In April, 1865 VP Andrew Johnson became president after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He is not popular, nor was he a good president. He was actually the first president to be impeached in American history. A former democratic senator from TN, Johnson had no desire to help African Americans. He preferred to call Reconstruction, "Restoration." We discussed the 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments known as the "Civil War" amendments. We discussed the Black Codes and the opposing Civil Rights Act of 1866 which for the time being, overturned the Black Codes. Pres. Johnson attempted to veto both the Freedmen's Bureau & Civil Rights Act; he also railed against the 14th amendment & tried to intervene in the mid-term elections against republicans in Congress. Newly re-elected Radical Republicans in Congress quickly took charge of Reconstruction. Congress passed the Reconstruction Act in 1867 calling for the creation of new govts., in 10 Southern states that hadn't ratified the 14th amendment, guaranteed African American men the right to vote in state elections, and prevented former Confederate leaders from holding office. A Second Reconstruction Act required military leaders to begin registering voters & prepare for new state constitutional conventions. By 1867, Congress voted to impeach Pres. Johnson (the first president to be impeached) due to his lack of cooperation with Reconstruction. He was not convicted and remained in office through 1869 as former Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had won the presidential election of 1868.