The president who succeeded Abraham Lincoln was Andrew Johnson as the president of the United States. After his was swearing in as president, he faced the issue of how to handle the defeated confederate states that supported slavery. There were radical republicans who were against granting black slaves rights to education, to vote and rights to own property. Johnson’s greatest concern was Abraham`s postwar policy. Andrew faced an imminent impeachment when he fired the secretary of war. Lyndon Johnson succeeded john F. Kennedy as the 37th president; Lyndon was faced with the challenge of providing continued stability after Kennedy and extending john Kennedy’s legacy of racial justice (Guelzo & Allen, 2003). The war in Vietnam was an issue that Lyndon had to handle. Lincoln was against slavery, which the south confederate state supported for this he never liked the south hardliners. President Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln shared numerous coincidences in their tenures as presidents. Both of them were assassinated by gun shots, both of them defeated incumbent vice presidents for the seat, both were elected to presidency in `60. They both lost sons during their tenures as presidents. These are among many coincidences that characterized the two leaders.
In the period of 1865-1868, the American civil war ended and General Lee surrendered the confederate army, later Abraham was assassinated. The thirteenth amendment of the constitution was ratified abolishing the slave trade. The 14th amendment of the constitution that overruled the clause that denied slave`s citizenship. These amendments greatly curbed the issues that Andrew faced in his presidency (Rivera & Sheila, 2005).
In the period of 1964-1968, president Lyndon declared a campaign against poverty and racial injustice, the president signed the civil rights act into law. Dr. Martin Luther king Jr received a Nobel Prize. This was a major boost for the civil rights activists.
President Andrew Johnson enjoyed enormous support from congress early in his tenure but later was impeached after he removed the secretary of war from office. To the contrary Lyndon Johnson proved that he had earned the presidency. With congressional support he passed many legislation which were geared to protecting Americans and betterment of lives. Lyndon built his legacy around the support for civil rights but hit a slug after the devastating effects of the Vietnam War (Guelzo & Allen, 2003).
Both Lincoln and Kennedy made good choices in their choices for vice presidents. After they`re assassinations both Andrew Johnson and Lyndon Johnson championed the policies of their predecessors and later faced for Andrew Johnson he even faced impeachment. Had Lincoln and Kennedy both lived the fight against racial injustices and advocacy for civil rights movements would have had strong advocators as the two presidents campaigns were geared to equality among all members of the society (Guelzo & Allen, 2003).
Work cited
Gordon-Reed, Annette. Andrew Johnson. , 2011. Internet resources.
Trefousse, Hans L. Andrew Johnson: A Biography. New York [u.a.: Norton, 1997. Print.
Guelzo, Allen C. Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans, 2003. Print.
Rivera, Sheila. Doctor. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Co, 2005. Print.
Stone, Tanya L. Abraham Lincoln. London: DK Pub, 2004. Print.
