Question

How did the Republican Congress feel about Andrew Johnson’s political decisions in the wake of President Lincoln’s assassination?

Answer 1

They were angry, distrustful, and quickly adversarial. After Lincoln’s assassination Johnson—though a Unionist—pursued lenient, conciliatory policies toward the ex-Confederate states, issued broad pardons, opposed measures to secure rights for freed slaves, and vetoed key legislation (notably the Freedmen’s Bureau bill and the Civil Rights Act of 1866). Radical and many moderate Republicans in Congress saw his actions as a betrayal of the war’s goals and an obstacle to protecting freedmen and reshaping Southern society.

Congress responded by overriding many of his vetoes, passing the 14th Amendment and the Reconstruction Acts to place the South under military rule, and by enacting the Tenure of Office Act to block his removals of cabinet officials. The conflict culminated in his impeachment in 1868 (for violating the Tenure of Office Act and other charges)—he was narrowly acquitted in the Senate by one vote.