President Johnson felt that it was important to continue with Lincoln's vision of how to deal with the postwar South. This era in American history is known as Reconstruction. Both Lincoln and Johnson thought it was necessary to be lenient toward those who had seceded from the Union to heal the rift of the Civil War. Johnson's reconstruction plan would have allowed southerners who swore an oath of allegiance to the federal government to regain citizenship. He also wanted to allow the states to quickly return to self-governance. However, his plan was never given a chance because more radical elements in the government prevailed. In fact, reconstruction was controlled by the Radical Republicans, who wanted to punish the South.

When the Radical Republicans passed the Civil Rights Act in 1866, Johnson tried to veto the bill. He did not believe that the North should force its views concerning civil rights on the South. His vetoes on this and fifteen other bills were overridden. During his administration, the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution were passed. The thirteenth amendment freed all slaves, and the fourteenth provided civil rights and liberties to freed slaves.

Seward's Folly

In 1867, Secretary of State William Seward arranged for the United States to purchase Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. Some in Congress argued that this was not a good deal for the United States and termed this agreement “Seward's Folly.” Critics felt that it had no value. However, it did pass through Congress and it proved in the long run to be a wonderful investment. It provided the United States with gold and oil while drastically increasing the size of the country. It also removed Russian imperialism from the North American continent.

Impeachment

In 1867, the Tenure of Office Act was passed. This bill denied the president the right to remove his own appointed officials from office. When President Johnson dismissed his secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, from his position in 1868 and replaced him with Ulysses S. Grant, the House of Representatives brought articles of impeachment against him. In the end, the House voted to impeach Johnson, making him the first president to be impeached while in office.

Upon his impeachment, the Senate met to decide if the president should be removed from office. Johnson narrowly escaped removal by one vote.