742 



UNITED STATES. 



of Ohio and New Jersey were regarded as re- 

 maining in full force, the amendment had been 

 adopted by three-fourths of the States, although 

 the Constitution required only two-thirds to 

 approve the same. (For the amendment and a 

 list of the States ratifying the same, see p. 

 19T.) 



At the commencement of the session of Con- 

 gress which began on December 7, 1867, the 

 President sent to the Senate a statement of the 

 reasons for his suspension of the Secretary of 

 War (Stanton) from the duties of his office. 

 This statement was required by the act of the 

 previous Congress, to regulate removals from 

 office, known as the " Tenure-of-Office " Act 

 (see ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA, 1867, pp. 187 and 

 733). The Senate, after consideration of the 

 message, refused to approve of the suspension, 

 and it thereby became void. General Grant, 

 who was discharging the duties of Secretary 

 of War, immediately surrendered the office to 

 Mr. Stanton, and he was thus fully reinstated 

 on January 13th. At the same time General 

 Grant addressed the following note to the Pres- 

 ident : 



HEADQUARTERS ARMIES UNITED STATES, ) 

 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 14, 1868. j 



SIR : I have the honor to enclose herewith copy of 

 official notice received by me last evening of trie ac- 

 tion of the Senate of the United States in the case of 

 the suspension of Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of 

 War. According to the provisions of section 2, of 

 " An act regulating the tenure of certain civil offices," 

 my functions as Secretary of War ad interim ceased 

 from the moment of the receipt of the within notice. 

 1 have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedi- 

 ent servant, U. S. GRANT, General. 

 His Excellency A. JOHNSON, President of the United 



States. 



A warm correspondence now ensued between 

 President Johnson and General Grant, for 

 which see PTJBLIG DOCUMENTS. 



Subsequently, on February 21st, the Presi- 

 dent appointed Major-General Lorenzo Thom- 

 as, Adjutant-General of the Army, to be Sec- 

 retary of War ad interim, as follows : 



EXECUTIVE MANSION, ) 

 WASHINGTON. D. C., February 21, 1868. [ 

 SIR: The Honorable Edwin M. Stanton having 

 been removed from office as Secretary of the Depart- 

 ment of War, you are hereby authorized and empow- 

 ered 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 in- 

 structed to transfer to you all records, books, papers, 

 and other public property intrusted to his charge. 



Eespectfully yours, 



[Signed] ANDREW JOHNSON. 



To Brevet Major-General LORENZO THOMAS, Adju- 

 tant-General U. S. A. 



At the same time that he ordered General 

 Thomas to assume this position, he furnished 

 him with an order to the following effect, of 

 which, it seems, a copy was handed to the in- 

 dividual thereby affected : 



EXECUTIVE MANSION, ) 

 WASHINGTON, D. C., February 21, 1868. ) 

 SIR : By virtue of power and authority vested in me 

 as President by the Constitution and laws of the Uni- 

 ted States, you are hereby removed from office as 

 Secretary of the Department of War, and your func- 



tions as such will terminate upon the receipt of this 

 communication. 



You will transfer to Brevet Major-General Lorenzo 

 Thomas, Adjutant-General of the Army, who has this 

 day been authorized and empowered to act as Secre- 

 tary of War ad interim, all records, books, papers, and 

 other public property now in your custody and charge. 

 Respectfully, yours, 



ANDREW JOHNSON, President. 

 To Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON, Washington, D. C. 



General Thomas, on receiving his appoint- 

 ment, proceeded at once to the discharge of 

 his duties. He went to the room occupied by 

 Mr. Stanton, and exhibited to him his own let- 

 ter of appointment, and the order dismissing 

 Mr. Stanton from office. The latter, upon 

 reading these documents, asked for time to re- 

 move his private papers, which was courteous- 

 ly granted to him by General Thomas. 



During the morning the President sent a 

 written message to the Senate, informing that 

 body that, under the Constitution and laws, he 

 had removed Edwin M. Stanton from the of- 

 fice of Secretary of War, and had appointed 

 General Thomas to fill the position. The Sen- 

 ate very soon after the receipt of this mes- 

 sage laid aside its regular order of business, 

 viz., a bill to modify the reconstruction laws, 

 and went into executive session, to consider 

 the subject mentioned in the President's mes- 

 sage. After a very excited debate, which last- 

 ed until a late hour in the evening, and after 

 many different propositions had been present- 

 ed, the following resolution was passed by 

 very nearly a party vote, being a substitute of- 

 fered by Mr. Wilson for a resolution proposed 

 by Mr. Edmunds : 



Whereas, the Senate have received and considered 

 the communication of the President, stating that he 

 had removed Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, 

 and had designated the Adjutant-General of the Army 

 to act as Secretary of War ad interim ; therefore, 



Resolved by the Senate of the United States, That, un- 

 der the Constitution and laws of the United States, 

 the President has no power to remove the Secretary 

 of War and designate any other officer to perform the 

 duties of that office. 



At the same time that the Senate was thus 

 engaged, Mr. Stanton addressed the following 

 letter to the Speaker of the House, enclosing 

 a copy of the order by which he was dismissed 

 from office : 



WAR DEPARTMENT, ) 

 WASHINGTON, D. C., February 21, 1868. j 



SIR : General Thomas has just delivered to me a 

 copy of the enclosed order, which you will please 

 communicate to the House of Representatives. 



Your obedient servant, 

 EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War. 

 Hon. SCHUYLER COLFAX, Speaker of the House of 



Eepresentatives. 



On the next day the President sent a com- 

 munication to the Senate in explanation of his 

 action (see PUBLIC DOCUMENTS). 



Meantime Mr. Stanton refused to vacate the 

 office on the application of General Thomas, 

 but made his arrangements to occupy night and 

 day until the further action of Congress. He 

 also made application to the Chief Justice of 

 the Supreme Court of the District of Colum- 



