Andrew Johnson Impeached for Obstructing Reconstruction

The House of Representatives votes 126-47 to impeach President Andrew Johnson on February 24, 1868—the first presidential impeachment in American history. The precipitating event is Johnson’s February 21 attempt to fire Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and replace him with Lorenzo Thomas in apparent violation of the Tenure of Office Act. Stanton, a Lincoln appointee and staunch Radical Republican who controls military presence in the South including the Freedmen’s Bureau, refuses to vacate his office, barricades himself inside, and orders Thomas arrested. But the impeachment represents far more than a technical violation: it is the culmination of Johnson’s three-year campaign to sabotage Reconstruction.

Johnson’s obstruction of Reconstruction has been systematic and devastating. He vetoed the Freedmen’s Bureau expansion, pardoned thousands of Confederate leaders, removed Bureau employees sympathetic to Black Americans, restored confiscated land to former slaveholders, and encouraged Southern resistance to federal authority. His leniency toward the former Confederacy directly threatens Radical Republicans’ vision of Reconstruction that includes immediate citizenship, enfranchisement, and social and economic aid for formerly enslaved people. The Tenure of Office Act, passed in March 1867 over Johnson’s veto, was specifically designed to prevent him from removing Stanton and thereby protect congressional Reconstruction from executive sabotage.

The House adopts eleven articles of impeachment in early March 1868, with eight specifically addressing the Tenure of Office Act violation. The Senate trial begins March 5 with Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase presiding. On May 16, 1868, the Senate votes 35-19 to convict on Article 11—falling one vote short of the required two-thirds majority. Ten days later, identical votes on Articles 2 and 3 produce the same result, and the Senate adjourns the trial. Johnson’s narrow acquittal prevents Congress from establishing that policy differences justify removal, but his impeachment demonstrates that systematic obstruction of constitutional governance constitutes high crimes and misdemeanors. Johnson’s survival enables him to complete his sabotage of Reconstruction, issuing blanket pardons to all remaining Confederates on Christmas 1868 and ensuring that white supremacist control will be restored across the South.