Impeaching Andrew Johnson
17th President Andrew Johnson
On February 24, 1868, the House of Representatives voted 126 to 47 to impeach President Andrew Johnson for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” This was the first time that an American president had ever been impeached, and it set the stage for one of the most politically biased episodes in U.S. history.
Background
After the Civil War, there were many questions about how the United States would be restored. Even before the war ended, President Abraham Lincoln had initiated a lenient restoration policy whereby southern citizens could reform their state governments if they swore allegiance to the Union, denounced secession, repudiated the Confederate debt, and recognized the abolition of slavery.
When Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865, he was succeeded by Vice President Andrew Johnson. The Republicans had selected Johnson, a southern Democrat, to be Lincoln’s running mate in the 1864 election to reunite the country. Now that Lincoln was gone, Johnson was mistrusted by many Republicans. He was especially mistrusted by the extremists, or “Radicals,” in the Republican Party who sought to punish the South for supposedly starting the war.
The Radical majority in Congress passed a series of laws to subjugate the southern states by placing them under direct federal military control. Johnson vetoed much of this legislation, but his vetoes were often overridden by two-thirds majorities. Even so, the Radicals plotted to remove Johnson as an impediment to their political agenda.
The Impeachment Process
An “impeachment” is an accusation of wrongdoing, much like an indictment in a criminal court. All impeachment proceedings must begin in the House of Representatives. The House Judiciary Committee determines if a president deserves impeachment, and if so, submits the charges (or “articles”) to the full House for a vote. If the full House for impeachment, a trial is held in the Senate.
The chief justice of the Supreme Court presides over the Senate trial. House members (or “managers”) are selected to serve as prosecutors for the case, while the defendant can obtain counsel for his defense. After hearing arguments for and against impeachment, the senators must vote on guilt or innocence. Two-thirds of the senators must vote “guilty” to obtain a conviction. If the necessary two-thirds majority is secured, the accused is removed from office.
The Tenure of Office Act
In 1867, Congress passed a law prohibiting the president from removing executive officials without Senate approval. In early 1868, President Johnson directly challenged this act by firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and replacing him with Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas. Stanton defied Johnson’s order by refusing to leave his office and having Thomas arrested. Thomas was quickly released on bail, mainly because he could have argued in court that the Tenure of Office Act was unconstitutional.
By firing Stanton, Johnson played right into the Radicals’ hands. They had made earlier impeachment attempts on vague premises, but they now believed they had a legitimate charge. Three days after Johnson fired Stanton, the full House (without even going through the Judiciary Committee) voted to impeach Johnson. The impeachment articles had not even been drafted before the vote.
Soon Radical congressmen, led by Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania, drew up 11 articles of impeachment. Most articles concerned Johnson’s violation of the Tenure of Office Act. The 10th article accused Johnson of bringing disgrace upon the presidency. The 11th merely summarized all the charges; it was a clever catch-all in case any of the first 10 articles failed to convict. As Stevens explained, “If my article is inserted, what chance has Andrew Johnson to escape? Unfortunate man, thus surrounded, hampered, tangled in the meshes of his own wickedness—unfortunate, unhappy man, behold your doom.”
After struggling to find lawyers to represent him, Johnson secured former Supreme Court Justice Benjamin R. Curtis, Attorney General Henry Stanberry, William S. Groesbeck, and William Evarts. They were given little time to prepare for the trial, which began on March 30.
The Senate Trial
The Senate created a court of impeachment to hear the charges against Johnson. If he was convicted, he would be replaced by Senate President Pro Tempore Benjamin Wade. Wade was so confident that Johnson would be convicted that he had selected his cabinet members before the impeachment trial even began. Many expressed shock that Wade did not recuse himself from the proceedings, considering that he would have personally gained by voting for conviction.
The most important issue in the trial was whether cabinet members were included in the Tenure of Office Act. The Senate sponsor insisted that they were not, which would mean that Johnson was not guilty, while the House sponsors insisted that they were, which would mean Johnson’s conviction. Cabinet members were not explicitly included in the legislation, and this gave Johnson a legitimate defense.
When the trial began the House managers, mostly Radicals, presented their case against Johnson. Radical Benjamin Butler of Massachusetts railed against southern atrocities that had little to do with Johnson; even some fellow Radicals were embarrassed by the display. Other prosecutors tried to portray Johnson as a dictator plotting to overthrow the government.
Witnesses were bribed to testify against Johnson, and those supporting the president were denied testimony. Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase expressed shock at Senate shamelessness in excluding evidence “appropriate to enlighten the court as to the intent with which the act (of dismissing Stanton) was done.”
Meanwhile, Johnson’s defense attorneys argued two fundamental premises: 1) the Tenure of Office Act was not meant to include cabinet members, and even if it did, then 2) the Tenure of Office Act included the words “during the term of the President by whom he was appointed.” By this language, Johnson could not have violated the act because he did not appoint Stanton to the job in the first place; Lincoln did.
As the trial went on, it became clear that there was no evidence of criminal intent by Johnson. Many Radicals were disheartened because they knew they could not convict Johnson based on the evidence. However, there was still a Radical Republican supermajority in the Senate, which meant that conviction was still highly possible.
The Verdict and Precedent
If two-thirds (or 36) of the senators voted to convict on any of the 11 articles, Johnson would be removed from office. Of the 11 articles, eight had been voted down during the trial, leaving only the 2nd, 3rd, and 11th (catch-all) article. It was decided to vote upon the catch-all 11th article first.
The impeachers brought intimidators to Washington in an effort to force wavering senators to vote for conviction. Politicians canvassed the senators for votes against Johnson like a party caucus. On May 3, the odds were in favor of conviction, but by May 8 the odds were even. The Radicals grew desperate because they knew their case was not strong enough to stand on its own merits. Corruption ran rampant on all sides, as allegations spread that a Democratic slush fund had been created to bribe senators to vote for acquittal.
On May 16, the votes were tallied on the 11th article. The result was 35 to 19 in favor of conviction. This fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict. No Democrats voted for conviction, and seven Republican senators defied their party by voting against conviction: William Fessenden of Maine, Joseph Fowler of Tennessee, James Grimes of Iowa, John Henderson of Missouri, Lyman Trumbull of Illinois, Peter Van Winkle of West Virginia, and Edmund Ross of Kansas.
Knowing that acquittal on the 11th article meant that the other two articles would also fail, the radicals adjourned for 10 days, hoping for a miracle. When they reconvened on May 26, the votes on articles two and three were both 35 to 19 to convict, once again falling one vote short. As a result, Johnson was acquitted of all charges and remained in office.
Some voting for acquittal were disturbed by how the Radicals had manipulated evidence; others were uncomfortable with the prospect of installing Wade as Johnson’s successor; and others simply felt that Johnson had not shown criminal intent. By voting to acquit, the senators adhered to the prevailing public opinion that opposed a Republican expansion of the federal government.
Andrew Johnson had broken no laws, and in fact had more closely adhered to the Constitution than the Republicans in Congress. Johnson was further vindicated in 1926 when the Supreme Court finally ruled that the Tenure of Office Act was unconstitutional.
Had Johnson been removed, he would have been replaced by Wade, a Radical, making both the executive and legislative branches uniform in ideology. This would have set a dangerous precedent that Congress could violate the separation of powers by removing a president not only for “high crimes and misdemeanors,” but for purely political reasons as well.
