Because we live in the modern era, few of us ever consider the complexities of governing a young, raucous United States. In the years following the end of the Civil War, the baton of power and responsibility was passed Constitutionally from President Lincoln to then Vice-President Johnson. When the 40th Congress did not agree with President Johnson's policies, they attempted to take that power from him.
As a southerner in a northern administration, Johnson was already an anomaly. In some sense, his political sensibilities were the perfect solution for a country trying to become whole again (Benedict, 1973, 366-367). In his efforts to restart Reconstruction, Johnson combined southern and northern political ideologies. However, the 40th Congress did not see things President Johnson's way. The Congress instead tried to take the power and responsibility for Reconstruction into their own hands.
Reconstruction, as a policy, did not begin with Andrew Johnson, but began early in President Lincoln's first administration. When the western counties of Virginia refused to go along with secession, the possibility for President Lincoln to initiate policies of reconstruction presented itself. In 1861 a loyal state government of Virginia was proclaimed at Wheeling and the United States government in turn consented to the formation of a new state called West Virginia, admitted to the Union in 1863. As Union forces advanced into the South, Lincoln in 1862 named military governors for Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana (Tindall, 1984; pp 673-674).
It is important to remember that Lincoln's policy of Union first, was what got him elected as President his first and second terms (Burns, J. M., 1985; p 33). The nomination and election of Andrew Johnson as Vice-President in 1864 was a way of placating Southern interests regarding the severity of Reconstruction. Johnson was selected because of his work for the Union and his southern roots (...