Although Johnson had supported emancipation during the war, he held deeply racist views. He lacked Lincoln’s political skills and keen sense of Northern public opinion. A lonely, stubborn man, he was intolerant of criticism and unable to compromise. In personality and outlook, President Andrew Johnson was ill suited for the responsibilities he now shouldered following Lincoln’s assassination. Johnson barely survived impeachment, while Grant’s policy was ended in the Bargain of 1877 – a national cop out. Grant’s approach which was more like Lincoln’s approach and produced some short-term positive results, but the nation’s focus changed. This article focuses primarily on: (1) Andrew Johnson’s approach to Reconstruction which was nearly opposite to what Lincoln had wanted and (2) Ulysses S. If a bullet had not killed him, even his expectations might have been diminished in achieving Reconstruction. Lincoln understood how to win a major civil war as a political revolution but implementing his “new birth of freedom” was a gigantic peacetime project involving a social revolution. Assassinations cut short plans and people tire of a policy that does not lead to a quick end. Most presidents find that the window for opportunity is limited to “the first-hundred days” phenomenon. But things change and the longer that time passes, the more likely it is that presidents lose their influence. Abraham Lincoln was a political genius in keeping together conservatives, moderates and Radicals during the American Civil War, especially after he found generals who could win battles. Winning on the battlefield may be relatively “easy” compared to winning the peace afterward.
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