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Why was President Andrew Johnson impeached in 1868?
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President Johnson Impeached ?
The Fairfield Herald
Jose G, Colin C, Guiness M
February 24, 1868
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson - History
Andrew Johnson, the 17 President of the Unites States, was impeached today, making him the first president to be impeached in American History.
Andrew Johnson was born in North Carolina on December 29th, 1808. He served as the vice president to Abraham Lincoln and was moved to the higher position as the President of the United states after the assassination of Lincoln. He lead with President Lincoln as a Democrat, running the National Union Ticket, and coming into office just before the end of the Civil War.
Impeachment Meaning
Impeachment Meaning
Impeachment is a charge of misconduct made against a holder of Public Office- in the case, the President. It calls into question the integrity and Validity of the President's actions and upon a majority vote, the House of Representatives can charge and official of the Federal government, approving articles of impeachment.
Johnson's Impeachment
Johnson's Impeachment
The impeachment of Andrew Johnson was the first in American history and includes factors outlining the tension between government branches, violations in government, and unconstitutional actions which resulted in the question of his presidency. Today we can compare his actions to recent presidents, which allows us to understand the role and validity of presidency and how impeachment can effect government decisions and Americans in general.
Tension Between Branches
Tension Between Branches
During the time of reconstruction Andrew Johnson fought with congress over right for the newly freed slaves and this is what lead to him being impeached.
Congress was overrun heavily by radical republicans who had an anti-south plan and were more progressive looking to improve black rights, however Johnson was against this and pro-south.
Reconstruction
What was Reconstruction?
This was an attempt to reintegrate southern states from the confederacy, as well as 4 million newly freed slaves into a more normal American society. This occurred during 1865-1877 and was started by Andrew Johnson when he was elected in 1865. Many things were made to control the behavior and rules of the newly freed slaves and black people with things called “black codes” which sparked outrage and led to radical reconstruction where black people gained a voice in the government. Soon after reactionary forces such as the Ku Klux Klan were started to reverse the changes and restore white supremacy. Overall the North was far more accepting of reconstruction and including the newly freed slaves back into society while the south was very against it shown by groups such as the KKK.
What did the Legislative and Executive branches do during reconstruction?
Congress was overrun heavily by radical republicans who had an anti-south plan and were more progressive looking to improve black rights, however Johnson was against this and pro-south. In the end of May 1865 Johnson announced his plans for reconstruction which were heavily influenced by his unionism and strong beliefs in states rights. Under his reconstruction land given to the former slaves was given back to its prewar white owners and he enacted black codes talked about previously which restricted free black rights, which enraged many in congress.
Why was there tension between the two branches?
Later in 1866 congress passed the Freedman's bureau and civil rights bill to allow frees slaves to have far more rights. The first bill helped assist refugees and former slaves, while the second defined all people born in the US as national citizens with closer to equal rights. However Johnson vetoed these bills leading to a massive rupture between him and congress which lead to his impeachment. Overall the tension was growing day by day due to the different opinions and views, however this vetoing of the bills is what caused the two to massively fall out.
Powers of the President
Andrew Johnson came into the presidency after the death of Abraham Lincoln. After Johnson became the President he started to act unconstitutionally and he started to act beyond the powers of the president through the decisions he made, this ultimately led to his impeachment.
Powers of the President
- Andrew Johnson was bullheaded as well as a narcissist, but it was Johnson’s racism that presented the biggest threat to the republic.
- He was against Lincoln's reconstruction plan after the Civil War and thought that the South should have not been punished for their actions made effort and fought against slave rights.
- This led to Johnson acting outside of his powers to change the changes going on in the country at the time because he did not want anything in his way.
Acting Unconstitutionally
- Andrew Johnson fired Edward Stanton without the Senates consensuses which made it illegal for him to do that after the Tenure Office act which meant he acted past his president powers which made it unconstitutional because the point of the constitution was that it was what the country believed in and when it was made it was made to not give one person too much power like having a King but Johnson broke this which got him impeached.
Tenure of Office Act
Tenure of Office Act
People felt that Andrew Johnson had violated this Act, though this was not the only Act he had violated. He was a democrat in his running of office and throughout his presidency, he showed no interest in compromising with the republican party of the time.
The Tenure of Office Act was created March 2, 1867 after the Civil War and included the law of forbidding the president to remove civil officers without senatorial consent. This means that the government had a constitutional right to reject any change to civil officer positions wanting to be made by the President.
The Tenure of Office Act was created March 2, 1867 after the Civil War and included the law of forbidding the president to remove civil officers without senatorial consent.
To simplify, this means that if a federal official, such as the secretary of war for example, has had a request of removal, the decision relied on the Senate. If the Senate was not available, the President had the power to make the decision unless the Senate were to refuse the removal made by the president, ultimately keeping the federal official in position.
Edwin Stanton
vs.
Edwin Stanton
Edwin Stanton was the Secretary of Way in the 1860. He first served as Lincoln's attorney general and became the Secretary of War in 1860 on March 3rd.
- It can be argued that Andrew Johnson had violated the Tenure of Office Act completely, but others can reason the Act was not clear whether it applied to the cabinet officials appointed by the previous president, Lincoln.
- Edwin’s job was to regulate international affairs including the military and navy, so this was a very unpopular decision as the Tenure of Office Act was largely designed to protect Stanton’s position and the job he had to carry.
- Johnson was forced to send a second letter of office, ordering to suspend Edwin from office.
- Within the Congress, the total vote of the removal of Stanton was 35-16, ultimately keeping Edwin’s position in office.
Relation to Other President
Relation to Other Presidents
Overall, many people were aggravated by the actions of Johnson due to his decision within the removal of the Secretary of War. Throughout presidential history, only 3 presidents have been impeached and even now, we can relate to similar situations since the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. The most recent impeachment included Donald Trump who was said to abuse his power and obstruct the congress. We can compare these presidents as they can both be argued to have similar mindsets in terms of power, and due to their abuse of authority, both presidents were impeached.