Republican Party during the Johnson Administration
At the time of President Lincoln’s second inauguration, Confederate forces were in the final stages of retreat from impending defeat at the hands of overwhelming Union forces. Within a month, the Confederate capitol of Richmond was occupied; on 4/5/1865, one third of General Lee’s remaining army was captured in the Battle of Saylor’s Creek. Lee surrendered to General Grant three days later. Three days after that, President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. The Civil War and the Lincoln Presidency were over.
President Johnson’s administration began with a series of advances. The remaining Confederate forces surrendered one by one, and Jefferson Davis was apprehended on 5/10/1865. Johnson declared an amnesty to former Confederates who would take an oath of allegiance to the federal government. He then began to organize new governments in the former states of the Confederacy. New state constitutions forbade the existence of slavery.
Republican leaders in Congress were dissatisfied with the results of the new southern governments. U.S. Senator Charles Sumner (R-MA) wrote on 7/8/1865 that the new governments might not be recognized if they did not grant the newly freed slaves the right to vote. Just before Congress assembled, Mississippi passed the first of the "Black Codes" which limited the rights of blac
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Republican Party during the Johnson Administration
At the time of President Lincoln’s second inauguration, Confederate forces were in the final stages of retreat from impending defeat at the hands of overwhelming Union forces. Within a month, the Confederate capitol of Richmond was occupied; on 4/5/1865, one third of General Lee’s remaining army was captured in the Battle of Saylor’s Creek. Lee surrendered to General Grant three days later. Three days after that, President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. The Civil War and the Lincoln Presidency were over.
President Johnson’s administration began with a series of advances. The remaining Confederate forces surrendered one by one, and Jefferson Davis was apprehended on 5/10/1865. Johnson declared an amnesty to former Confederates who would take an oath of allegiance to the federal government. He then began to organize new governments in the former states of the Confederacy. New state constitutions forbade the existence of slavery.
Republican leaders in Congress were dissatisfied with the results of the new southern governments. U.S. Senator Charles Sumner (R-MA) wrote on 7/8/1865 that the new governments might not be recognized if they did not grant the newly freed slaves the right to vote. Just before Congress assembled, Mississippi passed the first of the "Black Codes" which limited the rights of blacks. In response to the failure of the new southern governments to protect the newly gained rights of blacks, Congress refused to seat their newly elected U.S. Senators and Representatives.
The rift between President Johnson and Congress boiled over in early 1866. Johnson vetoed an extension of the Freedmen’s Bureau. One month later, Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Act, which was intended to nullify the Black Codes. The Senate passed the Civil Rights Act over the veto on 4/6/1865, and the House followed suit three days later. It was the first major piece of legislation passed over the veto of a President. Believing that Johnson would return the South to its antebellum political order, Congress passed the 14th Amendment on 6/16/1866 to permanently secure black men the right to vote. Johnson, recognizing his lack of support in Congress, called a national convention of the National Union Party; it met in Philadelphia on 8/14/1866 and attempted to establish a "moderate" party based on the principles of white supremacy. Afterward, Johnson embarked upon a speaking tour from 8/28 to 9/15/1866 to call attention to his new party. His poorly written speeches and vitriol against Congress backfired, and the crowds were more impressed by Johnson's companion through the journey, General Grant.
In the congressional elections of 1866-1867, the Democrats and the National Union candidates were handed a major defeat at the polls. Jubilant Republicans passed a series of acts, beginning with the First Reconstruction Act by the lame duck session of Congress in early 1867. Several other important acts were passed over President Johnson’s vetoes. After Johnson removed Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton from office in violation of one of these acts, Congress began impeachment proceedings. On 12/7/1867, the House voted against impeachment. However, when Johnson did not accept an opportunity to replace Stanton with someone else, the House reversed course and voted for impeachment on 2/24/1868 by a margin of 126 to 47.
Salmon P. Chase presided over President Johnson’s trial in the Senate from 5/11-26/1868. The vote on the first article on 5/17/1868 failed to garner the necessary two-thirds vote. Votes on other articles ensued with similar results; the 5/26/1868 vote on the last article was 35 Guilty to 19 Not Guilty. The President had survived by a single vote. Benjamin F. Wade, President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate, was foiled in his attempt to become the President.
Convention Organization
The 4th Republican National Convention assembled in Crosby’s Opera House in Chicago IL just as the impeachment trial was nearing its end. It was already clear that Johnson would survive. Names of two men had been mentioned as presidential candidate material: Salmon Chase and Ulysses Grant. However, Republican newspapers suggested in their coverage that Chase was sympathetic to Johnson while presiding over the trial, and by the time of the convention only Grant remained as a candidate.
Temporary Chairman: Carl Schurz MO
Permanent Chairman: Joseph R. Hawley CT
The convention faced three credentials issues. First, two states sent competing delegations: CA and MD. Second, when Schurz attempted to preclude delegates from the South, the convention overruled him. Third, Colorado was seated as a state; after Johnson vetoed its admission, the Republicans did not have the votes to override the veto.
Platform
1. Hailed the successes of radical Reconstruction; 2. Insisted upon equal male suffrage; 3. Advocated a sound monetary policy; and 4. Advocated economy of government.
Nominations.
U.S. Representative John A. Logan IL placed Grant’s name in nomination in the shortest presidential nomination speech in Republican Party history. The following roll call was unanimous.
Unanimity among the delegates ended when the Vice Presidential nomination began. Several leading Republicans were placed in nomination: Schuyler Colfax IN (Speaker of the U.S. House), Benjamin F. Wade (President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate), Reuben E. Fenton (Governor of New York), and others including Andrew J. Curtain and Hannibal Hamlin. Wade led on the first four ballots. After Colfax slipped past him on the fifth ballot, most states shifted their votes to Colfax:
| Contender | First Ballot | 2d | 3d | 4th | 5th before shifts | 5th after shifts |
| Schuyler Colfax IN | 115 | 145 | 165 | 186 | 226 | 541 |
| Benjamin F. Wade OH | 147 | 170 | 178 | 206 | 207 | 38 |
| Reuben E. Fenton NY | 126 | 144 | 139 | 144 | 139 | 69 |
| Henry Wilson MA | 119 | 114 | 101 | 87 | 56 | 0 |
| Andrew G. Curtain PA | 51 | 45 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hannibal Hamlin ME | 28 | 30 | 25 | 25 | 20 | 0 |
| Scattering | 62 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Popular vote of 1868
Electoral vote of 1868
3d Republican National Convention (1864)
5th Republican National Convention (1872)
Inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant (1869)
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