impeachment of Pres Johnson

[rightnow909]

Why Was Andrew Johnson Impeached? (U.S. National Park Service)

www.nps.gov

no president has ever been ousted after impeachment

 

[Pellinore]

The Tenure of Office Act, exerting Legislative Branch control over Executive Branch functions, was pretty plainly unconstitutional but went unchallenged, and Johnson took the bait quite willingly. Johnson had been working pretty consistently to undermine post-War efforts to guarantee freedom and opportunity for freed Blacks, and pushed to take it easy on former Confederates, considering pardons for many of the leaders. None of this sat well for the empowered Northern Republicans.

The Senate refused to remove him, not because they didn't think he was guilty—he pretty clearly was—but because they didn't want to damage the institution, especially so near to the end of his term anyway. The removal failed by one vote, cast by Kansas Republican Edmund Ross, who changed his vote at the last minute.