Democrat who remained loyal to the union during the civil war. In 1864, Abraham Lincoln at a johnson as Vice President to his take it to bolster his reelection chances and johnson ascended to the presidency following lincolns assassination in april 1865. The radical republicans in Congress Found johnsons reconstruction policies too lenient. As a response, they put forth the sweeping 14th amendment which included provisions to ensure former slave citizenship and equal protection and due process of law. Good morning. This is constitutional history of the United States. Today we will be talking about Andrew Johnson, reconstruction and the origins of the 14th amendment. The 14th amendment is an amendment to the constitution, one of the three civil war amendments that is so important and so scrutinized because of the role it played place in deciding whether the federal government has the right to protect individual rights, economic rights, corporate rights. That even judges and scholars who