Second impeachment inquiry against Andrew Johnson

Second impeachment inquiry against Andrew Johnson
Accused	Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States
Committee	Select Committee on Reconstruction
Committee chair	Thaddeus Stevens
Date	January 27– February 22, 1868 (3 weeks and 5 days)
Outcome	Select Committee on Reconstruction recommended impeachment and reported an impeachment resolution; Johnson subsequently impeached
Charges	Obstruction of "the due execution of the laws" (authorization of inquiry); high crimes and misdemeanors (impeachment resolution)
Congressional votes
House vote authorizing the inquiry
Votes in favor	99
Votes against	31
Result	Approved
House Committee on Reconstruction vote on the impeachment resolution
Votes in favor	7
Votes against	2
Result	Approved
The House afterwards voted on February 24, 1868 to impeach Andrew Johnson

The second impeachment inquiry against Andrew Johnson was an impeachment inquiry against United States President Andrew Johnson. It followed a previous inquiry in 1867. The second inquiry, unlike the first (which was run by the House Committee on the Judiciary), was run by the House Select Committee on Reconstruction. The second inquiry ran from its authorization on January 27, 1868, until the House Select Committee on Reconstruction reported to Congress on February 22, 1868.

By early February, it appeared the prospect of an impeachment advancing was improbable. This changed when, on February 21, 1868, Johnson attempted to dismiss and replace Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in violation of the Tenure of Office Act. That day, an impeachment resolution was forwarded to the select committee. The following day, the select committee approved a slightly amended version of the resolution in a party-line 7–2 vote (with all Republican members voting in favor of the impeachment resolution and Democratic members voting against it). On February 24, 1868, the impeachment resolution was passed by the House, thereby impeaching Johnson. Johnson was later acquitted in his impeachment trial.

Background

Main articles: Efforts to impeach Andrew Johnson and First impeachment inquiry against Andrew Johnson

Photograph of President Johnson

Some Radical Republicans had entertained the thought of impeaching President Andrew Johnson since as early as 1866. ^[1] However, the Republican Party was divided on the prospect of impeachment, with moderate Republicans in the party, who held a plurality, widely opposing it at this point. ^[1] The radicals were more in favor of impeachment, as their plans for strong reform in reconstruction were greatly imperiled by Johnson. ^[1]

Several attempts were made by Radical Republicans to initiate impeachment, but these were initially successfully rebuffed by moderate Republicans in party leadership. ^[1] Radical Republicans continued to seek Johnson's impeachment, introducing impeachment resolutions in spite of a rule put in place for the House Republican caucus by the moderate Republican leadership in December 1866 requiring that a majority of House Republicans House Committee on the Judiciary would be required to approve any measure regarding impeachment in party caucus prior to it being considered in the House. ^{[1] [2]} Moderate Republicans often stifled these resolutions by referring them to committees, however. ^[2] On January 7, 1867, Benjamin F. Loan, John R. Kelso, and James Mitchell Ashley each introduced three separate impeachment resolutions against Johnson. the House refused to hold debate or vote on either Loan or Kelso's resolutions. ^[1] However, they did allow a vote on Ashley's impeachment-related resolution. ^[1] Unlike the other two impeachment bills introduced that day (which would have outright impeached Johnson), Ashley's bill offered a specific outline of how an impeachment process would proceed, and it did not start with an immediate impeachment. Rather than going to a direct vote on impeaching the president, his resolution would instruct the Judiciary Committee to "inquire into the official conduct of Andrew Johnson", investigating what it called Johnson's "corruptly used" powers, including his political appointments, pardons for ex-Confederates, and his vetoes of legislation. ^{[1] [3] [4]} The resolution passed in the House 108–39. ^{[1] [5]} It was seen as offering Republicans a chance to register their displeasure with Johnson, without actually formally impeaching him. ^[1] This launched the first impeachment inquiry against Andrew Johnson. After the end of the 39th Congress, the first impeachment inquiry was renewed in the 40th Congress. ^[1] On November 25, 1867, the House Committee on the Judiciary voted to recommend impeachment. ^{[3] [6]} However, when put to a full vote of the House, the House voted 57–108 against impeaching Johnson on December 7, 1867, with more Republicans voting against impeachment than for it. ^[7]

Vote authorizing the inquiry

Rufus P. Spalding, who authored the resolution which authorized the second impeachment inquiry

On January 27, 1868, Rufus P. Spalding moved that the rules be suspended so that he could present a resolution resolving,

that the Committee on Reconstruction be authorized to inquire what combinations have been made or attempted to be made to obstruct the due execution of the laws, and to that end the committee have power to send for persons and papers and to examine witnesses on oath, and report to this House what action, if any, they may deem necessary, and that said committee have leave to report at any time. ^{[8] [9]}

The motion to allow consideration of the resolution was agreed to by a vote of 103–37, ^{[8] [10]} and the House voted to approve the resolution by a vote of 99–31. ^{[8] [10]} This launched a new inquiry into Johnson run by the Select Committee on Reconstruction. ^[8]

No Democrats voted for the resolution, while the only Republicans who cast votes against it were Elihu B. Washburne and William Windom. ^{[10] [11] [12]} 57 members were absent from the vote (39 Republicans, 17 Democrats, and 1 Conservative Republican). Additionally, Speaker Schuyler Colfax (a Republican) did not vote, ^{[10] [11]} as House rules do not require the speaker to vote during ordinary legislative proceedings, unless their vote would be decisive or if the vote is being cast by ballot. ^[13]

Inquiry authorization vote [10] [11]
January 27, 1868	Party					Total votes
	Democratic	Republican	Conservative	Conservative Republican	Independent Republican
Yea Y	0	97	0	0	2	99
Nay	28	2	1	0	0	31

Comparative bar chart

Vote	Vote total
"Yea" votes	99
"Nay" votes	31
Absent/not voting	58

Votes by member ^{[11] [10]}

District	Member	Party		Vote
Kentucky 8	George Madison Adams		Democrat	Nay
Iowa 3	William B. Allison		Republican	Yea
Massachusetts 2	Oakes Ames		Republican	Yea
Missouri 9	George Washington Anderson		Republican	Absent
Maryland 2	Stevenson Archer		Democrat	Absent
Tennessee 6	Samuel Mayes Arnell		Republican	Yea
Nevada at-large	Delos R. Ashley		Republican	Absent
Ohio 10	James Mitchell Ashley		Republican	Yea
California 1	Samuel Beach Axtell		Democrat	Absent
New York 21	Alexander H. Bailey		Republican	Yea
Illinois 12	Jehu Baker		Republican	Absent
Massachusetts 8	John Denison Baldwin		Republican	Yea
Massachusetts 6	Nathaniel P. Banks		Republican	Yea
New York 2	Demas Barnes		Democrat	Absent
Connecticut 4	William Henry Barnum		Democrat	Nay
Michigan 1	Fernando C. Beaman		Republican	Yea
Kentucky 7	James B. Beck		Democrat	Nay
Missouri 8	John F. Benjamin		Republican	Absent
New Hampshire 3	Jacob Benton		Republican	Yea
Ohio 16	John Bingham		Republican	Yea
Maine 3	James G. Blaine		Republican	Absent
Michigan 3	Austin Blair		Republican	Yea
Massachusetts 7	George S. Boutwell		Republican	Yea
Pennsylvania 6	Benjamin Markley Boyer		Democrat	Absent
Illinois 7	Henry P. H. Bromwell		Republican	Absent
New York 8	James Brooks		Democrat	Absent
Pennsylvania 7	John Martin Broomall		Republican	Yea
Ohio 9	Ralph Pomeroy Buckland		Republican	Yea
Illinois 10	Albert G. Burr		Democrat	Nay
Massachusetts 5	Benjamin Butler		Republican	Absent
Pennsylvania 10	Henry L. Cake		Republican	Yea
Ohio 2	Samuel Fenton Cary		Independent Republican	Yea
New York 7	John Winthrop Chanler		Democrat	Nay
New York 22	John C. Churchill		Republican	Absent
Ohio 6	Reader W. Clarke		Republican	Yea
Kansas at-large	Sidney Clarke		Republican	Yea
Wisconsin 3	Amasa Cobb		Republican	Yea
Indiana 6	John Coburn		Republican	Yea
Indiana 9	Schuyler Colfax		Republican	Did not vote (speaker) α
Illinois 6	Burton C. Cook		Republican	Yea
New York 13	Thomas Cornell		Republican	Yea
Pennsylvania 21	John Covode		Republican	Yea
Illinois 8	Shelby Moore Cullom		Republican	Absent
Massachusetts 10	Henry L. Dawes		Republican	Absent
Rhode Island 2	Nathan F. Dixon II		Republican	Yea
Iowa 5	Grenville M. Dodge		Republican	Yea
Minnesota 2	Ignatius L. Donnelly		Republican	Yea
Michigan 6	John F. Driggs		Republican	Yea
Ohio 17	Ephraim R. Eckley		Republican	Yea
Ohio 1	Benjamin Eggleston		Republican	Yea
New Hampshire 1	Jacob Hart Ela		Republican	Yea
Wisconsin 4	Charles A. Eldredge		Democrat	Nay
Massachusetts 1	Thomas D. Eliot		Republican	Yea
Illinois 2	John F. Farnsworth		Republican	Yea
New York 16	Orange Ferriss		Republican	Yea
Michigan 4	Thomas W. Ferry		Republican	Yea
New York 19	William C. Fields		Republican	Yea
Pennsylvania 20	Darwin Abel Finney		Republican	Absent
New York 4	John Fox		Democrat	Absent
Ohio 19	James A. Garfield		Republican	Absent
Pennsylvania 8	James Lawrence Getz		Democrat	Absent
Pennsylvania 15	Adam John Glossbrenner		Democrat	Nay
Kentucky 3	Jacob Golladay		Democrat	Nay
Missouri 4	Joseph J. Gravely		Republican	Absent
New York 15	John Augustus Griswold		Republican	Absent
Kentucky 5	Asa Grover		Democrat	Nay
New Jersey 2	Charles Haight		Democrat	Nay
New Jersey 5	George A. Halsey		Republican	Absent
Illinois 4	Abner C. Harding		Republican	Yea
Tennessee 7	Isaac Roberts Hawkins		Republican	Absent
California 2	William Higby		Republican	Yea
New Jersey 4	John Hill		Republican	Absent
Indiana 4	William S. Holman		Democrat	Nay
Massachusetts 4	Samuel Hooper		Republican	Yea
Wisconsin 2	Benjamin F. Hopkins		Republican	Yea
Connecticut 2	Julius Hotchkiss		Democrat	Nay
Iowa 6	Asahel W. Hubbard		Republican	Absent
West Virginia 1	Chester D. Hubbard		Republican	Yea
Connecticut 1	Richard D. Hubbard		Democrat	Absent
New York 17	Calvin T. Hulburd		Republican	Yea
New York 30	James M. Humphrey		Democrat	Nay
Indiana 3	Morton C. Hunter		Republican	Yea
Illinois 5	Ebon C. Ingersoll		Republican	Yea
Rhode Island 1	Thomas Jenckes		Republican	Yea
California 3	James A. Johnson		Democrat	Nay
Kentucky 6	Thomas Laurens Jones		Democrat	Nay
Illinois 1	Norman B. Judd		Republican	Yea
Indiana 5	George Washington Julian		Republican	Yea
Pennsylvania 4	William D. Kelley		Republican	Yea
New York 25	William H. Kelsey		Republican	Yea
Indiana 2	Michael C. Kerr		Democrat	Nay
New York 12	John H. Ketcham		Republican	Absent
West Virginia 2	Bethuel Kitchen		Republican	Absent
Kentucky 4	J. Proctor Knott		Democrat	Nay
Pennsylvania 16	William Henry Koontz		Republican	Yea
New York 20	Addison H. Laflin		Republican	Yea
Pennsylvania 24	George Van Eman Lawrence		Republican	Absent
Ohio 4	William Lawrence		Republican	Yea
Missouri 7	Benjamin F. Loan		Republican	Absent
New York 26	William S. Lincoln		Republican	Yea
Illinois at-large	John A. Logan		Republican	Yea
Iowa 4	William Loughridge		Republican	Absent
Maine 1	John Lynch		Republican	Yea
Oregon at-large	Rufus Mallory		Republican	Yea
Illinois 11	Samuel S. Marshall		Democrat	Absent
New York 18	James M. Marvin		Republican	Yea
Tennessee 2	Horace Maynard		Republican	Yea
Missouri 5	Joseph W. McClurg		Republican	Yea
Missouri 3	James Robinson McCormick		Democrat	Nay
Maryland 1	Hiram McCullough		Democrat	Absent
Pennsylvania 13	Ulysses Mercur		Republican	Yea
Pennsylvania 14	George Funston Miller		Republican	Absent
New Jersey 1	William Moore		Republican	Yea
Pennsylvania 22	James K. Moorhead		Republican	Yea
Ohio 13	George W. Morgan		Democrat	Absent
Pennsylvania 17	Daniel Johnson Morrell		Republican	Absent
New York 5	John Morrissey		Democrat	Absent
Tennessee 4	James Mullins		Republican	Yea
Ohio 5	William Mungen		Democrat	Nay
Pennsylvania 3	Leonard Myers		Republican	Yea
Missouri 2	Carman A. Newcomb		Republican	Yea
Indiana 1	William E. Niblack		Democrat	Nay
Delaware at-large	John A. Nicholson		Democrat	Nay
Tennessee 8	David Alexander Nunn		Republican	Absent
Pennsylvania 2	Charles O'Neill		Republican	Yea
Indiana 8	Godlove Stein Orth		Republican	Yea
Wisconsin 1	Halbert E. Paine		Republican	Yea
Maine 2	Sidney Perham		Republican	Yea
Maine 4	John A. Peters		Republican	Yea
Maryland 3	Charles E. Phelps		Conservative	Nay
Maine 5	Frederick Augustus Pike		Republican	Yea
Missouri 1	William A. Pile		Republican	Yea
Ohio 15	Tobias A. Plants		Republican	Absent
Vermont 2	Luke P. Poland		Republican	Yea
West Virginia 3	Daniel Polsley		Republican	Yea
New York 24	Theodore M. Pomeroy		Republican	Yea
Iowa 2	Hiram Price		Republican	Yea
New York 14	John V. L. Pruyn		Democrat	Nay
Pennsylvania 1	Samuel J. Randall		Democrat	Nay
Illinois 13	Green Berry Raum		Republican	Absent
New York 10	William H. Robertson		Republican	Absent
New York 3	William Erigena Robinson		Democrat	Absent
Illinois 9	Lewis W. Ross		Democrat	Nay
Wisconsin 5	Philetus Sawyer		Republican	Yea
Ohio 3	Robert C. Schenck		Republican	Yea
Pennsylvania 19	Glenni William Scofield		Republican	Yea
New York 28	Lewis Selye		Independent Republican	Yea
Indiana 11	John P. C. Shanks		Republican	Yea
Ohio 7	Samuel Shellabarger		Republican	Absent
New Jersey 3	Charles Sitgreaves		Democrat	Absent
Vermont 3	Worthington Curtis Smith		Republican	Absent
Ohio 18	Rufus P. Spalding		Republican	Yea
Connecticut 3	Henry H. Starkweather		Republican	Yea
New Hampshire 2	Aaron Fletcher Stevens		Republican	Yea
Pennsylvania 9	Thaddeus Stevens		Republican	Absent
New York 6	Thomas E. Stewart		Conservative Republican	Absent
Tennessee 3	William Brickly Stokes		Republican	Absent
Maryland 5	Frederick Stone		Democrat	Absent
New York 1	Stephen Taber		Democrat	Nay
Nebraska at-large	John Taffe		Republican	Yea
Pennsylvania 5	Caleb Newbold Taylor		Republican	Yea
Maryland 4	Francis Thomas		Republican	Yea
Tennessee 5	John Trimble		Republican	Absent
Kentucky 1	Lawrence S. Trimble		Democrat	Nay
Michigan 5	Rowland E. Trowbridge		Republican	Yea
Massachusetts 3	Ginery Twichell		Republican	Yea
Michigan 2	Charles Upson		Republican	Yea
New York 31	Henry Van Aernam		Republican	Yea
Pennsylvania 11	Daniel Myers Van Auken		Democrat	Nay
New York 29	Burt Van Horn		Republican	Yea
Missouri 6	Robert T. Van Horn		Republican	Yea
Ohio 12	Philadelph Van Trump		Democrat	Absent
New York 11	Charles Van Wyck		Republican	Yea
New York 27	Hamilton Ward		Republican	Absent
Wisconsin 6	Cadwallader C. Washburn		Republican	Yea
Indiana 7	Henry D. Washburn		Republican	Yea
Massachusetts 9	William B. Washburn		Republican	Absent
Illinois 3	Elihu B. Washburne		Republican	Nay
Ohio 14	Martin Welker		Republican	Yea
Pennsylvania 23	Thomas Williams		Republican	Yea
Indiana 10	William Williams		Republican	Yea
Iowa 1	James F. Wilson		Republican	Yea
Ohio 11	John Thomas Wilson		Republican	Absent
Pennsylvania 18	Stephen Fowler Wilson		Republican	Absent
Minnesota 1	William Windom		Republican	Nay
New York 9	Fernando Wood		Democrat	Absent
Vermont 1	Frederick E. Woodbridge		Republican	Absent
Pennsylvania 12	George Washington Woodward		Democrat	Nay
Notes: ^α Schuyler Colfax was serving as Speaker of the House. Per House rules, "the Speaker is not required to vote in ordinary legislative proceedings, except when such vote would be decisive or when the House is engaged in voting by ballot." [13]

Membership of House Select Committee on Reconstruction during the inquiry

The following is a table of the members during the second session, during which the inquiry took place. ^[14]

Members of the House Select Committee on Reconstruction during the second session of the 40th United States Congress [14] [15]
Republican Party	Democratic Party
Thaddeus Stevens, Pennsylvania (committee chair) Fernando C. Beaman, Michigan John Bingham, Ohio George S. Boutwell, Massachusetts John F. Farnsworth, Illinois Calvin T. Hulburd, New York Halbert E. Paine, Wisconsin	James Brooks, New York James B. Beck, Kentucky

When the House had previously voted in December 1867 (at the end of the first impeachment inquiry) on the impeachment resolution forwarded to it by the House Committee on the Judiciary, four of these select committee members (Republicans Boutwell, Farnsworth, Stevens, and Paine) had voted in support of impeaching Johnson, while five of these select committee members (Republicans Beaman, Bingham, Hulburd and Democrats Beck and Brooks) had voted against impeachment. ^[16]

Inquiry

Thaddeus Stevens, chair of the Select Committee on Reconstruction

At the time of the inquiry, Radical Republican Thaddeus Stevens was chair of the House Select Committee on Reconstruction. ^[17] At the time of the inquiry, Stevens was of advanced age and poor health. ^[18]

The select committee also looked into correspondence between President Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant, particularly what orders Grant had been given by Johnson when Grant was his acting sectretary of war. ^{[19] [20]} Grant came to a committee meeting on February 8, but was not examined. ^[20] In early February, heated letters between Grant and Johnson had been published in the press, adding further intrigue and fuel to the investigation. ^{[21] [22]}

The select committee interviewed witnesses. One witness interviewed multiple times was Jerome B. Stillson, a reporter with the New York World who had conducted regular interviews with President Johnson. ^{[23] [24]}

Stevens successfully persuaded the House to, on February 10, 1868, pass a resolution transferring all records from the previous impeachment inquiry and any further responsibility on impeachment away from the Committee on the Judiciary and to the Select Committee on Reconstruction. ^{[25] [26]}

Initial rejection of impeachment

Stevens believed that the letters between Johnson and Grant that had been published in the press proved that Johnson had attempted to convince Grant to act in violation of the Tenure of Office Act. ^[26] In the morning of February 13, 1868, the select committee held a brief session. Stevens announced that he desired to test the subject of impeachment in the select committee, stating that he believed that the investigation had gone far enough and the time for action to be taken had come. ^{[26] [27]} Stevens introduced to the select committee a resolution to impeach the president for high crimes and misdemeanors. The resolution did not specify what high crimes and misdemeanors had been committed. ^[27] Along with the resolution, he also presented the select committee with a report arguing for impeachment. The chief reason for impeaching Johnson given in the report was that Johnson had (allegedly) acted with intent to violate the Tenure of Office Act. ^{[25] [26] [28]}

John Bingham (R– OH), a moderate Republican, held the balance of power on the select committee. ^[26] Bingham motioned to lay on the table both the resolution, the report, and the discussion of impeachment. Stevens asked, before a vote, that the vote on the motion be recorded so that the nation would know who was in support of impeachment and who was not. In what Stevens had framed to be a de facto proxy vote on impeachment, three select committee members (Republicans Fernando C. Beaman, and John F. Farnsworth, and Stevens) voted against tabling (for impeachment) and six select committee members (Republicans Bignham, Halbert E. Paine, Calvin T. Hulburd and Democrats James B. Beck and James Brooks) voted to table (against impeachment). ^{[26] [27]}

The next day, pro-impeachment Republican committee members Fernando C. Beaman, George S. Boutwell, John F. Farnsworth, and Thaddeus Stevens met to discuss how to proceed towards impeachment after this setback. However, Stevens concluded that it was a lost cause. ^[29] This momentarily appeared to mark the death of the prospect of impeaching Johnson ^{[26] [28] [29]} and the end of the revived effort to impeach Johnson. ^[30]

Select committee approval of an impeachment resolution

Handwritten original copy of John Covode's single sentence impeachment resolution, presented on February 21, 1868

On February 21, 1868, Johnson disregarded the Tenure of Office Act by moving to dismiss Edwin Stanton as U.S secretary of war and replace him with Lorenzo Thomas as the ad interim secretary of war. ^[25] That day, Stevens submitted a resolution to the House resolving that the evidence taken on impeachment by the previous (1867) impeachment inquiry run by the Committee on the Judiciary be referred to the House Select Committee on Reconstruction, and that the select committee "have leave to report at any time", which was approved by the House. ^[8] Also on February 21, a one sentence resolution to impeach Johnson, written by John Covode, was presented to the House. The resolution read, "Resolved, that Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors." ^{[31] [32] [33] [34]} George S. Boutwell motioned that the resolution be referred to the House Select Committee on Reconstruction, and it was. ^{[17] [34]}

An amended version of Covode's resolution was rapidly drawn up by the Select Committee on Reconstruction. ^[18] In the morning February 22, 1868, by a party-line vote of 7–2, ^{[35] [36]} the select committee voted to refer a slightly amended version of Covode's impeachment resolution to the full House. ^{[8] [17] [37]} The amended impeachment resolution read,

"Resolved, That Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors in office." ^{[37] [38]}

Remarks made when the full House debated the resolution indicate that the Republican members of the select committee's support for impeachment was motivated by Johnson's attempt to remove Secretary of War Stanton, which they regarded as a violation of the Tenure of Office Act. ^[8]

Committee vote on impeachment resolution
February 22, 1868	Party		Total votes
	Democratic	Republican
Yea Y	0	7	7
Nay	2	0	2

Vote by member

District	Member	Party		Vote
Michigan 1	Fernando C. Beaman		Republican	Yea
Kentucky 7	James B. Beck		Democratic	Nay
Ohio 16	John Bingham		Republican	Yea
Massachusetts 7	George S. Boutwell		Republican	Yea
New York 8	James Brooks		Democratic	Nay
Illinois 2	John F. Farnsworth		Republican	Yea
Wisconsin 1	Halbert E. Paine		Republican	Yea
New York 17	Calvin T. Hulburd		Republican	Yea
Pennsylvania 9	Thaddeus Stevens		Republican	Yea

Majority report of the select committee

A majority report in support of impeaching Johnson for high crimes and misdemeanors was written and was signed by all of the select committee's Republican members. The dissenting Democratic members did not write a minority view, with James Brooks claiming that he had not had enough time to prepare one. ^[8]

Full text of the majority report ^[8]

• That in addition to the papers referred to the committee, the committee find that the President, on the 21st day of February, 1868, signed and issued a commission or letter of authority to one Lorenzo Thomas, directing and authorizing said Thomas to act as Secretary of War ad interim, and to take possession of the books, records, and papers, and other public property in the War Department, of which the following is a copy:
  ____________
  EXECUTIVE MANSION
  Washington, February 21, 1868.
  SIR: Hon. Edwin M. Stanton having been this day removed from office as Secretary for the Department of War, you are hereby authorized and empowered to act as Secretary of War ad interim, and will immediately enter upon the discharge of the duties pertaining to that office. Mr. Stanton has been instructed to transfer to you all the records, books, papers, and other public property now in his cusotody and charge.
  

  Respectfully yours,
  

  Andrew Johnson
  

  To Brevet Maj. Lorenzo Thomas
  

  Adjunct-General of the United States Army, Washington, D.C.
  

  Official copy respectfully furnished to Hon. Edwin M. Stanton
  

  L. Thomas,
  

  Secretary of War ad interim

  ____________

  Upon the evidence collected by the committee, which is herewith presented, and in virtue of the powers with which they have been invested by the House, they are of the opinion that Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors. They therefore recommend to the House the adoption of the accompanying resolution.
  

  Resolved, That Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors in office.

Subsequent impeachment and trial

Main articles: Impeachment of Andrew Johnson and Impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson

At 3pm on February 22, Stevens presented from the House Select Committee on Reconstruction the impeachment resolution along with the majority report. ^{[8] [17] [37] [39]} The impeachment resolution was put to a vote on February 24, 1868, three days after Johnson's dismissal of Stanton. The House of Representatives voted 126–47 (with 17 members not voting) in favor of a resolution to impeach the president for high crimes and misdemeanors, ^{[17] [25] [40]} marking the first time that a president of the United States had been impeached. ^[25] On February 25, the House (by a vote of 105–36) passed a resolution by George Boutwell that the House Select Committee on Reconstruction be authorized to sit during sessions of the House, ahead of proceedings that included the consideration of impeachment managers and the passage of articles of impeachment. ^{[41] [42]} Johnson was narrowly acquitted in his Senate trial with a 35 in favor of conviction to 19 votes in favor acquittal, one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed for a conviction. ^[43]

See also

• Timeline of the impeachment of Andrew Johnson

References

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2. Benedict, Michael Les (1998). "From Our Archives: A New Look at the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson" (PDF). Political Science Quarterly. 113 (3): 493–511. doi:10.2307/2658078. ISSN   0032-3195. JSTOR   2658078 . Retrieved 2 March 2021.
3. "Impeachment Efforts Against President Andrew Johnson | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. United States House of Representatives. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
4. Stathis, Stephen W.; Huckabee, David C. (September 16, 1998). "Congressional Resolutions on Presidential Impeachment: A Historical Overview" (PDF). sgp.fas.org. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
5. "TO PASS A RESOLUTION TO IMPEACH THE PRESIDENT. (P. 320-2, … -- House Vote #418 -- Jan 7, 1867". GovTrack.us. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
6. "Impeachment Rejected, November to December 1867 | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. United States House of Representatives. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
7. "TO PASS THE IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT RESOLUTION. -- House Vote #119 -- Dec 7, 1867". GovTrack.us.
8. Hinds, Asher C. (4 March 1907). "HINDS' PRECEDENTS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES INCLUDING REFERENCES TO PROVISIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION, THE LAWS, AND DECISIONS OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE" (PDF). United States Congress. pp. 845–847. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
9. "Journal of the United States House of Representatives (40th Congress, second session) pages 259–262". voteview.com. United States House of Representatives. 1868. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
10. "Journal of the United States House of Representatives (40th Congress, second session) pages 259–262". voteview.com. United States House of Representatives. 1868. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
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