American society.