Which president was impeached in 1868

Now, Johnson faced trial before the U. If convicted, he would be removed from office. He was a Union man, but his roots were in the South. The radicals, who included men like Thaddeus Stevens and Benjamin Butler, wanted to guarantee the rights of the freedmen. One way they tried to do so was by passing the Reconstruction Acts, laws that provided suffrage to freed slaves and prevented former Southern rebels from regaining control of the state governments.

Believing the Acts to be wrong and unconstitutional, Johnson repeatedly blocked their enforcement. He repeatedly gave pardons to ex-Rebels. He hampered military commanders' efforts to block the rise of Southern leaders to power. In frequent speeches and interviews, Johnson publicly expressed his defiance of the Radical Republicans. They knew that their program for reconstruction of the South could not succeed with Andrew Johnson in office.

The final blow came after the passage of the Tenure of Office Act in This law made it impossible for the president to dismiss important government officials without the permission of the Senate.

In a move that infuriated Congressmen, Johnson defied the act. The president had long wanted to dismiss the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton was the only member of Johnson's cabinet who supported the Radical Republicans' program for reconstruction. Johnson believed the Tenure of Office Act was unconstitutional and wanted it to be legally tried in the courts. It was the president, himself, however, who was brought to trial.

President Johnson was impeached by the House of Representatives on February 24, and the Senate tried the case in a trial that lasted from March to May In the end, the Senate voted to acquit President Andrew Johnson by a margin of 35 guilty to 19 not guilty - one vote short of the two-thirds needed to convict.

Explore This Park. Why Was Andrew Johnson Impeached? President Andrew Johnson, impeached for violation of the Tenure of Office Act Library of Congress Before Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in , he had formulated a plan of reconstruction that would be lenient toward the defeated South as it rejoined the Union.

You Might Also Like. Loading results And to this day, how that vote was cast on May 16, remains shrouded in controversy. To block Johnson from removing Cabinet members without its approval, the House had passed the Tenure of Office Act in Johnson challenged the act by firing Stanton and appointing an interim replacement.

The House quickly filed 11 impeachment charges, sending the case to the Senate for disposition. Two-thirds of the Senate was needed to convict Johnson, and the Republicans made up more than two-thirds of its members.

Thaddeus Stevens was one of the House prosecutors. In the end, however, seven Republican senators voted against impeachment.

The dramatic scene would have fit right in with the movie Lincoln, with the outcome seemingly in doubt until the last undecided vote was cast. The key day in the trial was May