<P> The Radical Republicans opposed Lincoln's terms for reuniting the United States during Reconstruction, which began in 1863, which they viewed as too lenient . They proposed an "ironclad oath" that would prevent anyone who supported the Confederacy from voting in Southern elections; Lincoln blocked it . Radicals passed the Wade - Davis Bill in 1864; Lincoln vetoed it . The Radicals demanded a more aggressive prosecution of the war, a faster end to slavery and total destruction of the Confederacy . After the war the Radicals controlled the Joint Committee on Reconstruction . </P> <P> After the assassination of Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson became president . Although he appeared at first to be a Radical, he broke with them, and the Radicals and Johnson became embroiled in a bitter struggle . Johnson proved a poor politician and his allies lost heavily in the 1866 elections in the North . The Radicals now had full control of Congress and could override Johnson's vetoes . </P> <P> After the 1866 elections, the Radicals generally controlled Congress . Johnson vetoed 21 bills passed by Congress during his term, but the Radicals overrode 15 of them, including the Reconstruction Acts and Enforcement Acts, which rewrote the election laws for the South and allowed blacks to vote, while prohibiting former Confederate Army officers from holding office . As a result of the 1867--68 elections, the newly empowered freedmen, in coalition with carpetbaggers (Northerners who had recently moved south) and Scalawags (white Southerners who supported Reconstruction), set up Republican governments in 10 Southern states (all but Virginia). </P> <P> The Radical plan was to remove Johnson from office, but the first effort at impeachment went nowhere . After Johnson violated the Tenure of Office Act by dismissing Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, the House of Representatives voted to impeach him; he escaped removal from office by the Senate by a single vote in 1868, but had lost most of his power . </P>

What were the goals of the radical republican program