Andrew Johnson

B

2

The 14th Amendment

The conflict between the executive and legislative branches continued over the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. The provisions of the amendment were similar to those of the Civil Rights Act, which Johnson had vetoed on the grounds that it was an unconstitutional invasion of states’ rights. When the president submitted the amendment to the states for ratification, he reiterated his opposition and advised the states to reject it. All the Southern states except Tennessee refused to ratify the amendment. The Radicals used the rejection to discredit Johnson’s Reconstruction program, claiming that the South could not be trusted with self-government.

B

3

Radical Control of Congress

During the congressional elections of 1866, Johnson campaigned through the East and Midwest for his Reconstruction program and against the Radicals. His efforts hurt his cause more than they helped. Hecklers in his audiences exasperated him into heated and undignified arguments. Radical newspapers played up the incidents and revived the false accusation that Johnson was an alcoholic.

The elections were a great victory for the Radical Republicans, who were elected and reelected in such numbers that they dominated Congress. They made an all-out attack on Johnson's Reconstruction program, replacing it with a severe one of their own, embodied in the Reconstruction Act of 1867 and three supplemental acts passed later that year and in 1868. Under this program, civil governments already in place in the Southern states were to give way to military rule. To regain their civil governments and win representation in Congress, the states would have to enfranchise the blacks and ratify the 14th Amendment.

Other measures were passed in February 1867 to prevent the president from interfering with the congressional Reconstruction program. The Tenure of Office Act forbade him to remove federal office holders, including Cabinet members, without the consent of the Senate. The Army Appropriations Act included the “command of the army” provisions, which were designed to deprive the president of his constitutional right to command the army. This act was condemned by Johnson, but he signed it into law. The other acts were vetoed by Johnson, but were passed over his veto. Congress now seemed all-powerful.

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B

4

Dismissal of Stanton

Secretary of War Stanton had been working with the Radicals from the beginning of Johnson’s presidency. In August 1867, while Congress was adjourned, Johnson suspended Stanton and named General Ulysses S. Grant to the post. In January 1868 the Senate refused to accept Stanton’s suspension. When Grant stepped out in favor of Stanton, the president again dismissed Stanton and appointed General Lorenzo Thomas as secretary of war. Supported by the Radicals, Stanton barricaded himself in his War Department office and refused to let Thomas in.

Congress seized on the Stanton affair to attempt to oust Johnson from the presidency. According to Section 4 of Article II of the U.S. Constitution, the president or any other federal officer may be removed from office if he is impeached and convicted of “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” In addition, according to the United States Constitution, the House of Representatives has the power to impeach, or accuse, while the Senate tries and judges in cases of impeachment.

C

Impeachment

On February 24, 1868, a resolution of impeachment was passed by the House of Representatives, and a committee was appointed to “report articles of impeachment” against the president. The committee consisted of seven Radicals, including Thaddeus Stevens, all of whom had voted for the impeachment resolution. By March 4 the committee had prepared 11 articles of impeachment, and on March 5, Chief Justice Chase began presiding over the impeachment trial of President Johnson before the Senate.

Of the 11 articles of impeachment, 10 were related to Johnson’s violation of the Tenure of Office Act and the “command of the army” provisions of the Army Appropriations Act. The only other charge was a general accusation that Johnson had attempted to undermine Congress. An outrageous charge that Johnson had been involved in Lincoln’s assassination was withdrawn at the last minute.

The president did not personally participate in the trial. He left his defense to his lawyers, who easily proved that the president’s purpose in removing Stanton had been to test the constitutionality of the Tenure of Office Act. Furthermore, Johnson’s lawyers argued that the act did not pertain to Stanton, since he had been appointed by Lincoln, not by Johnson. The act applied to Cabinet officers, but only for the term of office of the president who had appointed them.

On May 16 and May 26, 1868, the Senate voted on three of the articles of impeachment. The Radicals had been pressing hard for a solid Republican vote, which would have given them more than the two-thirds majority required for conviction. However, 7 Republicans joined 12 Democrats in voting against conviction. The final count of 35 to 19 was one vote short of the two-thirds that were needed for conviction. Johnson had been acquitted.

D

Last Year in Office

In May 1868, while the impeachment trial was still in progress, the Republicans nominated Grant as their presidential candidate. Johnson hoped to receive the Democratic nomination, but he did not actively seek votes or woo the Democrats by offering them government offices. At the Democratic convention in July 1868, Johnson needed 212 delegate votes to be nominated. He never got enough, and through several ballots his support dwindled away. Finally the convention chose Governor Horatio Seymour of New York as its candidate.

Johnson and Congress continued to battle each other to his last day in office. He vetoed Reconstruction bills, and Congress promptly overrode his vetoes. In his last annual message to Congress, Johnson criticized its Reconstruction program, and in his final address, made as he prepared to leave the White House, he bitterly attacked the Radical Republicans.

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