IMPEACHMENT OF THE PRESIDENT PROPOSED.

617 adopted by Congress, and the uniform interposition of his veto, seemed so factious in intent, that on the day when he vetoed the District of Columbia Suffrage Bill, Mr. Ashley, Representative from Ohio, arose in his seat and charged "Andrew Johnson, Vice-President, and Acting-President of the United States, with the commission of acts which, in the estimation of the Constitution, are high crimes and misdemeanors, for which he ought to be impeached." He offered specifications and a resolution instructing the Committee on the Judiciary to make inquiries on the subject.' The resolution was adopted by a vote of one hundred and thirty-seven to thirty-eight, fortyfive members not voting. This was the first public movement in the matter of the impeachment of the President, which resulted in his trial, in April, 1868.

At a former session of Congress, bills were passed for the admission of the Territories of Colorado and Nevada, as States of the Union. The President interposed. Now similar bills were passed, prescribing as a preliminary to admission, a provision in their constitutions granting impartial suffrage to their citizens, and the ratification of the Amendment to the Constitution. The President vetoed them, when that for the admission of Nevada was passed over his veto. That Territory became a State on the first of March, making the thirty-seventh. A bill limiting the authority of the President in making official appointments and removals from office, known as the "Tenure-of-Office Act," was passed, and was vetoed by the President, when it was passed over the veto. Another bill was passed, vetoed, and passed. over the veto, repealing so much of an act of July 17, 1862, as gave the President power to grant amnesty and pardon to those who had been engaged in the Rebellion. A bill was also passed, with the same opposition from the President, for the military government of the disorganized States.

The Thirty-Ninth Congress closed its last session on the 3d of March, and the Fortieth Congress began its first session immediately thereafter. In view of the conduct of the President, which threatened the country with revolution, this action of the National Legislature was necessary for the

3

Mr. Ashley presented the following: "I do impeach Andrew Johnson, Vice-President, and Acting-President of the United States, of high crimes and misdemeanors. I charge him with usurpation of power and violation of law, (1) In that he has corruptly used the appointing power; (2) In that he has corruptly used the pardoning power; (3) In that he has corruptly used the veto power; (4) In that he has corruptly disposed of public property of the United States; and (5) In that he has corruptly interfered in elections, and committed acts which, in contemplation of the Constitution, are high crimes and misdemeanors."

On the 14th of January, Representative Loan, from Missouri, in the course of a debate concerning the duty of the House to proceed to the impeachment of the President, said that the leaders of the rebellion comprehended the advantages of having such a man as the then incumbent, in the Presidential chair. "Hence," he said, "the assassination of Mr. Lincoln. The crime was committed. The way was made clear for the succession. An assassin's hand, wielded and directed by rebel hand, and paid for by rebel gold, made Andrew Johnson President of the United States of America. The price that he was to pay for his promotion was treachery to the Republic, and fidelity to the party of treason and rebellion." Mr. Loan was called to order. The Speaker decided that he was not out of order, the subject of debate being the charges against the President, of "high crimes and misdemeanors," a member having the right, on his own responsibility, to make a specific charge. This decision was appealed from, when the Speaker was sustained by a vote of 101 to 8.

2 It took from the President, among other things, the power to remove a member of his cabinet, excepting by permission of the Senate, declaring that they should hold office “for and during the term of the President by whom they may have been appointed, and for one month thereafter, subject to removal by and with the consent of the Senate." The act was passed over the veto by a vote in the Senate of 35 to 11, and in the House of 131 to 87.

Those States were divided into five military districts, and the following commanders were appointed: First District, Virginia, General J. M. Schofield; Second District, North and South Carolina, General D. E. Sickles; Third District, Georgia, Florida and Alabama, General J. Pope; Fourth District, Mississippi and Arkansas, General E. O. C. Ord; Fifth District, Louisiana and Texas, General P. H. Sheridan.

618

REMOVAL OF FAITHFUL MEN.

public good. It adjourned on the 31st of March, to meet on the first Wednesday in July. It assembled accordingly on the 4th of that month, and on the 20th adjourned to meet on the 21st of November. The chief business of the short session was to adopt measures for removing the obstructions cast by the President in the way of a restoration of the disorganized States. A bill supplementary to the one for the military government of those States was passed over the usual veto of the President, and it was believed that the Chief Magistrate would refrain from further acts calculated to disturb the public peace. Not so. Immediately after the adjournment of Congress, he proceeded, in defiance of that body, and in alleged violation of the

⚫ Aug. 5,

1867.

Tenure-of-Office Act, to remove the Secretary of War (Mr. Stanton), and to place General Grant in his place. The President first asked the Secretary to resign. Mr. Stanton refused.' A week later the President directed General Grant to assume the duties of Secretary of War. Grant obeyed. Stanton retired, under protest, well satisfied that his office was left in the hands of a patriot whom the President could not corrupt, nor unlawfully control.

The removal of the Secretary of War was followed by the removal of General Sheridan from the command of the Fifth District, and General Sickles from that of the Second District, by which the country was notified that the most faithful officers, who were working with the representatives of the people for the proper and speedy restoration of the Union, would be deprived of power to be useful. General Grant protested against these acts, but in vain. The country was greatly excited, and the loyal people waited with impatience the reassembling of Congress, upon which they relied in that hour of seeming peril to the Republic. That body met at the appointed time, and on the 12th of December the President sent to the Senate a statement of his reasons for removing the Secretary of War. They were not satisfactory, and on the 13th of January' the Senate reinstated Mr. Stanton, and General Grant retired from the War Department.” Already Congress had made much progress toward the restoration of the disorganized States to the Union, by providing for conventions for framing constitutions and electing members of Congress; and a few days after the restoration of Mr. Stanton, a new bill for the further reorganization of those States was passed by the House of Representatives, in which larger powers were given to the General-in-Chief of the armies in their military government, and depriving the President of all power to interfere in the matter.

1868.

On the 21st of February, the President caused a new and € 1868. more intense excitement throughout the country, by a bolder

1 The President addressed a note to the Secretary, in which he said, “Grave public considerations constrain me to request your resignation as Secretary of War." The Secretary replied: “Grave public considerations constrain me to continue in the office of Secretary of War until the next meeting of Congress." It is believed that the President was then contemplating a revolutionary scheme, in favor of the late enemies of the country, and was seeking to use the army for that purpose.

2 The President was angry with General Grant for quietly giving up the office to Stanton, at the bidding of the Senate, and he charged the General-in-Chief with having broken his promises, and tried to injure his reputation as a soldier and a citizen. A correspondence ensued, which speedily found its way to the public. It assumed the form of a question of veracity between the President and the General-in-Chief. Finally, Grant felt compelled to say to the President: "When my honor as a soldier, and integrity as a man, have been so violently assailed, pardon me for saying that I can but regard this whole matter, from beginning to end, as an attempt to involve me in the resistance of law, for which you hesitated to assume the responsibility in orders. and thus to destroy my character before the country." The President did not deny this charge.

THE PRESIDENT IMPEACHED.

619

step in opposition to the will of Congress than he had hitherto ventured to take. On that day he issued an order to Mr. Stanton, removing him from the office of Secretary of War, and another to Lorenzo Thomas, the AdjutantGeneral, appointing him Secretary of War, ad interim. These orders were officially communicated to the Senate, whereupon that body passed a resolution that the President had no authority under the Constitution and laws to remove the Secretary of War. In the mean time, Thomas had appeared at the War Department and demanded the position to which the President had assigned him, when Mr. Stanton, his superior, refused to yield it, and ordered him to return to his proper office. The President being satisfied that he would not be permitted to use military force in the matter, did not attempt to eject Mr. Stanton by force, and so that officer retained his place. This action of the President was so manifestly in violation of law, that on the following day the House of Representatives, by a vote of 126 to 47,"Resolved that Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors." On the 29th,' a committee of the House, appointed for the purpose,3 presented articles of impeachment, nine in number, and these, with slight alterations, were accepted on the 2d of March. The House then proceeded to the appointment of Managers, to conduct the business before the

• Feb. 22, 1868.

February.

1 This was an almost strictly party vote. Only two Republicans (Cary of Ohio, and Stewart of New York) voted in the negative, while all the Democrats voted against the resolution.

Nov. 25, 1867.

2 We have seen (page 617) that the subject of the impeachment of the President was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. That Committee submitted reports, which were acted upon on the 7th of December, when the House of Representatives, taking into consideration the gravity of such a proceeding, and indulging a hope that the President would cease making war upon Congress, and attend to his legitimate duties as simply the executor of the people's will, expressed by their representatives, refused, by a large majority, to entertain a proposition for impeachment. Now, so flagrant was the act of the President, that the Republican members were eager to place him upon trial, and several who were not present when the vote recorded in the text was taken, afterward entered their votes in favor of impeach

ment.

The committee consisted of Messrs. Boutwell, Stevens (who made the motion for impeachment), Bingham, Wilson, Logan, Julian and Ward. Messrs. Stevens and Bingham were appointed a committee to announce to the Senate the action of the House. This they did on the 25th of February, when the Senate, by unanimous vote, referred the subject to a select committee of seven to consider it.

4 The following is a brief summary of the charges in the Articles of Impeachment:-Article 1. Unlawfully ordering the removal of Mr. Stanton as Secretary of War, in violation of the provisions of the Tenure-of-Office Act. Article 2. Unlawfully appointing General Lorenzo Thomas as Secretary of War, ad interim. Article 3. Substantially the same as Article 2, with the additional averment that there was at the time of the appointment of General Thomas, no vacancy in the office of Secretary of War. Article 4. Conferring with one Lorenzo Thomas, and other persons to the House of Representatives unknown, to prevent, by intimidation and threats, Mr. Stanton, the legally appointed Secretary of War, from holding that office. Article 5. Conspiring with General Thomas and others to hinder the execution of the Tenure-of-Office Act, and in pursuance of this conspiracy, attempting to prevent Mr. Stanton from acting as Secretary of War. Article 6. Conspiring with General Thomas and others to take forcible possession of the property in the War Department. Article 7. Repeated the charge of conspiring to hinder the execution of the Tenure-of-Office Act, and prevent Mr. Stanton from executing the office of Secretary of War. Article 9. Charged that the President called before him the coinmander of the forces in the Department of Washington and declared to him that a law, passed on the 30th of June, 1867, directing that "all orders and instructions relating to military operations, issued by the President or Secretary of War, shall be issued through the General of the Army, and in case of his inability through the next in rank," was unconstitutional, and not binding upon the commander of the Department of Washington; the intent being to induce that commander to violate the law, and to obey orders issued directly

from the President.

On the 3d of March, the managers presented two additional articles, which were adopted by the House. The first charged that the President had, by inflammatory speeches, during his journey from Washington to Chicago, already mentioned (page 615), attempted, with a design to set aside the authority of Congress, to bring it into disgrace, and to excite the odium and resentment of the people against Congress and the laws it enacted. The second charged that in August, 1866, the President, in a public speech at Washington City, declared that Congress was not a body authorized by the Constitution to exercise legislative powers; and then went on to specify his offenses in endeavoring by unlawful means, to prevent the execution of laws passed by Congress. These formed the 10th and 11th Articles of Impeachment.

620

THE PRESIDENT'S TRIAL.

Senate,' when the Democratic members of the House, to the number of forty five, entered a formal protest against the whole proceedings.

• 1868.

a

On the 5th of March, the Senate was organized as a jury for the trial of the President. Chief-Justice Salmon P. Chase presided. On the 7th the President was summoned to appear at the bar; and on the 13th, when the Senate formally reopened, he did so appear, by his counsel, who asked for a space of forty days wherein to prepare an answer to the indictment. Ten days were granted, and on the 23d the President's counsel presented an answer. The House of Representatives, the accuser, simply denied every averment in the answer, when the President's counsel asked for a postponement of the trial for thirty days. They allowed seven days, and on Monday, the 30th of March, the trial began. The examination of witnesses was closed on the 22d of April, and on the following day the arguments of counsel began. These closed on the afternoon of Wednesday, the 6th of May, when the case was submitted to the judgment of the Senate. Its decision was given on the 26th of the same month. Every member of the Senate was present, and voted. Thirty-five pronounced the President guilty, and nineteen declared him not guilty. He escaped legal conviction by one vote.3

While the unseemly controversy between Congress and the President was going on, the work of reorganization, in accordance with the plans of Congress, was in steady motion, in spite of the interference of the 1868. Chief Magistrate; and at a little past midsummer," a Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, which formed an important feature in the so-called "reconstruction" measures, was ratified by the requisite number of State Legislatures, and became a part of the "supreme law of the land.”

1 The following members of the House of Representatives were chosen to be managers, on its part, of the impeachment case: Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania; Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts; John A. Bingham, of Ohio; George S. Boutwell, of Massachusetts; James F. Wilson, of lowa; Thomas Williams, of Pennsylvania, and John A. Logan, of Illinois. The chief management of the case, on the part of the House, as prosecutor, was intrusted to Mr. Butler.

See clause 6, section 3, article I., of the National Constitution.

3 The vote of the Senate was as follows:

For Conviction-Messrs. Anthony, Cameron, Cattell, Chandler, Cole, Conkling, Conness, Corbett, Cragin, Drake, Edmunds, Ferry, Frelinghuysen, Harlan, Howard, Howe, Morgan, Morrill of Vermont, Morrill of Maine, Morton, Nye, Patterson of New Hampshire, Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sherman, Sprague, Stewart, Sumner, Thayer, Tipton, Wade, Willey, Williams, Wilson and Yates. These were all "Republicans."

For Acquittal-Messrs. Bayard, Buckalew, Davis, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Fowler, Grimes, Henderson, Hendricks, Johnson, McCreery, Norton, Patterson of Tennessee, Ross, Saulsbury, Trumbull, Van Winkle and Vickers. Eight of these, namely: Bayard, Buckalew, Davis, Hendricks, Johnson, McCreery, Saulsbury and Vickers, were elected to the Senate as "Democrats." The remainder were elected as "Republicans."

4 This Amendment was a part of the "reconstruction" plan of the committee mentioned in note 2, page 615, and was first submitted to the lower house of Congress, in a report of that committee, on the 80th of April, 1866, It was amended by the Senate, and passed that body by a vote of 33 to 11, on the 8th of June. The House passed it on the 13th, by a vote of 120 yeas to 32 nays. The following is a copy of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution:

"ARTICLE XIV., SECTION 1.-All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

"SEC. 2. Representatives shall be appointed among the several States, according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed; but when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State (being 21 years of age and citizens of the United States), or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in said State.

THE FUTURE OF THE REPUBLIC.

621 Seven of the disorganized States ratified it, and having by that act, by the adoption of State Constitutions approved by Congress, and by the election of National Senators and Representatives, complied with the prescriptions of Congress, they took their places as resuscitated members of the Union.'

Although the country for a considerable time was agitated by the throes of civil war, peace, quiet and unexampled prosperity abound. The Republic has entered upon a new and more glorious era. In its dealings with its domestic enemies, the Government, conscious of its strength, has been lenient and magnanimous beyond all precedent, toward those who attempted to destroy the Union, and has thereby won the applause and admiration of civilized men. Of the thousands of the citizens of the Republic, who consciously and willingly committed "treason against the United States," according to the prescriptions of the Constitution, only one had been punished for the crime,' and one other (Jefferson Davis) had been indicted when this record was closed."

The developed and undeveloped resources of the country, and its actual visible wealth, are evidently so abundant and available, and the irrepressible energies of the people are so great, that the enormous debt created by the business of suppressing the Rebellion is not regarded as a very serious burden upon the industry of the nation. That debt amounts, in round numbers, to almost two thousand five hundred million dollars-a debt not nearly so large, in proportion to the population, as the inhabitants of the thirteen original States were subjected to at the close of the old War for Independence, when the resources of the country were almost undeveloped and unknown. It will be cheerfully paid by a grateful people, in accordance with the pledges given in the name of the Republic. The nation having been purified and strengthened by the Civil War and its results, and placed upon the sure foundations of Truth and Justice, may we not reasonably believe that the fiat has gone forth from God, Esto perpetua?

"SEC. 8. No person shall be a Senator, or Representative in Congress, or Elector of President or VicePresident, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; but Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

"SEC. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be ques. tioned: but neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave. But all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.

"SEC. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this Article." These were North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. 2 See clause 1, section 3, article III.

* Mumford, hung by Butler, at New Orleans. See page 351, volume II.

4 See page 579.

5 On the first of August, 1865, the actual debt of the Republic, considering back pay, bounties, overdue contracts, transportation, and a variety of other expenses incident to the closing of the war, since liquidated and unliquidated, amounted to $8,287,783,829. At the end of the last fiscal year (June 30, 1868), the National Debt was $2,488,000,000, showing the remarkable fact, that in the space of about three years since the close of the war, that debt had been reduced $802,733,329, or more than one-fourth of its full amount. At that rate of reduction, the entire debt may be paid off in the space of ten years.