Final answer:
President Andrew Johnson's vision for the government was a strong executive-led restoration of the Union with limited rights for African Americans, not a radical change in government structure. Conflicts with the Radical Republicans characterized his term, with his policies eventually leading to an impeachment attempt.
Step-by-step explanation:
Initially, President Andrew Johnson wanted to punish the South for secession, but his stance evolved into a lenient approach towards Reconstruction, emphasizing a quick restoration of the Southern states to the Union without significant transformation. Johnson believed that it was the individuals, not the states, who rebelled, and so only they should be punished, allowing the states to retain their constitutional rights. He opposed giving freed slaves the rights and protections of citizenship, which he felt went too far beyond simply ending slavery. His tenure in office was marked by conflicts with the Radical Republicans, and despite initial support from them, his policies eventually led to an impeachment attempt.
Johnson's vision for the government did not aim to turn the United States into any radical new form of government but was a form of a mixed government, with the emphasis on a strong executive branch that could lead the nation's restoration without excessive congressional interference. His views were opposed to the Radical Republicans who had a more progressive stance on reconstruction and civil rights for African Americans. Nonetheless, philosophies of limited or expanded federal involvement have long been a subject of debate in American politics, as seen from Thomas Jefferson's preference for a smaller federal government to the Great Society programs of the modern era.