Editing Radical Republicans (section)

===Supporting Grant===
General [[Ulysses S. Grant]] in 1865–1868 was in charge of the Army under President Johnson, but Grant generally enforced the Radical agenda. The leading Radicals in Congress were Thaddeus Stevens in the House and [[Charles Sumner]] in the Senate. Grant was elected president as a Republican in [[1868 United States presidential election|1868]] and after the election he generally sided with the Radicals on Reconstruction policies and signed the [[Civil Rights Act of 1871]] into law.<ref>Brooks D. Simpson, ''The Reconstruction Presidents'' ch. 5, 6  (2009)</ref>

The Republicans split in [[1872 United States presidential election|1872]] over Grant's reelection, with the [[Liberal Republican Party (United States)|Liberal Republicans]], including Sumner, opposing Grant with a new third party. The Liberals lost badly, but the economy then went into a depression in 1873 and in 1874 the Democrats swept back into power and ended the reign of the Radicals.<ref name="Trefousse 1969">{{harvp|Trefousse|1969}}</ref>

The Radicals tried to protect the new coalition, but one by one the Southern states voted the Republicans out of power until in 1876 only three were left (Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina), where the Army still protected them. The [[1876 United States presidential election|1876 presidential election]] was so close that it was decided in those three states despite massive fraud and illegalities on both sides. The [[Compromise of 1877]] called for the election of a Republican as president and his withdrawal of the troops. Republican [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] withdrew the troops and the Republican state regimes immediately collapsed.<ref>Scroggs (1958)</ref>