Impeachment of a President, Part 1

Impeachment of a President, Part 1: 150 years ago today (August 5, 1867), Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton received the following message from President Andrew Johnson: "Public considerations of a high character constrain me to Say, that your resignation as Secretary of War will be accepted." Stanton wasted little time in issuing a firm response to his superior's request: "In reply I have the honor to say that public considerations of a high character, which alone have induced me to continue at the head of this Department, constrain me not to resign the office of Secretary of War before the next meeting of Congress."

Sec. of War Edwin M. Stanton (left) & President Andrew Johnson (right)

Johnson was eager to act while Congress was adjourned for the summer and remove Stanton, an Abraham Lincoln appointee, who had come to align with the president's Republican enemies to thwart executive hegemony. The Republican Congress feared Johnson might try to fire his Cabinet members, all Lincoln appointees who Johnson had retained and half of whom were colluding with the Republicans to undermine Johnson's policies. Thus they passed the Tenure of Office Act (March 2, 1867), which prohibited the president from removing any official conferred by the Senate without their approval (according to the law, appointees were to serve until the term they had been appointed expired, i.e., in Stanton's case, March 4, 1869, when Lincoln's 2nd term had been set to expire). It was a trap set by Republicans to possibly get the impeachment ball rolling in the House of Representatives and one Johnson, who relished a fight, was eager to test in the courts.

Johnson was taken aback when Stanton held his ground and refused to move aside. To Johnson's credit, he didn't take further action. He didn't because his hands were tied. He needed a replacement for Stanton, someone that neither the Republicans, nor the American people would oppose. He had one person in mind and that person had previously rejected his offer to take the keys to the Secretary of War's office. Over the next week, Johnson would work hard to win over this national hero by appealing to this individual's sense of duty.