But four years later, when in 1865 all that they had believed and feared in 1861 had come to pass, these men required no drastic measures to bring them to terms.

Events more potent than acts of Congress had already reconstructed them.

Lincoln with a forecast of this had shaped his ends accordingly.

Johnson, himself a Southern man, understood it even better than Lincoln, and backed by the legacy of Lincoln he proceeded not very skillfully to build upon it.
The assassination of Lincoln, however, had played directly into the hands of the radicals, led by Ben Wade in the Senate and Thaddeus Stevens in the House.

Prior to that baleful night they had fallen behind the marching van.