Wednesday, April 21, 2004 6:10 PM CDT
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson enhanced cause of white
Hal Malehorn
Of all the American presidents, just three have faced the spectre of impeachment: Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. Of these only Andrew Johnson has been brought to trial. But while Johnson did manage to narrowly escape removal from his high office, the issues that had brought on the crisis profoundly affected the destiny of this nation for the next 100 years.
Andrew Johnson was a pro-Unionist from Tennessee. As Lincoln's vice president he assumed the presidency upon Lincoln's death. But even though he wore the Republican label on his political hat, he was very much a Democrat at heart. A product of his own times and place, he felt that the Yankee effort during the just-ended Civil War should have left intact the domestic institutions of the South, including slavery.
Much earlier Johnson himself had owned slaves. He was convinced that blacks were better off in bondage than free; he believed in the superiority of the white race; and he held that blacks were not capable of self-governance.
Moreover, Johnson was a single-minded man, humorless, tactless, not ready to compromise, and unflinching when opposed. Thus he soon became the immovable object in the pathway of Congress's irresistible force.
Just as he had earlier broken ranks with the Southern secessionists, he now broke ranks with his fellow-Republicans.
In the South the state governments being formed exclusively of whites were encouraged and supported by Johnson. Even worse, those same state legislatures were passing harsh "black codes" designed to keep freed men in subjection to whites, and forcing blacks into lifestyles little different from those they had known as slaves.
Johnson accused some of his prominent opponents of being traitors. He then vetoed the Civil Rights bill. And when Congress commenced debating the 14th Amendment (which ultimately would grant to all Americans citizenship and full protection under the law), Johnson was opposed.
Johnson further asserted the right of each state to define qualifications of its own voters. Eventually many of his longtime friends abandoned him; and several of his cabinet members resigned. But Edwin Stanton, his secretary of war, remained on the job.
In fact, Stanton, who had been appointed to that post by Lincoln, increasingly came into conflict with Johnson regarding the rebuilding of the South. And after a riot in New Orleans had killed some 40 citizens (most of them opposed to Johnson's policies), Stanton resolved anew to hang on to his office as a way to keep an eye on his recalcitrant boss.
Inevitably the talk in Washington turned toward impeachment. That idea, though, was generally unpopular among the public. Businessmen feared its unhappy impact on commerce; and politicians worried about its potential effect on upcoming elections.
Even though Johnson's own party controlled both houses of Congress, the members could not agree on a course of action. Several of their preliminary initiatives toward impeachment either failed outright, or only barely passed.
Things finally came to a head in the summer of 1867 when, after Congress had adjourned for the year, Johnson fired Stanton. The dispute was further inflamed after Johnson sacked more than 1,600 Republican postmasters and removed popular Phil Sheridan from his military command.
When Congress came back into session early in 1868, the House of Representatives drew up a formal impeachment bill of 11 articles. In it Johnson was charged with usurpation of power, along with corruption in appointments, in too readily pardoning Confederate leaders, and in over-using the veto.
The actual trial, which began Feb. 25, 1868, in the Senate turned into a spectacle. The populace clamored for tickets, and crowds packed the gallery. Newspapers of the day brimmed with details. Presiding at the trial was Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase. As debate raged on the Senate floor, Johnson in the White House kept his mouth shut -- for a change. Indeed, he appeared sublimely untouched by events in the Senate.
By the day of the first vote there (May 16), it was becoming clear that the stipulated charges were not indictable offenses in a court of law. Instead, they reflected differences of political opinion and practice. In fact, only one article -- the one accusing Johnson of conspiracy against Congress -- seemed likely to have a chance of winning the two-thirds majority required. It was scheduled for the first vote.
As the roll was called, each senator rose to his feet and voted out loud. Most Republicans said "Guilty," while all Democrats, and seven Republicans who crossed party lines, said "Not Guilty." The final tally stood at 35 to 19, just one vote shy of having enough to convict.
Ten days later a similar tally was taken on another article, which claimed that Johnson, in firing Stanton, had violated Congress's Tenure of Office Act. Here again the total fell one vote short. Then the Senate adjourned. The trial was done.
The final nine months of Johnson's term were uneventful.
Although Johnson's impeachment did not settle the question of removal from office for non-indictable offenses, it did point up the importance of the presidency and the integrity of our three-part governmental system. And it also reinforced the notion that no impeachment should ever be lightly undertaken.
Sadly, Andrew Johnson's marginal victory did have one negative long-term consequence: it enhanced the cause of white supremacy in the South. Not for another century would our nation undertake anew a major effort to change that prejudiced point of view.
Andrew Johnson had long argued, "The Constitution as it is; the Union as it was." But after his impeachment, neither the Constitution nor the Union -- nor the presidency itself -- would ever again be the same.
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