Lincoln's assassination left a vulnerable Andrew Johnson, a Southerner and former slave owner with no college education, President. After the Civil war, and after Lincoln's assassination, Congress was controlled a group called the "Radical Republicans". Lincoln had been able to control them and had proposed a plan for reconstruction that looked to treating the South like a long lost brother. Reconstruction was look to as a time of healing to Lincoln. The Radical Republicans, however, looked to "teach a lesson" to the South and to punish them. Lincoln would have been able to control the Republicans, but his death left a void in leadership that needed to be filled. The new President, Andrew Johnson, was a Southerner. As you can imagine, the bitter irony was not lost on the Radical Republicans, who hated him even before he was President. Johnson proposed a plan similar to Lincoln's. Suffice to say, Congress was not amused. The relationship between Lincoln and Congress soured quickly. Many laws that Congress passed angered the South. Needless to say, Andrew Johnson was probably the worst President.