JOHNSON 



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JOHNSON 



it must be borne in mind that he had never 

 pretended to be anything but a states-rights 

 Democrat, except in so far as he had held the 

 preservation of the Union to be a fundamental 

 necessity. According to his own views, he was 

 on firm constitutional ground. The repassing 

 of the bills over his veto led him to take part 

 in the Congressional elections in the autumn 

 of 1866, but in spite of his somewhat undigni- 

 fied efforts, the radical Republicans remained 

 in control of Congress and at once put into 

 effect their reconstruction policy. Johnson's 

 policy, which was also Lincoln's, was based on 

 the assumption that the Southern states had 

 never been out of the Union, and that the 

 Federal government must recognize the new 

 state governments whenever these complied 

 with the Constitution. Accordingly, punishment 

 could be inflicted only upon individuals. 



The Congressional Plan. The Congressional 

 plan, on the contrary, was based on the theory 

 that the Southern states were no longer part 

 of the Union and were conquered territory. 

 The chief features of the Congressional plan 

 were to prevent the late Confederates from 

 voting, and to give the . negroes the right to 

 vote. Johnson's plan, as stated above, was 

 also Lincoln's plan, but even if Lincoln had 

 lived it is doubtful if he could have carried it 

 through. Johnson lacked the tact to conciliate 

 a stubborn Congress; and worse, he expressed 

 the most uncomplimentary opinions about it. 

 In return Congress rejected Johnson's plan en- 

 tirely and proceeded to work out its own plan. 

 A bill was passed depriving the President of 

 the power of proclaiming a general amnesty, 

 and another bill took from him the command 

 of the army by providing that all orders from 

 the President must be transmitted to the army 

 through the general, who could not be removed 

 without the consent of the Senate. Then Con- 

 gress passed the Tenure of Office Act (which 

 see), which took away the President's right to 

 remove civil officers of the government. John- 

 son vetoed these bills, but they were passed 

 over his veto. By these laws the independence 

 of the President was practically destroyed. 

 Congress divided the South into five military 

 districts, and proceeded to maintain the "recon- 

 structed" governments in power by military 

 force. 



Removal of Stantonand Impeachment. The 

 climax in the quarrels between Congress and 

 the President was still to come. The Cabinet, 

 which had at first supported Johnson, later 

 divided in its opinions. So outspoken was the 



opposition that Johnson finally suspended from 

 office Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, 

 and appointed General Grant in his place. 

 Congress refused to ratify the suspension, 

 Stanton again assumed the duties of his office, 

 and was again removed by the President. 

 Stanton refused to yield, the Senate declared 

 this removal illegal, and the House of Repre- 

 sentatives, on February 28, 1868, passed a 

 resolution impeaching the President (see IM- 

 PEACHMENT). Of the eleven counts in the arti- 

 cles of impeachment the most important were 

 the first, which stated that the removal of 

 Stanton was contrary to the Tenure of Office 

 Act, and the eleventh, a general charge that 

 the President had committed a series of mis- 

 demeanors in his attacks on Congress. 



The trial began on March 5, 1868. After the 

 trial began Johnson made a series of violent 

 speeches on a tour which is famous as "swing- 

 ing around the circle," because he said in one 

 speech that he had swung around the circle 

 of offices from alderman to President. Many 

 of the charges against the President were 

 trivial and were supported by inconclusive 

 evidence; the lawyers for the prosecution ap- 

 pealed chiefly to the violent political passions 

 of the day. The first vote in the Senate, 

 taken on May 16, was on the eleventh count; 

 the result was thirty-five votes for convictioi 

 nineteen for acquittal. A change of one vot 

 would have given the prosecution the 

 thirds majority necessary for conviction. Te 

 days later a vote was taken on two other 

 counts, with the same result. No ballot 

 ever taken on the remaining counts. By 

 margin of one vote the President was savi 

 from removal. 



Other Events of the Administration. 

 struggle between Congress and the President 

 and the disorders of reconstruction in the Sout 

 were the outstanding features of Johnson's 

 Presidency, but they should not be allowed 

 exclude attention from other events, 

 most important of these was the purchase of 

 Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7,200,000. The 

 purchase was opposed by many leaders of pub- 

 lic opinion, who referred to it as "Seward's 

 folly," but the transfer was finally approved 

 by the Senate. In the same year Seward made 

 vigorous protests to France against the pres* 

 ence of a French army in Mexico, with the 

 result that the army was withdrawn and the 

 empire of Maximilian fell (see MAXIMILIAN; 

 MEXICO, subtitle History). After two unsuc- 

 cessful attempts, the Atlantic cable was sue- 



