Presidential Reconstruction

President Johnson vs. President Grant

The Goals, Achievements, and Failures during Reconstruction





Johnson's Impeachment

17th U.S. President Andrew Johnson

Johnson was ineffective because he was not carrying out his constitutional obligation to enforce the Reconstruction Act. Also he removed military officers who enforced the act. The Radicals looked for ways to impeach Johnson.

President Johnson's goals for reconstruction were that Southern states would be split into five military districts and that Blacks would be free, but with limited citizenship rights.

Johnson's achievements and failures include his decision to endow Southern states with the authority to re-form their own governments led to the return of Confederate leaders to positions of power and was deeply unpopular among Radical Republicans in Congress. He also opposed the Fourteenth Amendment giving citizenship to African-American males. Lastly, he Purchased Alaska from Russia through the negotiations of Secretary of State William Seward.



Johnson's Ticket to Impeachment Trial

The impeachment of President Andrew Johnson was the result of political conflict and the rupture of ideologies in the aftermath of the American Civil War. It arose from uncompromised beliefs and a contest for power in a nation struggling with reunification. Johnson was impeached in 1868 for violation of Tenure of Office Act.



18th U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant

With Grant's election the Republican party saw how much the African Americans I packed the election and helped Grant win. This led to Grant making the Fifteenth amendment which stated that states could not keep anyone from voting because of their race or color.

Grant was determined to follow Lincoln's policy of reconciliation with the South rather than one of retribution or appeasement. He also wanted to make sure that the federal government preserved the sacrifices of the war by sustaining a strong Union while at the same time protecting the newly freed slaves and preventing former unreconstructed Confederates from regaining power in the South.

Grant was effective in quelling the violence by the Ku Klux Klan he was not overly aggressive in his use of power. Mostly, however, the Klan reduced its violence on its own due to the success it was having in restoring white power to the South. They were achieving what they wanted so they no longer had as much of a “need” for violence. Eventually this faded when Grant was challenged for presidency due to his limited political experience and poor decision making. Grant won the election but the Republican unity was severely broken down resulting in the Radicals struggle to impose their Reconstruction plan on the south.

These presidents can be evaluated based on the effect that they had on the Ku Klux Klan, unity of the Republican party, and the way that they handled the issues going on during their presidency.