What Was Andrew Johnson Impeachment

Andrew Johnson was the 17th president of the United States. He served from 1865 to 1869. Johnson was serving as the Vice President during Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. Johnson was not a highly regarded Vice President. His first appearance on the national stage ended badly; Johnson was intoxicated. He stumbled over words and was not stable on his own two feet. This speech embarrassed the United States government and it predicted how he would act as Lincoln’s Vice President. Less than five weeks later the current President, Abraham Lincoln, was shot. After this tragedy, Johnson had to step up and become the next president. Americans were nervous about what this inexperienced President was going to do. Johnson had no respect for laws and

According to Lawyer David Stewart, author of Impeached: the trial of president Andrew Johnson and the fight for Lincoln’s legacy, it states, “...he did appoint Lorenzo Thomas to be Secretary for the Department of War, ad intern, without the advice and consent of the Senate, and with the intent to violate the Constitution...” (Stewart 333). Thomas was very much against Stanton, so he was happy to take the job. Thomas hand delivered the note to Stanton stating that Lorenzo was taking over his job, but Stanton refused to leave. Later, Thomas was arrested for violating the Tenure of Office Act. Stanton soon realized that Johnson’s plan all along was for him to arrest Thomas which would cause the law to be reviewed. As soon as Stanton figured out Johnson’s plan, he dropped the charges towards Thomas. By appointing Lorenzo Thomas to the job of Secretary of War when the spot was occupied lead to his impeachment because he disobeyed the Tenure Office Act. That said, Andrew Johnson did ignore a law once again and was guilty of committing a crime. Hiring Lorenzo Thomas as Secretary of War was a cause of Johnson’s

In the book entitled Impeached: the trial of president Andrew Johnson and the fight for Lincoln’s legacy by Lawyer David Stewart, it states, “... in violation of the Constitution and laws of the United States, on the 21st day of February , in the year of the Lord 1868, at Washington , in the District of Columbia, did unlawfully conspire with one Lorenzo Thomas, and with other persons to the House of Representatives unknown…” (Stewart 334). Andrew Johnson wanted to make it challenging for Edwin Stanton to keep his job. On the numerous occasions when Johnson tried to fire Stanton, Stanton said that the Tenure of Office Act protected him. Later Johnson realized he had very few people on his side. He knew the only way to get rid of Stanton was to keep him quite. Johnson decided to just cause chaos in the argument between them two. Stanton finally had enough of this nonsense and decided to leave on May 26, 1868. Johnson was impeached because he was conspiring with Thomas, who was not favored by Senate, to get rid of Stanton, who was very much favored by Senate. “ That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States was unmindful of his high duties of his office, and of his oath of