Andrew Johnson, who became president of the United States after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, was acquitted in an impeachment trial on this day in 1868. Johnson had come into conflict with Congress by going easy on former Confederate states after the end of the Civil War and allowing them to be easily readmitted as states with “black codes,” which harshly restricted Black Americans’ ability to act as free citizens. Congress instead aimed to follow through on a program of “Radical Reconstruction,” which put seceded states under military rule and gave Black American men the right to vote.
As part of their effort to constrain his decision-making on those issues, Congress passed a law prohibiting Johnson from removing members of his cabinet without the Senate’s approval. Johnson quickly pushed the limits of that law by trying to replace Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, who agreed with the Radical Reconstruction approach, two separate times. The House of Representatives issued 11 impeachment articles; most were for violating the law they’d passed, though one was basically for insulting Congress.
While Johnson’s term survived the impeachment trials, he chose not to run for reelection. Instead, he was replaced by war hero Ulysses S. Grant, who worked with Congress to implement the Radical Reconstruction program.
