Articles of Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

Before actually presenting these articles to the full Senate, a private conference was held to go over the articles on May 11. Article I was considered by the authors of the Articles of Impeachment to be the strongest argument for impeachment, but it was actually the weakest. Because Stanton was not removed from his post as secretary of war, Articles I, IV, V, and VI, which were also based on Stanton's removal, were therefore invalid and likely to fail. Furthermore, because of the weakness of this first article, it was presumed by influential senators that the remaining articles were equally weak. With the legitimacy of the first article in question, various Republican senators announced their plans to vote against other articles of impeachment as well. Some Republicans did not reveal their plans, making those leading the impeachment charge nervous. Thus, at the end of this meeting, eight of eleven articles were essentially abandoned. Those that remained were the second, third, and eleventh.

Senator John Sherman, representing Ohio, said that Articles I, IV, V, and VI, based upon Stanton's removal, must fail, because Stanton was not, in fact, illegally removed from the Department of War given that he had been appointed by Lincoln, not Johnson. Senator Sherman's opinion was influential, since he had been very much involved in drafting the text of the Tenure of Office Act. In the end, only three of the articles were actually voted upon by the Senate (II, III, and XI); the others had been debated and dismissed during meetings that preceded the trial.

Article I

The first article of impeachment is a misdemeanor. The House asserts that President Johnson had disobeyed the Constitution and the Tenure of Office Act by calling, via letter, for the removal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. This action clearly violated the Tenure of Office Act, which stipulated that the president had to obtain approval from the Senate in order to dismiss cabinet officers.

This article was discarded because Stanton had been appointed by Lincoln, not Johnson. The Tenure of Office Act applied to the president who appointed the cabinet officer. That is, because Lincoln, not Johnson, had appointed Stanton, Johnson was well within his rights to dismiss Stanton in favor of Grant (the first time he dismissed Stanton) and Thomas (the second time he dismissed Stanton).

The failure of this particular article affected many of the remaining articles. Since this article was abandoned, segments of following articles were subsequently left out of consideration, such as the second element of the eleventh article.

Article II

The second article is also a misdemeanor. This article deals with Johnson's second appointment to the secretary of war position, Lorenzo Thomas. This article references a letter penned by Johnson that advised Thomas of Stanton's removal from office, which also entailed giving all relevant documents of that office to Thomas. The second article was one of only three to be voted upon by the Senate, all of which failed. The others were the third article and the eleventh article.

Article III

The third article is a misdemeanor, charging Johnson because he had appointed Thomas as secretary of war without consulting the Senate about his actions—particularly since the Senate was in session at the time Johnson had attempted to appoint Thomas. The third article was one of only three articles to be voted upon by the Senate, and it failed. The others, which also failed, were the second article and the eleventh article.

Article IV

The fourth article is the first of two crimes. It was not voted upon by the Senate during the trial. It charges Johnson with conspiring to dismiss Stanton with Thomas. It states that Johnson had conspired with Thomas and unnamed members of the House of Representatives to threaten and intimidate Stanton into leaving his post as secretary of war. Because the first article was found not to constitute a misdemeanor, Article IV was put aside and not subject to a vote.

Article V

The fifth article is a misdemeanor and again involves Johnson's supposed conspiring with Thomas to defy the Tenure of Office Act with Stanton's dismissal. Again, Johnson is charged with conspiring with Thomas and unknown representatives to prevent the legal execution of the Tenure of Office Act. Because Article I was found not to constitute a misdemeanor, Article V was not voted upon.

Article VI

The sixth article is a crime. Johnson is said to have conspired with Thomas to take the property of the United States, specifically from the Department of War, by force and seizure. Because Article I was found not to constitute a misdemeanor, Article VI was therefore also not voted upon.

Article VII

Article VII is a misdemeanor that states that Johnson realized the unlawful nature of appropriating property belonging to the Department of War. This article was not voted upon by the Senate.

Article VIII

Article VIII is also a misdemeanor. This article notes that Johnson had written a letter to Lorenzo Thomas informing him that he was to assume the office of secretary of war immediately. This article was not voted upon by the Senate.

Article IX

Article IX is a misdemeanor. This article concerns Johnson's assertion that the standard requiring all orders to be passed through the general of the army was not only unconstitutional but also outside the general's responsibilities. This article was not voted upon by the Senate.

Article X

Article X is a misdemeanor concerning Johnson's communication to the people about Congress’s actions. This article asserts that Johnson had tried to disgrace Congress as well as various committees of that body. Furthermore, it alleges that Johnson had done so to deliberately garner support from the American people against Congress.

Article X is further broken down into three specifications. The first specification deals with statements Johnson had made two years earlier, saying that Congress represented only part of the states: those that had rejoined the Union. Johnson also had asserted that Congress may have appeared to be in favor of the Union but had acted such that disunion and discord between the states were the ultimate result.

The second specification deals with remarks Johnson had made in Cleveland, Ohio, where he had accused Congress of attempting to divide the government of the country. Furthermore, Johnson had stated that Congress had engaged in a propaganda campaign designed to turn the public sentiment against the president.

The third specification also regards statements made approximately two years previously and accuses Johnson of delivering speeches that were not only inappropriate but also subversive. Article X was never voted upon.

Article XI

Article XI is a misdemeanor. Written to combine all charges and concerns of the previous ten articles, it was therefore essential to the case against Johnson.

The charges in the eleventh count are, first, that Congress could not issue amendments to the Constitution because Congress was not yet represented by all states. Johnson is also charged with accusing Congress of attempting to change the existing government and of planning a riot in New Orleans. The eleventh article was actually the first to be voted upon by the senators, on May 11. There were not enough guilty votes regarding this article for President Johnson to be impeached. Those who sought to impeach him were fairly certain it would pass and therefore devised no plan for action should it fail, which it did.

Thomas F. Williams (R-PA) then suggested that the group adjourn until May 26. The hope was that the political scenario would change with the inclusion of more Republican senators from states not yet admitted into the Union, among other potential events. While the Senate recessed, the House reassembled to plan a better, more evidence-filled case against the president.

Voting in the Senate resumed on May 26 with consideration of the second article, which was soundly defeated. The third article was similarly defeated. Once the senators discovered that the impeachment would not be carried out owing to lack of support for the majority of the articles, they decided it would be better to drop the case and end the trial than to vote against impeachment. The eleventh article was one of only three articles to be voted upon by the Senate, all of which failed. The others were the second article and the third article.