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Revision as of 03:53, February 6, 2020
, 03:53, February 6, 2020→Andrew Johnson (1868)
===Andrew Johnson (1868)===
===Andrew Johnson (1868)===
After the [[Civil War]], although the fighting had ended, the country remained deeply divided with emotions running high. The big questions remained over empowering recently freed slaves and what to do with those who had engaged in open rebellion against the United States. President [[Andrew Johnson]], a Democrat elected vice president in 1864 at the height of the war on a national unity ticket with Republican [[Abraham Lincoln]], was in conflict with [[Radical Republicans]] who controlled Congress. The [[media]] called these Republicans "radical" because the advocated full equality and [[civil rights]] for [[blacks]], and wanted to punish Southern slaveholders and Confederate soldiers who engaged in open rebellion. Johnson handed out numerous pardons to former slaveholders, Confederate officers, and soldier. This brought him into conflict with the [[Secretary of War]], who was approved by the Senate, vowing to carrying the Republicans civil rights reforms for Blacks in occupied military districts of [[the South]] when the war was over.
President Johnson vetoed Republican civil rights legislation and even called their leaders "traitors". Flush from winning the war, Republican Rep. Thaddeus Stevens (PA) and Sen. Charles Sumner (MA) were not about to back down. Sumner in 1856 delivered an unconscionably disrespectful speech against elderly South Carolina Senator Andrew Butler, author of the [[Kansas-Nebraska Act]] which legalized slavery in Western territories north of the [[Mason-Dixon Line]], whereupon Butler's outraged nephew Preston Brooks beat Sumner senseless with a cane inside the Capital.<ref>Sumner's Senate floor speech accused proponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of "rape of virgin territory."</ref>
President Johnson vetoed Republican civil rights legislation and even called their leaders "traitors". Flush from winning the war, Republican Thaddeus Stevens (PA) and Charles Sumner (MA) were not about to back down. Sumner in 1856 delivered an unconscionably disrespectful speech against elderly South Carolina Senator Andrew Butler, author of the [[Kansas-Nebraska Act]] which legalized slavery in Western territories north of the [[Mason-Dixon Line]], whereupon his outraged nephew Preston Brooks beat Sumner senseless with a cane.<ref>The Senate floor speech accused proponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of "rape of virgin territory."</ref>
When the House of Representatives impeached President Johnson by an overwhelming vote of 126 to 47, his ouster appeared to be a ''fait accompli''. President Johnson had violated the Tenure in Office Act by dismissing the Secretary of War. The key issue was if a President had the power to fire cabinet secretary approved by the Senate without the Senate's consent. Johnson was also intemperate in his name-calling of key senators. In addressing the jury of 54 senators, the prosecutor referred to President Johnson as an "accidental Chief" and "the elect of an assassin." Witnesses testified for both the prosecution and the defense.
When the House of Representatives impeached President Johnson by an overwhelming vote of 126 to 47, his ouster appeared to be a ''fait accompli''. President Johnson had violated the Tenure in Office Act by dismissing the Secretary of War. The key issue was if a President had the power to fire cabinet secretary approved by the Senate without the Senate's consent. Johnson was also intemperate in his name-calling of key senators. In addressing the jury of 54 senators, the prosecutor referred to President Johnson as an "accidental Chief" and "the elect of an assassin." Witnesses testified for both the prosecution and the defense.