Contributor.
For most presidential historians, the period following the Civil War ranks among the most difficult eras in U.S. history.
Why had Congress stepped in, other than its dislike of the 17th president and his overall policies regarding Reconstruction?
In early March 1867, Congress took bold steps to restrict President Andrew Johnson's authority.
Battle lines had once again been drawn — this time in Washington, DC, instead of along the Mason-Dixon line.
After all that serious "Tennessee talk" about the Confederacy and the elitist class of leaders, Johnson appeared to have crumbled in his resolve.
Andrew Johnson was not going to easily comply with Republicans' demands or their plans to lead reconstruction policy.
How did Andrew Johnson become president? And who was this difficult-to-define man?
On April 9, 1865, the nation's long nightmare was ended. But celebration in the North was short-lived.
How would Abraham Lincoln move to hold the Union together while at the same time waging war against its own citizens? Deftly.
On the morning of April 12, 1861, Confederate guns opened fire. The United States Civil War had begun.
In the simplest of explanations, Southern leaders looked back at the Union's history for their justification for secession.
A storm that had been brewing since the Philadelphia and Declaration of Independence days now threatened lightning, thunder, and torrential floods of death in an armed conflict.
Revisiting a time of intense political strife in 1860 helps provide perspective.
From the time of his inauguration until his quiet departure from the White House, James Buchanan's term witnessed a whirlwind.
Even with violence ripping the region apart, Franklin Pierce was hesitant to send federal troops.
Pierce was not a strong leader, and he doomed the nation to eventually settle the slavery issue with arms.
Perhaps Millard Fillmore can take some solace in the fact that few remember his successor.
His rise to the presidency is a classic rags-to-riches tale that deserves a retelling.
