He was drinking on Inauguration Day because he was suffering from some malady. He wasn’t actually a drunk. He apparently tried to not even attend the inauguration because of it.
I think there is more to it than that. Johnson aided the old Southern leadership class that supported the Confederacy regain power through his wholesale pardons. Southern promptly instituted the black codes which placed southern blacks in a distinctly inferior status. He vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The conflict with Congress over the status of former slaves was the central issue of Reconstruction. Congressional Republicans may have acted “unconstitutionally”, but the alternative was to allow white Southerners to win in peace what they could not in war. Eventually, however, they did, as Jim Crow laws, disenfranchisement, convict leasing, and other policies undermined the gains made during Reconstruction.
Johnson was dealt a bad hand, and Congress did go beyond its authority in passing the Tenure of Office Act. In addition, what happened on Inauguration Day, 1865, undermined his authority, creating, as you say, a bad impression. But isn't there also evidence that Johnson was a virulent racist whose approach to Reconstruction was neither moderate like Lincoln's nor vengeful like the Radical Republicans?
Johnson was a racist, but that's not what most of the Radicals held against him. He wanted to control Reconstruction. They wanted that control for themselves.
You’re absolutely right that opposition to Johnson and his impeachment and prosecution by radical Republicans was driven by their desire to control Reconstruction.
I have often wondered whether Lincoln, had he lived, would have fared much better in the post-war period than Johnson. People like Congressman James Garfield had a low estimation of Lincoln and the desire of radical Republicans for a vengeful peace would have put them at odds with Lincoln as much as with Johnson. Lincoln was more astute politician than Johnson, but historically, leaders who see their people through war are not always popular after the last shot is fired.
He was drinking on Inauguration Day because he was suffering from some malady. He wasn’t actually a drunk. He apparently tried to not even attend the inauguration because of it.
I think there is more to it than that. Johnson aided the old Southern leadership class that supported the Confederacy regain power through his wholesale pardons. Southern promptly instituted the black codes which placed southern blacks in a distinctly inferior status. He vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The conflict with Congress over the status of former slaves was the central issue of Reconstruction. Congressional Republicans may have acted “unconstitutionally”, but the alternative was to allow white Southerners to win in peace what they could not in war. Eventually, however, they did, as Jim Crow laws, disenfranchisement, convict leasing, and other policies undermined the gains made during Reconstruction.
Johnson was dealt a bad hand, and Congress did go beyond its authority in passing the Tenure of Office Act. In addition, what happened on Inauguration Day, 1865, undermined his authority, creating, as you say, a bad impression. But isn't there also evidence that Johnson was a virulent racist whose approach to Reconstruction was neither moderate like Lincoln's nor vengeful like the Radical Republicans?
Johnson was a racist, but that's not what most of the Radicals held against him. He wanted to control Reconstruction. They wanted that control for themselves.
You’re absolutely right that opposition to Johnson and his impeachment and prosecution by radical Republicans was driven by their desire to control Reconstruction.
I have often wondered whether Lincoln, had he lived, would have fared much better in the post-war period than Johnson. People like Congressman James Garfield had a low estimation of Lincoln and the desire of radical Republicans for a vengeful peace would have put them at odds with Lincoln as much as with Johnson. Lincoln was more astute politician than Johnson, but historically, leaders who see their people through war are not always popular after the last shot is fired.