In the past, historians have generally favored Andrew Johnson in his fight against the impeachers. Even presidents Woodrow Wilson and John Kennedy have praised Johnson for upholding the Constitution in 1868. Stewart takes a different position – Johnson blatantly obstructed Reconstruction laws and his allies tried to buy acquittal votes from senators.
Radical Republicans
Stewart stresses the violent situation in the south after the war. Freedmen and white unionists were assaulted and killed by the Ku Klux Klan and others. If a freedman even gave a hint of exercising their new rights, such as voting, their life was in danger. White Republican officials and Freedmen's Bureau workers were also under threat. Reconstruction by the heavily Republican legislature was being thwarted.
Johnson, Stewart insists, aided in the obstruction. He unilaterally approved new southern state governments controlled by former confederates. He vetoed the Reconstruction acts, only to be overridden by the legislature. He appointed military commanders in the south who wouldn't pursue their duties zealously. Johnson strongly believed in states' rights and Radical Republicans saw what was won in the Civil War being lost.
Choking with rage, the House Radicals conducted articles of impeachment proceedings three times, led by Thaddeus Stevens. The first two attempts failed due to a lack of any high crimes and misdemeanors. Stewart, a lawyer who was involved in an impeachment case, delves into the unresolved issue of what constitutes a high crime/misdemeanor. When Johnson tried to replace Secretary of War Edwin Stanton without senate approval, he violated the Tenure of Office Act and the Radicals had their case.
Benjamin Butler and Edmund Ross
For the Senate trial, Stewart again uses his legal expertise. He criticizes Ben Butler, who dominated the trial over six other House managers for the prosecution, of treating this extraordinary political and constitutional case like an ordinary "horse case" of a small town lawyer. Stewart also observes that the impeachers were doomed because this was a politically motivated case that had to follow trial-by-jury methods and the effort lost steam.
Since Johnson needed seven Radicals to vote not guilty to prevent the required two-thirds guilty majority, bribery schemes were in motion. Stewart probes these schemes, most overseen by Johnson aid and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Edmund Cooper and one connected to Secretary of State William Seward called the Astor House Group. With all the middlemen involved, however, the reading can be confusing.
What isn't confusing is Stewart's focus on Kansas senator Edmund Ross. He is singled out because of his actions before and after the trial vote. Although Stewart presents no smoking gun of Ross (or other senators) taking a cash bribe from Johnson operatives, the patronage and favors Johnson provided to Ross after the trial gives Stewart's argument a boost.
Stewart's book challenges the traditional historiography of Johnson's impeachment. By emphasizing the Johnson Administration's interference with Reconstruction and the impeachment trial, Johnson doesn't look like a martyr for the Constitution. Combined with Stewart's practical legal experience, Impeached is unique among history books.
Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy
published by Simon and Schuster, 2009, ISBN: 978-1-4165-4749-5
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