What were the impeachable arguments of Andrew Johnson

[Horse with no Name]

http://www.impeach-andrewjohnson.com/12ArgumentsOnImpeachment/!IndexOfArguments.htm


Congress
Arguments about the status and authority of Congress vis-à-vis the President as it relates to the impeachment process.


Conspiracy
Arguments that the President was guilty of conspiracy to obstruct Congress or the law.


Constitution
Arguments about the role of the Constitution and the Supreme Court in the impeachment process.


Corruption
Arguments about the alleged misuse of Presidential authority by Johnson for personal gain.


Crime/Violation of the Law
Arguments about the President’s alleged violation of federal law in the impeachment process.


Evidence
Arguments about the necessity and extent of evidence of official misdeeds by the President.


Individual Arguments Against Impeachment
Arguments made by defenders of President Johnson as to why he should not be impeached.


Individual Arguments For Impeachment
Arguments made by opponents of President Johnson as to why he should be impeached.


Lincoln Presidency
Arguments about how the transition from the Lincoln administration to the Johnson administration related to Johnson’s impeachment.


Moral Judgment
Arguments about how morality relates to Presidential impeachment.


Motivation
Arguments about the motivations underlying the actions of the President and his political opponents.


National Considerations
Arguments about the degree and extent to which vital national interests should play a role in impeachment considerations.


New Orleans Riot
Arguments about whether Johnson’s alleged complicity in the New Orleans Riot of 1866 was an impeachable offense or not.


Opinion
Arguments about the role that public opinion (domestic, foreign, and journalistic) plays in the impeachment process.


Other Options/Outcomes
Arguments offering or warning about options or outcomes other than impeachment.


Partisanship
Arguments about how partisan politics affects the impeachment process.


Personal Conduct of the President
Arguments about the role of the President’s personal behavior in the impeachment process.


Political Expediency/Wisdom
Arguments about the role that pragmatic politics—the art of the possible—plays in the impeachment process.


Presidential Amnesty Order and
Reopening The Registry
Arguments about how Johnson’s amnesty of former Confederates and his policy change regarding the voter registry were related to the impeachment process.


Presidential Appointive Power
Arguments about the extent and use of the Presidential power of appointment under the Constitution as it relates to the impeachment process.


Presidential Cabinet
Arguments about the authority of the Cabinet under the Constitution and vis-à-vis the President and Congress.


Presidential Removal Power
Arguments about the extent and use of the Presidential power of removal under the Constitution as it relates to the impeachment process.


Separation of Powers
Arguments about how the Constitutional theory of the independence of the three branches of the federal government relates to the impeachment process.


Speech
Arguments about how various types of public speech relate to the impeachment process.


Statesmanship
Arguments about statesmanship in the impeachment process.


Tenure of Office Act
Arguments about the nature of this Congressional act and how its breach by President Johnson related to the impeachment process.






"This Little Boy would persist in
handling Books Above His Capacity"
March 21, 1868

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Another example of Republicans using the impeachment process

to get rid of a Democrat in office. Johnson was a Democrat who stayed loyal to the Union during the Civil War. Lincoln chose him as his running mate in 1864 in an attempt to secure votes from the border states. He even called it the Union Party rather than going by the Republican name because of it. (Hmm...our first Unity ticket?) Of course, no one thought that Johnson would become President. Ironically, he was following Lincoln's conciliatory plan towards the South-he just didn't have the personality and political base in Congress to pull it off. Reconstruction would have been a lot different if Lincoln had lived until 1868, imho.

[slj0101]

2. I only have one flaw in your statement.

It's definitely a case of partisanship, but the two parties were ideologically different from the way they are today.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. Correct

but I think you would agree that the radicals were in power in Congress.

[Wednesdays]

3. re: "Reconstruction would have been a lot different..."

"Reconstruction would have been a lot different if Lincoln had lived until 1868, imho."

I've read historians who said that the radical Republicans would have impeached even Lincoln. He really wasn't that popular a president during his lifetime--the rank-and-file Republicans distrusted him, and he was virtually demonized in the South. It was only after his assassination that he became the folk hero he is now.

[Wednesdays]

4. How times have changed!

Here are the articles of impeachment against Johnson:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/impeach/articles.html

Note that the articles were drafted on 2-24-1868, just 3 days after the "offense" listed in Article I! Could you imagine today's congress drafting articles of impeachment against * just 3 days after everyone found out he lied to get us into Iraq?

Article I basically states that Johnson acted illegally when he dismissed Secretary of War Stanton. That would be like today's congress impeaching Bush if he had fired Rumsfeld! :crazy:

Article 10 is the real kicker--his "high crime" was exercising his right to free speech! Imagine today's congress impeaching * for criticizing congress.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. Too bad they missed getting rid of him by one vote. A tragedy really.

But, impeachment is a political, not legal, act. One senator switched his vote and the country has suffered since.