Andrew Johnson: Laws Broken And Their Consequences

Andrew Johnson was the first US president to be impeached. He was impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, specifically for violating the Tenure of Office Act by attempting to remove Edwin Stanton from his position as Secretary of War. Johnson's impeachment was the culmination of a series of clashes with Congress over Reconstruction policies following the Civil War. Johnson favoured more lenient policies towards former Confederate states, which Radical Republicans in Congress opposed. Johnson's impeachment trial in the Senate began on March 5, 1868, and he narrowly avoided conviction by a single vote.

Andrew Johnson's violation of the Tenure of Office Act

Andrew Johnson was the first president of the United States to be impeached. The primary charge against him was that he had violated the Tenure of Office Act.

The Tenure of Office Act was passed by Congress in March 1867 over Johnson's veto. It was designed to prevent Johnson from firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, who often sided with the Radical Republican faction and had a good relationship with the president. The Act required the president to seek the Senate's advice and consent before relieving or dismissing any member of his cabinet or, indeed, any federal official whose initial appointment had previously required its advice and consent.

Johnson attempted to dismiss Stanton and replace him with Brevet Major General Lorenzo Thomas as secretary of war ad interim. Stanton refused to vacate his office and ordered Thomas arrested for violating the Tenure of Office Act. Johnson's opponents in Congress were outraged by his actions, and in response, an impeachment resolution was introduced in the House by Representatives Thaddeus Stevens and John Bingham. Johnson was impeached in the House of Representatives by 126 votes to 47, but he narrowly avoided a two-thirds guilty verdict in the Senate by a single vote.

Johnson's dismissal of Edwin Stanton

Andrew Johnson's impeachment was initiated by the United States House of Representatives on February 24, 1868, for "high crimes and misdemeanors". The primary charge against him was that he had violated the Tenure of Office Act by attempting to dismiss Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War, and replace him with Brevet Major General Lorenzo Thomas as secretary of war ad interim. Stanton was a Radical Republican who had a good relationship with Johnson. However, he vehemently opposed Johnson's lenient Reconstruction policies and consequently worked with Republicans to implement Congressional Reconstruction in the South.

The Tenure of Office Act had been passed by Congress in March 1867 over Johnson's veto. Its primary intent was to protect Stanton from being fired without the Senate's consent. Per the law, if the president dismissed an officer appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate when the Senate was in recess, and the Senate voted upon reconvening against ratifying the removal, the president would be required to reinstate the individual.

Johnson first suspended Stanton on August 5, 1867, and appointed General Ulysses S. Grant as interim Secretary of War. When the Senate voted against Johnson's removal of Stanton in December 1867, Grant resigned, fearing punitive legal action. Johnson then attempted to replace Stanton with Lorenzo Thomas on February 21, 1868, which led to his impeachment. Stanton barricaded himself inside the War Department, refusing to vacate his office, and the Senate voted to reinstate him. Stanton finally resigned in May 1868.

Johnson's lenient Reconstruction policy

Andrew Johnson's impeachment was initiated by the United States House of Representatives on February 24, 1868, for "high crimes and misdemeanours". The primary charge against him was that he had violated the Tenure of Office Act by acting to remove Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War, and replacing him with Brevet Major General Lorenzo Thomas as secretary of war ad interim.

Under Johnson's Reconstruction, all land that had been confiscated by the Union Army and distributed to the formerly enslaved people by the army or the Freedmen's Bureau (established by Congress in 1865) reverted to its prewar owners. Apart from being required to uphold the abolition of slavery (in compliance with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution), swear loyalty to the Union, and pay off war debt, southern state governments were given free rein to rebuild themselves.

As a result of Johnson's leniency, many southern states in 1865 and 1866 successfully enacted a series of laws known as the "Black Codes", which were designed to restrict freed Black people's activity and ensure their availability as a labour force. These repressive codes enraged many in the North, including numerous members of Congress, which refused to seat congressmen and senators elected from the southern states.

In early 1866, Congress passed the Freedmen's Bureau and Civil Rights Bills and sent them to Johnson for his signature. Johnson vetoed the bills, causing a permanent rupture in his relationship with Congress that would culminate in his impeachment in 1868. The Civil Rights Act became the first major bill to become law over presidential veto.

Johnson's opposition to the 14th and 15th Amendments

Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, was the first president to be impeached. Johnson was a white supremacist and a Jacksonian Democrat who opposed the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.

The 14th Amendment, which was passed by Congress in 1866, gave citizenship to former slaves and guaranteed voting rights for black males. Johnson, who had supported an end to slavery in the 1860s, opposed this amendment, stating:

> "This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government for white men."

Johnson's opposition to the 14th Amendment was part of his broader desire to accept Southern states back into the Union without reconstructing their laws to guarantee basic liberties to African Americans. This lenient approach to Reconstruction, along with his tendency to speak off-the-cuff and inebriated against his political opponents, led to increasing conflict with Congress, which was controlled by the Radical Republicans.

The 15th Amendment, which was adopted in 1870, dealt with voting rights, specifically prohibiting the denial or abridgement of the right to vote by the United States or any state based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Johnson's successor, Ulysses S. Grant, supported this amendment, which granted voting rights to African American men.

Johnson's impeachment trial

Andrew Johnson was the first president of the United States to be impeached. Johnson, a Southerner who supported the North during the Civil War, was initially vice president to Abraham Lincoln. After Lincoln's assassination, Johnson became president. However, his ideas about how to deal with the former Confederacy were quite different from those of his majority-Republican Congress.

Johnson favoured lenient Reconstruction policies for the former Confederate states. He issued proclamations of general amnesty for most former Confederates and oversaw the creation of new governments in the former rebellious states—governments dominated by ex-Confederate officials. Johnson also vetoed legislation that would have extended the Freedmen's Bureau and expanded its powers, denounced Radical Republicans, and vetoed a Civil Rights Act and a second Freedmen's Bureau bill.

In response, Congress passed a series of Reconstruction Acts, each one overriding the president's veto, addressing requirements for Southern states to be fully restored to the Union. These acts divided the Southern states into five military districts, and each state's government was put under the control of the U.S. military. Additionally, these states were required to enact new constitutions, ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, and guarantee voting rights for Black males.

In an attempt to curb Johnson's power, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act in 1867, which prevented the president from firing cabinet members without the Senate's consent. Johnson vetoed the bill, but Congress overrode the veto.

Johnson attempted to dismiss his Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, who was a staunch Radical Republican. Stanton was tasked with carrying out most of the Congressional Reconstruction plan, and Johnson suspended him from his office while Congress was in recess, appointing Ulysses S. Grant as interim Secretary of War. When the Senate returned, they reinstated Stanton, and Johnson responded by firing him and appointing Lorenzo Thomas, a general Stanton disliked, in his place. Stanton arrested Thomas for violating the Tenure of Office Act.

In March 1868, the House of Representatives approved nine articles of impeachment and brought them to the Senate. Johnson's impeachment trial became a public spectacle, with so many people attending that the Senate began to hold a lottery for gallery passes. Johnson was impeached in the House of Representatives by 126 votes to 47, but he narrowly avoided a two-thirds guilty verdict in the Senate by a single vote. After his acquittal, he served out the rest of his term.

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