rough hard work, political savvy, and circumstance had risen to the top of the heap, he had none of these skills or abilities. What was worse, he completely ignored those individuals who had worked to obtain power. As President, he attempted to brush them aside (Burns, 1985, 45-46).
President Johnson's ideas on Reconstruction and readmission of the Southern states differed sharply with the feelings of the majority of the 40th Congress. Like President Lincoln, President Johnson thought that Reconstruction should proceed by presidential rather than Congressional initiative. Johnson favored a policy of conciliation and forgiveness toward the Southerners who had led the Confederacy, repudiation of all Confederate debts, and ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery.
Both Lincoln and Johnson excepted certain Confederate groups from amnesty. Nevertheless, under Johnson, former Confederates in the excepted groups found
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