When the session ended , Sherman campaigned in Indiana and Ohio for Lincoln 's reelection . In 1865 , he attended Lincoln 's second inauguration , then traveled to Savannah , Georgia to meet with his brother William , who had arrived there after his army 's march to the sea . Sherman returned home to Mansfield in April , where he learned of Lincoln 's assassination just days after the Confederate surrender . He was again in Washington for the Grand Review of the Armies and then returned home until December , when the 39th Congress assembled . There had been no special session that summer , and President Andrew Johnson , Lincoln 's successor , had taken the lead on Reconstruction of the conquered South , to the consternation of many in Congress . Sherman and Johnson had been friendly , and some observers hoped that Sherman could serve as a liaison between Johnson and the party 's " Radical " wing . By February 1866 , however , Johnson was publicly attacking these Radical Republicans , who demanded harsh punishment of the rebels and federal action to assist the freedmen . The following month Johnson vetoed the proposed Civil Rights Act of 1866 , which had passed Congress with overwhelming numbers . Sherman joined in re-passing the bill over Johnson 's veto . That same year , Sherman voted for the Fourteenth Amendment , which guaranteed equal protection of the laws to the freedmen . It became law in 1868
Lincoln 's assassination
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
John Sherman