Presidential Biographies | Andrew Johnson Administration - Johnson Becomes President

The Andrew Johnson Administration

Reconstruction, the process of rebuilding and establishing an acceptable political system in the South following the American Civil War (1861–65), consumed—even overwhelmed—the Johnson administration. Although nominally a member of the wartime National Union party, Andrew Johnson was a Democrat by background, and usually found himself opposed by a Republican-controlled Congress. A combative man by nature, Johnson's unwillingness to accept the will of Congress and the new political realities of the post-Civil War world led to impeachment. Johnson escaped removal from office by one vote, but the trial made it clear that Congress, and not the president, would determine Reconstruction policy.

Johnson Becomes President

On the night of Friday, April 14, 1865, when President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes...