Johnson, Grant and the cost of restoring the republic

The assessment doubts that either Johnson or Grant would choose war to restore the liberals after a successful imperial settlement. French troops would raise the cost of intervention. The comparison weighs national reconciliation and experience of destructive campaigning as reasons to avoid another conflict. Even victory would cost lives, while naval losses can conceal their physical aftermath because ships and victims disappear beneath the sea. A surviving Mexican empire would still need to work out a durable relationship with the United States.