If they were hanged those states would suffer from a leadership vacuum.

Support from former Confederate leaders was crucial to rebuilding the south, both physically and physiologically as a part of the post-war United States.

Where would the U.S. government have drawn the line of who was considered a "leader?" Anyone elected or appointed to an office under the Confederate Constitution? Should anyone elected to offices under state constitutions be included as "leaders?" What about generals and admirals, were they Confederate leaders? Were all Confederate officers?

Numerous former Confederate officers went on to serve in Congress after the Civil War.

Some notable Confederates who served in politics after the war include :

James Zachariah George who signed the Ordinance of Secession and served as an officer in the Confederacy. After the war he had a career in politics including as a U.S. Senator.

Wade Hampton III served as a Confederate general and after the war was Governor of South Carolina and a U.S. Senator.

Alexander Hamilton Stephens was Vice President of the CSA. After the war he returned to Congress and was elected Governor of Georgia.

Zebulon Baird Vance organized his own military company during the war in North Carolina before being elected governor in 1862. After the war he was again elected as governor and served in the U.S. Senate.

Joseph Wheeler was an officer in the U.S. Army before the war, during the war he was Confederate cavalry general, and after the war he rejoined the U.S. Army and had a long, distinguished career.