Kara Sears
President Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 for violating the Tenure Act passed by Congress to protect Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Johnson removed Stanton from office while Congress was out of session, which was legal, but his temporary appointment of US Grant failed with Grant's resignation and Sherman's refusal to take the position. Johnson removed Stanton anyway, in violation of the Tenure Act.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Law broken | Tenure Act/Tenure of Office Act |
| Person protected by the law | Edwin M. Stanton/Secretary of War Stanton |
| Person who broke the law | President Andrew Johnson |
| Year of impeachment | 1868 |
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What You'll Learn
Johnson removed Stanton from office, violating the Tenure Act
President Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 for removing Edwin M. Stanton from his position as Secretary of the Department of War. Johnson's actions violated the Tenure Act, which had been passed by Congress to protect Stanton. The Tenure Act made it illegal for Johnson to remove or replace any members of his cabinet that he had inherited from President Lincoln.
Johnson removed Stanton while Congress was out of session, which was legal. However, his temporary appointment of US Grant failed due to Grant's resignation and Sherman's refusal to take the position. Johnson removed Stanton anyway, in violation of the Tenure Act. The law that Congress had passed and Johnson violated was deemed to be unconstitutional, and Johnson had sought a test case before the Supreme Court. Johnson violated the law without a test case and was impeached.
In reality, the reason Johnson was impeached was not solely due to his violation of the law, but because he violated the will of Congress by attempting to soften the penalties facing the South after the Civil War. Johnson, who was from the South, wanted a more humane approach to reconstruction, which conflicted with the Republican majority in Congress, who sought to punish the South and promote former slaves in politics and business.
The impeachment articles against President Johnson included defying the Tenure of Office Act, violating the Army Appropriations Act, and making utterances, declarations, threats, and harangues against Congress.
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Johnson was impeached for violating the will of Congress
President Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 for removing Edwin M. Stanton from his position as Secretary of War. Stanton was protected by the Tenure of Office Act, a law passed by Congress to prevent Johnson from removing or replacing any members of his cabinet that he had inherited from President Lincoln. Johnson removed Stanton while Congress was out of session, which was legal, but his temporary appointment of US Grant failed with Grant's resignation and Sherman's refusal to take the position. Johnson removed Stanton anyway, in violation of the Tenure Act.
The Tenure of Office Act was later invalidated as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, but Johnson had sought a test case before the Supreme Court before removing Stanton. Johnson violated the law without a test case and so was impeached. However, the reason Johnson was impeached was not that he violated the law, but that he violated the will of Congress by attempting to soften the penalties facing the South because of the Civil War. Johnson, who was from the South, wanted a more humane approach to reconstruction, which was opposed by the Republicans in Congress, who wanted to punish the South and promote former slaves in politics and business.
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Johnson defied the Tenure of Office Act
The law that Congress had passed and Johnson violated was deemed to be unconstitutional, and Johnson had sought a test case before the Supreme Court. However, Johnson violated the law without a test case and was impeached. In reality, the reason Johnson was impeached was not that he violated the law, but that he violated the will of Congress by attempting to soften the penalties facing the South because of the Civil War.
The Tenure of Office Act was later invalidated as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1926.
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Johnson violated the Army Appropriations Act
President Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 for violating the Tenure Act passed by Congress to protect Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Johnson removed Stanton from office while Congress was out of session, which was legal. However, his temporary appointment of US Grant failed due to Grant's resignation and Sherman's refusal to take the position. Johnson also violated (and encouraged others to violate) the Army Appropriations Act.
The Tenure Act was passed by the Republican majority in Congress to make it illegal for President Johnson to remove or replace any members of his cabinet that he had inherited from President Lincoln. The goal of this law was to protect Stanton, who opposed Johnson's plans for the reconstruction of the South following the Civil War. Johnson, who was from the South, wanted a more humane approach to reconstruction.
Johnson removed Stanton from office in violation of the Tenure Act. The law that Congress had passed and Johnson violated was deemed unconstitutional, and Johnson had sought a test case before the Supreme Court. Johnson violated the law without a test case and was impeached. However, it is argued that the real reason for his impeachment was not that he violated the law, but that he violated the will of Congress by attempting to soften the penalties facing the South because of the Civil War.
The impeachment articles adopted by the House against President Johnson included defying the Tenure of Office Act by removing Stanton from office. In addition, one article of impeachment accused the President of making utterances, declarations, threats, and harangues against Congress.
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Johnson made threats against Congress
President Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 for violating the Tenure Act passed by Congress to protect Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Johnson removed Stanton from office while Congress was out of session, which was legal, but his temporary appointment of US Grant failed with Grant's resignation and Sherman's refusal to take the position. Johnson removed Stanton anyway in violation of the Tenure Act. The law that Congress had passed and Johnson violated was later deemed to be unconstitutional, and Johnson had sought a test case before the Supreme Court. Johnson violated the law without a test case and so was impeached.
However, it was not just this violation of the Tenure Act that led to Johnson's impeachment. One article of impeachment accused the President of making utterances, declarations, threats, and harangues against Congress. Johnson was from the South and wanted a more humane approach to reconstruction following the Civil War. The Tenure Protection Act had been passed by the Republican majority in Congress to make it illegal for Johnson to remove or replace any members of his cabinet that he had inherited from President Lincoln. The goal of this law was to protect Stanton, who opposed Johnson's plans for the reconstruction of the South. The Republicans wanted to punish the South for the Civil War and to promote former slaves in politics and business. Johnson's impeachment was therefore due to his violation of the will of Congress by attempting to soften the penalties facing the South because of the Civil War.
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Frequently asked questions
President Johnson broke the Tenure Act passed by Congress to protect Stanton, the Secretary of War.
The law was passed to prevent President Johnson from removing or replacing any members of his cabinet which he had inherited from President Lincoln.
President Johnson wanted to remove Stanton, who opposed his plans for the reconstruction of the South after the Civil War.
