Senator Wade was an able man, but there were others who were much more brilliant.  He was a strong party man.  He had no patience with those who claimed to be Republicans and yet refused to abide by the decision of the majority of the party organization unless that decision should be what they wanted.  In short, he was an organization Republican,—­what has since been characterized by some as a machine man,—­the sort of active and aggressive man that would be likely to make for himself enemies of men in his own organization who were afraid of his great power and influence, and jealous of him as a political rival.  That some of his senatorial Republican associates should feel that the best service they could render their country would be to do all in their power to prevent such a man from being elevated to the Presidency was, perhaps, perfectly natural:  for while they knew that he was a strong and able man, they also knew that, according to his convictions of party duty and party obligations, he firmly believed that he who served his party best served his country best.  In giving expression to his views and convictions, as he usually did with force and vigor, he was not always considerate of the wishes and feelings of those with whom he did not agree.  That he would have given the country an able administration is the concurrent opinion of those who knew him best.

While President Johnson was retained in office he was practically shorn of the greater part of the power and patronage that attaches to the office.  This was done through the passage of a bill, over the president’s veto, known as the Tenure of Office Act.  The constitutionality of this act, which greatly curtailed the power of the President to make removals from office, was seriously questioned at the time, but it was passed as a political necessity,—­to meet an unusual and unexpected emergency that seemed to threaten the peace and tranquillity of the country and practically to nullify the fruits of the victory which had been won on the field of battle.  The law was repealed or materially modified as soon as President Johnson retired from office.  The President also vetoed all the reconstruction bills,—­bills conferring suffrage on the colored men in the States that were to be reconstructed,—­that passed Congress; but they were promptly passed over the veto.

The rejection by the country of the Johnson plan of reconstruction, had clearly demonstrated that no halfway measures were possible.  If the colored men were not enfranchised then the Johnson plan might as well be accepted.  The Republican or Union white men at the South were not sufficient in numbers to make their power or influence felt.  The necessities of the situation, therefore, left no alternative but the enfranchisement of the blacks.  It was ascertained and acknowledged that to make possible the reconstruction of the States lately in rebellion, in accordance with the plan which had met with the emphatic approval of the North, the enfranchisement of the blacks in the States to be reconstructed was an absolute necessity.