This Week's Historical Theme: The United States
24 February 1868
A significant event throughout the history of the United States that occurred in February was the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. This came after the US House of Representatives voted 11 articles of impeachment against him, making Johnson the first president to be impeached in US history. His impeachment trial began in the Senate, on March 13, under the direction of US Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase. The trial ended on May 26 with Johnson's opponents narrowly falling short by one vote to achieve the two-thirds majority necessary to convict him.
The primary charge against Johnson was that he had violated the Tenure of Office Act, that had been passed by Congress in March 1867 over Johnson's veto. More specifically, he had removed Edwin Stanton from office, the secretary of war, whom the act was largely designed to protect. Stanton did not have a good relationship with Johnson, and often sided with the Radical Republican faction that passed the act. The impeachment and trial had important political implications, as it maintained the principle that Congress should not remove the president from office simply because its members disagreed with him.
Want to find out more about President Johnson's impeachment? Click here for more information, or here for more about other presidents who have faced impeachment.
No comments:
Post a Comment