At the sudden death of Lincoln, Johnson undertook the difficult problem of reconstruc tion left unfinished by his predecessor. Per haps no man in the Union was so unfitted for this task as the President. Egotistical, tactless, self-confident, fond of making extravagant speeches, radical by nature, and uneducated, Johnson was incapable of grasping the subject. Where Lincoln by his skill could have molded opinion to his view, Johnson aroused a storm of opposition. Yet, to the radical Republicans, Johnson's succession to the mild Lincoln was received with acclaim, for the new incumbent had always displayed himself as a vigorous prosecutor of the recalcitrant Southerners. But no sooner was Johnson in office than he began to change, probably due to Seward's in fluence and the added responsibility of his new office. In so doing, Johnson soon found him self in opposition to the legislative branch of the government.
Two possible agencies were available to handle the new situation. One, the executive branch, working on the theory that the Presi dent as commander-in-chief of the army had the power to establish military rule and with draw it; the other, the legislative body, on the assumption that restoration was a part of the lawmaking function. Lincoln, in dealing with the parts of Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana recovered from the Confederacy, had under taken the task of reconstruction by issuing his Amnesty Proclamation (8 Dec. 1863), in which he had declared that when a number of citizens of the State equal to one-tenth of the vote of that particular State in 1860 had taken the pre scribed presidential oath, they might establish a civil government; but the President had defi nitely stated that the admission of their senators and representatives to Congress would rest en tirely with the legislative branch. Congress showed its opposition to this scheme by hastily passing the Wade-Davis Bill (2 July 1864). Lincoln °pocket vetoed° the bill, but the signifi cance of the struggle demonstrated the deter mination of Congress to exert its full pre rogatives.
Notwithstanding this warning from Con gress, Johnson embarked on the same policy at his succession, and on 29 May 1865 issued a sim ilar Amnesty Proclamation, excluding, however, more classes than Lincoln had done. Immedi ately the work of creating provisional govern ment in the seceded States began, and by Oc tober six Southern States had carried out John son's ideas by denying the right of secession and abolishing slavery. Three circumstances, however, contributed to destroy the efficacy of his plan; (1) the South adopted harsh °black codes° which, by prescribing severe restrictions covering apprenticeship, vagrancy and employ ment of the freedmen, led the North to suspect the new establishments of good faith; (2) the selection of old secession leaders as new rep resentatives, Georgia even going so far as to choose Stephens, the ex-Vice-President of the Confederacy, as one of her United States sen ators; (3) the determination of the radicals in Congress to exclude the Southern leaders and give the negro political rights, thereby assuring the supremacy of the Republican party. Accord ingly, a bitter contest began between the Presi dent and Congress, led by Stevens and Sumner, over the question of reconstruction. On 4 Dec.
1865 Stevens introduced a resolution creating a Reconstruction Committee composed of nine representatives and six senators. This started the conflict. Johnson replied by vetoing (19 Feb. 1866) the Freedmen's Bureau Bill intended to aid the negro; and, three days later, he de livered a public address to a serenading party in which he charged Stevens, Sumner and Weq dell Phillips with trying to destroy the principles of the government. From this time on the breach was irremediable and Congress passed over the President's veto the Civil Rights Bill, a new Freedmen's Bureau Bill, and submitted the 14th Amendment to the States. Both par ties appealed to the people in the fall election for vindication, and, owing to Johnson's lack of tact and decorum in his °swinging round the circle campaign,)) and an unfortunate riot in New Orleans with its accompanying evil effects on the North of the Southern good intentions, the radicals carried the election. Therefore in 1867 Congress set forth the Congressional plan of reconstruction which meant the disfranchise ment of the ex-Confederates and the enfran chisement of the negroes. Johnson, to his credit, carried out faithfully these laws, but the final test came with the removal of Stanton as Secretary of War in violation of the Tenure of Office Act, 2 March 1867. This act forbade the President dismissing any officer without the consent of the Senate. Counseled by his Attorney-General that the act was unconstitu tional, Johnson dismissed Stanton, now in open accord with the radicals and for whose protec tion the law had been enacted. In dismissing Stanton, Johnson broke with Grant over a question of veracity, and thereby gave Congress its opportunity. In February 1868 the House of Representatives voted to impeach him. The main charges brought against the President were (1) his dismissal of Stanton; (2) his declarations that certain laws were unconstitu tional; (3) his speeches in the campaign of 1866; (4) his opposition to Congressional re construction. The trial was poorly conducted; the evidence showed much animus; and the fear that Wade, president of the Senate, would succeed, combined with the happy appointment of General Schofield as Secretary of War, turned the tide in favor of the President. Thus on the final vote he was acquitted (35-19), the requisite two-thirds for conviction not having been obtained. In 1868 Johnson was a candidate in the Democratic National Convention but failed to secure the nomination. He returned to Greenville, and after several unsuccessful attempts was elected senator in 1875. His tri umph was short, for he died in July.
DeWitt, D. M., 'The Im peachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson' (New York 1903) ; Chadsey, C. E., 'The Strug gle between President Johnson and Congress over Reconstruction' (New York 1896) ; Seward, F. W., 'Andrew Johnson' (Philadel phia 1890) ; Dunning, W. A., 'Essays on the Civil War and Reconstruction' (New York 1898) ; id., 'More Light on Andrew Johnson' (in American Historical Review, April 1906) ; Foster, L., 'Life and Speeches of Andrew John son' (New York 1866).