Johnson ordered General Grant not to recognize Stanton’s authority as war secretary and forbade Grant from following any orders to the army that Stanton might issue. The formerly imperturbable Grant refused. The news was stunning. The President of the United States had not only impugned the character of the country’s biggest war hero but was asking him to break the law: to disobey the Tenure of Office Act, which protected Stanton’s position as war secretary.
