IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF ANDREW JOHNSON BEGINS:

Too bad this dosen't read .........IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF GEORGE W. BUSH BEGINS

Maybe someday soon.......................PEACE.........................Scott


IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF ANDREW JOHNSON BEGINS:
March 13, 1868

For the first time in U.S. history, the impeachment trial of an American
president gets underway in the U.S. Senate. President Andrew Johnson, reviled by
the Republican-dominated Congress for his views on Reconstruction, stood accused
of having violated the controversial Tenure of Office Act, passed by Congress
over his veto in 1867.At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Johnson, a U.S.
senator from Tennessee, was the only senator from a seceding state who remained
loyal to the Union. Johnson's political career was built on his defense of the
interests of poor white Southerners against the landed classes; of his decision
to oppose secession, he said, "Damn the negroes; I am fighting those traitorous
aristocrats, their masters." For his loyalty, President Abraham Lincoln
appointed him military governor of Tennessee in 1862, and in 1864 Johnson was
elected vice president of the United States.Sworn in as president after
Lincoln's assassination in April 1865, President Johnson enacted a lenient
Reconstruction policy for the defeated South, including almost total amnesty to
ex-Confederates, a program of rapid restoration of U.S.-state status for the
seceded states, and the approval of new, local Southern governments, which were
able to legislate "black codes" that preserved the system of slavery in all but
name. The Republican-dominated Congress greatly opposed Johnson's Reconstruction
program and passed the "Radical Reconstruction" by repeatedly overriding the
president's vetoes. Under the Radical Reconstruction, local Southern governments
gave way to federal military rule, and African-American men in the South were
granted the constitutional right to vote.In March 1867, in order further to
weaken Johnson's authority, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act over his
veto. The act prohibited the president from removing federal office holders,
including Cabinet members, who had been confirmed by the Senate, without the
consent of the Senate. It was designed to shield members of Johnson's Cabinet
like Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, who was appointed during the Lincoln
administration and was a leading ally of the so-called Radical Republicans in
Congress. In the fall of 1867, Johnson attempted to test the constitutionality
of the act by replacing Stanton with General Ulysses S. Grant. However, the U.S.
Supreme Court refused to rule on the case, and Grant turned the office back to
Stanton after the Senate passed a measure in protest of the dismissal.On
February 21, 1868, Johnson decided to rid himself of Stanton once and for all
and appointed General Lorenzo Thomas, an individual far less favorable to the
Congress than Grant, as secretary of war. Stanton refused to yield, barricading
himself in his office, and the House of Representatives, which had already
discussed impeachment after Johnson's first dismissal of Stanton, initiated
formal impeachment proceedings against the president. On February 24, the House
voted 11 impeachment articles against President Johnson. Nine of the articles
cited his violations of the Tenure of Office Act; one cited his opposition to
the Army Appropriations Act of 1867 (designed to deprive the president of his
constitutional position as commander in chief of the U.S. Army); and one accused
Johnson of bringing "into disgrace, ridicule, hatred, contempt, and reproach the
Congress of the United States" through certain controversial speeches.On March
13, according to the rules set out in Section 3 of Article I of the U.S.
Constitution, the impeachment trial of President Johnson began in the Senate.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase presided over the proceedings,
which were described as theatrical. On May 16 and again on May 26, the Senate
voted on the charges brought against President Johnson. Both times the vote was
35 for conviction and 19 for acquittal, with seven moderate Republicans joining
12 Democrats in voting against what was a weak case for impeachment. Because
both votes fell short--by one vote--of the two-thirds majority needed to convict
Johnson, he was judged not guilty and remained in office. Nevertheless, he chose
not to actively seek reelection on the Democratic ticket. In November, Ulysses
S. Grant, who supported the Republicans' Radical Reconstruction policies, was
elected president of the United States.In 1875, after two failed bids, Johnson
won reelection to Congress as a U.S. senator from Tennessee. He died less than
four months after taking office at the age of 66. Fifty-one years later, the
U.S. Supreme Court declared the Tenure of Office Act unconstitutional in its
ruling in Myers v. United States.