Abraham Lincoln vs. Andrew Johnson

Lincoln v Johnson

President Abraham Lincoln

• Overall Grade: A-
• Republican
• Lead the Union to a victory in the Civil War
• Passed important legislation regarding the freedom of slaves
• Good public speaker

President Andrew Johnson

Grade: D

• Democrat
• First president to be impeached
• In office 1865-69
• Didn't get along with Congress
• Not great with the public speaking

Chief Legislator

Grade: D

Head of State

Grade: D

Head of State

Grade: A

Chief Legislator

Grade: A-

· After Lincoln was assassinated, the Republicans in Congress wanted a president in office that would agree with their plans on reconstruction of the Union. (They wanted the Confederate states to rejoin the Union only on strict terms that upgraded the rights of the former slaves.)

o They believed that Andrew Johnson would be that president. (While Johnson had been on the Senate, he held a strong position that the succession of the southern states had reduced them to territories that would only be readmitted under terms that were set by Congress.)

§ - "'Johnson, we have faith in you,' Republican Senator Ben Wade told the new president. 'By the Gods, there will be no trouble now in running this government,'" (U.S. Senate: Art and History).

· However, President Johnson ended up pursuing the more lenient course of Reconstruction that Lincoln had. He pardoned the former Confederate leaders, and under Johnson, the Southern states passed “Black Codes” that took many liberties from the freed slaves.

· After this, Congress advanced their legislation to overrule these actions, even refusing to seat Southern legislators. President Johnson vetoed their bills, but Congress overrode him.

o Vetoed Bills:

§ Freedman's Bureau bill- assisted freed slaves. (Second time overridden)

§ Civil Rights Act of 1866- protected civil rights of African Americans. ( Overridden)

§ First Reconstruction Act- dissolved Southern state government. (Overridden)

§ Tenure of Office Act- denied President the power to remove any executive officer without Senate’s approval. (Overridden)

o He was also against the Fourteenth Amendment.

· His first coming into office as Vice President wasn’t taken very well by the public, considering how he was drunk and made a fool of himself.

· Despite his beginnings as Vice President, at first the Washington press, which was predominantly Republican, embraced President Johnson. The readers were assured that he supported the right of African Americans.

· After the issue with Freedman’s Bureau, however, the Republicans were very upset and lost all support for him. The press especially, deserted him.

· Within the last few months of his office, the House of Representatives voted to impeach him. Congress and the press as well didn’t want to take any chance in case Johnson tried to sabotage Reconstruction before he left. However, the Senate lost the two-thirds majority by 1 vote.

• "Lincoln never let the world forget that the Civil War involved an even larger issue. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." (http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abrahamlincoln)

• "On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy." (http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abrahamlincoln)

• The Morrill Act of 1862 established the basis of the state universities.

• "Lincoln won re-election in 1864, as Union military triumphs heralded an end to the war. In his planning for peace, the President was flexible and generous, encouraging Southerners to lay down their arms and join speedily in reunion." (http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abrahamlincoln)

• The Homestead Act (1862) encouraged settlement in the West by offering 160 acres of free land to settlers.

• An excerpt from Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, "now inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C.: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds.... " (http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abrahamlincoln)

Guardian of the Economy

Chief of Party

Grade: B

Grade: F

Guardian of the Economy

Grade: B+

Chief of Party

Grade: B+

· Northern Democrats actually favored the unconditional restoration for the Confederate states.

· They did not support African-American suffrage, because it could threaten the Democratic control in the South.

· He failed to solve the Reconstruction problem, so there was no resolution in the succession of the Confederate States.

· He neither improved the economic infrastructure of the economy, nor improved the performance of the economy during his time in office post-Civil War.

• Wars cost a lot.

• "On November 6, 1860, Lincoln won the presidential election without the support of a single Southern state." (http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/abraham-lincoln.html)

"The Revenue Act of 1862 established the United States' first income tax, largely to pay the costs of total war." (http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/abraham-lincoln.html)

• "President Lincoln's cabinet included all of his major rivals for the Republican nomination for President in 1860—William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Simon Cameron and Edward Bates. Some of these men had been effectively promised positions as part of the negotiations that led to Mr. Lincoln's nomination at the Republican national convention in May 1860. Many of them objected to the inclusion of each other in the cabinet. There were worries about both geographic distribution and balance between former members of the Whig and Democratic Parties. There were also differences over ideology, ethics and personality." (http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/inside.asp?ID=9&subjectID=2)

Resources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Johnson#Reconstruction
• http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_Andrew_Johnson.htm
• http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abrahamlincoln
• http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/inside.asp?ID=9&subjectID=2
• http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/abraham-lincoln.html