Kennedy's entire chapter on Ross reads as though it's straight out of an early 20^th century textbook. It hews closely to the now-derided view of Reconstruction as an effort by vindictive, hotheaded extremists to override Johnson's "courageous" and laudable efforts to continue the lenient policies of Lincoln. That view, propagated especially by the Columbia historian William Dunning, was widely taught for decades. These days, the Dunning school is generally considered racist and reactionary. The Republicans are considered to have been both more prescient and more admirable in pressing for rights for the freed slaves, even as their partisanship got the better of them in the impeachment battle.