Graphic of part of the Emancipation Proclamation
Rights and POwer: The POlitics of Reconstruction
Link to Part 1 of Section 4: Presidential Reconstruction Link to Part 2 of Section 4: Congress and Civil Rights Link to Part 3 of Section 4: The National Debate Over Reconstruction; IMpeachment; and the Election of Grant Link to Part 4 of Section 4: Reconstruction Government in the South Link to Biographies in Section 4

President Andrew Johnson, Currier & Ives, 1866. (Museum of American Political Life)

President Andrew Johnson,
Currier & Ives, 1866.
(Museum of American Political Life,
University of Hartford)

Click image to enlarge.

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President Johnson's ability to work with Congress and his public popularity ended as he followed a plan of Reconstruction that gave Southern whites a free hand in establishing new governments that threatened to reduce African-Americans to a condition similar to slavery.

After Johnson vetoed several Reconstruction measures passed by Congress, his opponents charged him with autocratic behavior.

One disgruntled citizen registered his opinion of Andrew Johnson by mocking him as "king."

Read Johnson's Veto of the Civil Rights Bill

Read Johnson's Veto of the First Reconstruction Act
Copyright 2003
he Meaning of Freedom: Black and White Responses to Slavery From Free Labor to Slave Labor Rights and Power: The Politics of Reconstruction The Ending of Reconstruction Epilogue: The Unfinished Revolution Additional Resources Credits for this Exhibit Link to return to Digital History Home Link to return to Reconstruction Home Introduction