<P> Lincoln continued to advocate his Louisiana Plan as a model for all states up until his assassination on April 14, 1865 . The plan successfully started the Reconstruction process of ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment in all states . Lincoln is typically portrayed as taking the moderate position and fighting the Radical positions . There is considerable debate on how well Lincoln, had he lived, would have handled Congress during the Reconstruction process that took place after the Civil War ended . One historical camp argues that Lincoln's flexibility, pragmatism, and superior political skills with Congress would have solved Reconstruction with far less difficulty . The other camp believes the Radicals would have attempted to impeach Lincoln, just as they did to his successor, Andrew Johnson, in 1868 . </P> <P> Northern anger over the assassination of Lincoln and the immense human cost of the war led to demands for punitive policies . Vice President Andrew Johnson had taken a hard line and spoke of hanging rebel Confederates, but when he succeeded Lincoln as President, Johnson took a much softer position, pardoning many Confederate leaders and former Confederates . Jefferson Davis was held in prison for two years, but other Confederate leaders were not . There were no treason trials . Only one person--Captain Henry Wirz, the commandant of the prison camp in Andersonville, Georgia--was executed for war crimes . Andrew Johnson's conservative view of Reconstruction did not include blacks or former slaves involvement in government and he refused to heed Northern concerns when southern state legislatures implemented Black Codes that set the status of the freedmen much lower than that of citizens . </P> <P> Smith argues that, "Johnson attempted to carry forward what he considered to be Lincoln's plans for Reconstruction ." McKitrick says that in 1865 Johnson had strong support in the Republican Party, "It was naturally from the great moderate sector of Unionist opinion in the North that Johnson could draw his greatest comfort ." Billington says, "One faction, the Moderate Republicans under the leadership of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, favored a mild policy toward the South ." Lincoln biographers Randall and Current argued that: </P> <Dl> <Dd> It is likely that had he lived, Lincoln would have followed a policy similar to Johnson's, that he would have clashed with congressional Radicals, that he would have produced a better result for the freedmen than occurred, and that his political skills would have helped him avoid Johnson's mistakes ." </Dd> </Dl>

What was the reconstruction after the civil war