"I'm a President. I'll do What I Want"

  

The Legendary
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

     In my final year at Laurentian University, I took a class on the history of Protest and Political Change.  One of the topics we looked at was the abolition of slavery in the United States.  My professor told us an interesting incident that occurred during the reconstruction period.

The wigged, sassy,
and awesomely named
Thaddeus Stevens
(1792-1868)

     Let me set the stage.  The Civil War is over and Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, is dead, assassinated at Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth.  His successor, the Democrat Andrew Johnson, is at odds with Congress for favouring the South, even claiming that the South never seceded as they were never allowed to in the first place (prompting the Republican Thaddeus Stevens to reply that it was like saying one could never commit murder as it was against the law).

The Untouchable
Andrew Johnson
(1808-1875) 

     The United States Congress, disgruntled by the actions of their President, took it upon themselves to try to impeach Andrew Johnson.  The Congressman John Ashley claimed that Johnson was connected to the assassination of Lincoln.  Both attempts of impeachment in July and December of 1867 were failures due to a lack of evidence.  Despite this, Congress was determined that they soon had their smoking gun.

The Bearded and Awesome

Edwin Stanton

(1814-1869)

     Around the same time Congress was trying to remove Johnson, the 17th president of the United States decided to fire Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War. Stanton refuses to leave (citing that the Senate need to approve of the termination), even when Johnson appointed Ulysses S. Grant to the posting. Stanton quickly set up camp in his own office to prevent Johnson from having the locks changed with whiskey and crackers to keep him company.   Johnson approached the infamous General William Tecumseh Sherman (the one who set the South ablaze during the war). Sherman quickly fled town and told his brother tell anyone who asked for him that he was dead! Johnson was still determined and appointed General Lorenzo Thomas as the new Secretary of War. Thomas planned to storm the War Department and but on the morning of the attack he was arrested by the police, had a warrant issued by the Secretary of War (can you guess who it was?).  The incident gave Congress the chance they needed to impeach Johnson.  Tragicaly, they were short by one vote and the tired Congress returned to reconstruction.

     What was the point of all this?  Nothing.  I just thought it would be a fun story to share.


Bibliography:

"Abraham Lincoln." Wikipedia. Accessed August 19, 2015.

"Andrew Johnson." Wikipedia. Accessed August 19, 2015

 "Edwin Stanton" Wikipedia. Accessed August 19, 2015. 

 "Thaddeus Stevens." Wikipedia. Accessed August 19, 2015.