Reply #7: Andrew Johnson [View All]

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

was impeached mainly because he was a Democrat and the Congress was run by Republicans. The only reason he was on the ticket with Lincoln was because he was a Unionist from Tennessee, and Honest Abe thought he'd bring in some extra needed votes from Democrats who wanted the North to win. After Lincoln's assassination, the Congress, run by the Radical Republicans, made a law that stated Johnson couldn't change any members of his cabinet. They did this because they felt he was "too soft" on the South,which they wanted to punish. Johnson, a self-educated man (he didn't learn to read until he was a teenager), strongly believed in the Constitutional seperation of powers, and resented the power play by the Republicans. They went ahead and impeached him, knowing that if he went down, a Radical Republican would take over the White House. But one Senator from Missouri, I believe, realized that if Johnson went down, the Constitution did too, and voted not to convict. Johnson finished his term, and went back home. He was vindicated in a way when he was re-elected to the Senate and welcomed back with flowers. When he died, his will instructed that a copy of the Constitution be his pillow, and a flag placed over his body in the coffin.