Andrew Johnson Failure Of Office Act Essay

President Andrew Johnson was charged with breaking the Tenure of Office Act, which was the law put in place by Congress that stated a president may not replace a government official who was appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate without the Senate’s approval (Ladenburg, 2007). Johnson wanted to fire Secretary of War Edwin Stanton who was appointed by Abraham Lincoln and vigorously disagreed with the president over Reconstruction being a Radical Republican at the time. There seem to be two ways that this incident could have gone, depending on which side one is on when dealing with the impeachment process. One side would be the case to acquit based on that Stanton was a member of the cabinet during Lincoln’s administration and could be fired by
They didn’t represent the country and Southerners were being kept out of Congress until they submitted to rule by former slaves. This action could be seen as a stain on Congress and the country itself if he was convicted and presidents would be at the mercy of Congress forever and have no power in the executive branch at all. However, if Johnson was convicted and impeached (which he was), the case would be that when he broke the law and needs to be punished for he actions. This is based on two reasons: to help traitors who led the country into Civil War and to hurt the Freedmen. Johnson was notable for pardoning rebel leaders and opposed all attempts to give freedmen their rights and took their land to give back to the rebels. In addition, he advised Southern leaders to disobey the Reconstruction Act, shuffled generals around to prevent enforcement of the act, and vetoed the Civil Rights Bill and the Freedman’s Bureau Act (Ladenburg, 2007). He even allowed rioters in Memphis and New Orleans to kill dozens of