steven gilroy asks, what role, if any, did grant play in president johnson's impeachment grant? during the 1860s, during johnson's presidency, he remained the general in chief of the army, and he was involved a lot more, we would expect, say, a chairman of the joint chiefs of staff would be, which would be the modern counterpart to be involved in policy discussions. well, grant's during these years. grew more and more distant from andrew johnson immediately after the civil war. former confederate states were passing what were known as the black codes. these horribly discriminatory laws that sought to return formally enslaved people to a condition that very closely resembled slavery and johnson or the congress tried to respond to this by passing legislation to establish the basic civil rights of all citizens, regardless of race, and also to establish that citizenship begins birth. if you're born in this country, that's what the 14th amendment does in part. well, johnson opposes all reconstruction measures. he opposes the civil rights act, a bunch of freedman's bureau acts as reco