Had Johnson's policies prevailed for the past 150 years, the District of Columbia would never have had African-American mayors or council members  or even any blacks among the city's electorate. In 1867, Johnson vetoed legislation giving African-American men the right to vote in the District. That precious right was, thankfully, granted three days later, but only because Congress overrode Johnson's veto. (Johnson expressed his strong anti-black feelings in his message about a veto of the first Reconstruction Act: "The negroes have not asked for the privilege of voting; the vast majority of them have no idea what it means.")