The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre changed the course of Reconstruction in the US after the Civil War. Had Lincoln lived, he likely would have pursued a more moderate reconstruction that focused on reunifying the country. However, Lincoln's death left Andrew Johnson as president, who had less control over the radical Republicans in Congress. This led Congress to impose harsher reconstruction policies to punish the South. The assassination thus had long-lasting impacts by altering the approach to reconstructing the former Confederate states.