TODAY ONLY

February 24

President Andrew Johnson Impeached

On this day in 1868, the US House of Representatives voted for 11 articles of impeachment against President Andrew Johnson. The House vote made President Johnson the first president in US history to be impeached.

Andrew Johnson. Some History. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Andrew Johnson was a senator from Tennessee, which was a seceding state. Johnson, however, remained loyal to the Union. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln appointed him as military governor of Tennessee.

War Democrat Joins Lincoln's Ticket. Johnson was considered a "war" Democrat opposed to secession. In 1864 , he was tapped by Republican President Abraham Lincoln as his running mate to balance the Union ticket. He became Vice President of the United States.

After the Assassination. In April of 1865, Johnson was sworn in as President after Lincoln's assassination. He started his job as President days after the Civil War had ended.

Policy Perils. Johnson wanted to complete Lincoln's plan to bring the country back together quickly. He carried out a lenient Reconstruction policy for the South, which included nearly total amnesty for ex-Confederates.

Black Codes. Johnson planned to encourage passing an amendment that would outlaw slavery. Then Confederate states would once again be allowed to govern themselves and send representatives to Congress. But when Congress was in recess, the newly powerful Southern states passed "Black Codes," which limited the rights of freed slaves. The Black Codes preserved the system of slavery in everything but name. Congress, furious, came back with a law to repress the Black Codes. When Johnson vetoed it, Congress passed the first override in US history, protecting its civil rights legislation.

Retaliation. Johnson's desire to scale back Lincoln's Reconstruction legislation angered the Radical Republican majority, who was intent on punishing the former rebels of the Confederacy. In March of 1867, to punish the President, and over the President's veto, it passed the Tenure of Office Act.

What the Tenure of Office Act Did. It prohibited a president from dismissing any officer confirmed by the Senate without first getting its approval. The Tenure of Office Act was designed to protect members of Johnson's Cabinet like Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Stanton had been a leading Republican radical in the Lincoln administration. But that fall, in an act of defiance, President Johnson replaced Stanton with General Ulysses S. Grant. The US Supreme Court refused to rule on the case. Grant gave the office back to Stanton when the Senate passed a measure to protest Stanton's dismissal.

Lesser of Two Evils? On February 21, 1868, Johnson decided to get rid of Stanton once and for all. He appointed General Lorenzo Thomas as Secretary of War. Congress liked Thomas even less than they liked Grant. Stanton refused to step down, and barricaded himself in his office.

The House of Representatives is Not Amused. The House, which had already discussed impeachment after Johnson first dismissed Stanton, initiated formal impeachment proceedings.

On This Day in 1868... Johnson was impeached. His impeachment trial began in the Senate in March.

Saved by a Single Vote. The Trial at the End of May. Johnson's opponents missed achieving the necessary two-thirds majority to convict him by one vote. Like the impeachment of President Clinton, the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson in 1868 also ended in an acquittal.