To Bind Up The Nation’s Wounds
President Johnson Impeachment
After the Civil War,
Republicans yelled
“I.M.P.E.A.C.H.!”
To Bind Up The Nation’s Wounds
President Johnson Impeachment
I. Impeachment in 1868
On February 21, 1868, President Andrew Johnson removed
Edwin Stanton as Secretary of War and replaced him with General
Lorenzo Thomas
Three days later, Radical Republicans in Congress impeached
him for “high crimes and misdemeanors”
To Bind Up The Nation’s Wounds
President Johnson Impeachment
M. Mainly violated
Tenure of Office Act
This 1867 law was passed over the veto of President Johnson
It said the President could not remove from office anyone
appointed by the President and approved by the Senate, unless
the Senate approved the removal
Johnson violated the law with his removal of Secretary Stanton
The law was repealed in 1887 and in 1926 the Supreme Court
ruled it was unconstitutional
To Bind Up The Nation’s Wounds
President Johnson Impeachment
P. President hated by
Radical Republicans
Radical Republicans supported tough treatment of the former
Confederate states whereas as President Johnson was rather
lenient
Johnson vetoed many Republican Reconstruction measures
including the Freedman’s Bureau and a Civil Rights Act
Johnson also failed to enforce Reconstruction laws in the South
that had been passed by Congress
To Bind Up The Nation’s Wounds
President Johnson Impeachment
E. Eleven charges
The House of Representatives sent eleven charges against
Johnson to the Senate
To Bind Up The Nation’s Wounds
President Johnson Impeachment
A. Avoids conviction by
one vote
The Senate voted 35-19 in favor of conviction
However, the U.S. Constitution requires a 2/3rd majority to remove a
President from office
A single changed vote would have removed Johnson from office
Future President John F. Kennedy will write about Kansas Senator
Edmund G. Ross (who cast the deciding vote that saved Johnson) in
his 1957 Pulitzer Prize winning book Profiles in Courage
To Bind Up The Nation’s Wounds
President Johnson Impeachment
C. Chief Justice Chase
presided
The Constitution stipulates that the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court presides over the trial in the Senate
Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase had been appointed to the
Supreme Court by Abraham Lincoln in 1864
In the only other Presidential impeachment trial (Bill Clinton),
Chief Justice William Rehnquist presided
To Bind Up The Nation’s Wounds
President Johnson Impeachment
H. Helped by seven
Republicans
Despite being brought up on charges by Radical Republicans,
seven Republicans voted against conviction
Kansas Republican Senator Edmund G. Ross cast the deciding
vote; Ross lost his bid for reelection in 1870