Under a sense of public duty, I am compelled to deny your right under the Constitution and laws of the United States, without the advice and consent of the Senate and without legal cause, to suspend me from office as Secretary of War, or the exercise of any or all functions pertaining to the same, or without such advice and consent to compel me to transfer to any person the records, books, papers, and public property in my custody as Secretary.
But inasmuch as the general commanding the armies of the United States has been appointed Secretary, ad interim, and has notified me that he has accepted the appointment, I have no alternative but to submit, under protest, to superior force.
When Congress convened, the Senate voted the reason for suspension insufficient. The President hoped that General Grant would contest the decision, but the latter was wholly guided by the Senate and retired without even notifying his chief of his intention. Stanton resumed charge at once.
Johnson let the matter rest until February 21, 1863, when he dismissed Stanton and appointed General B. Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant General of the Army, Secretary, ad interim. General Thomas, mild and courteous, presented his papers and was literally ejected from Stanton’s office. Stanton barricaded himself in and sent distress calls to his Senator friends at the Capitol. This produced an executive session of the Senate which lasted many hours. Stanton was ordered to hang on to his job, Sumner sending him one cryptic word, “stick,” and the impeachment bubble, so long threatening, burst.
President Johnson’s actions in ordering Secretary Stanton’s removal in spite of the Tenure of Office Act was exactly what was wanted by his opponents in Congress, led in the House by Stevens and in the Senate by Sumner. These vigorous leaders, angered by President Johnson’s utter ignoring of their policies, rushed a resolution through the House declaring that, “Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanours.”
The managers for the House were Thaddeus Stevens, Pennsylvania; George S. Boutwell, Massachusetts; James F. Wilson, Ohio; Benjamin F. Butler, Massachusetts; George F. Miller, Pennsylvania; John A. Bingham, Pennsylvania; William Lawrence, Ohio; William Williams, Pennsylvania; and John A. Logan, Illinois. They filed into the Senate Chamber and formally read their charges against the President, who, when his presence was called for, responded by proxy.
The impeachment court organized March 5th; the trial began on March 13th. The eleven articles of offense were boiled down to five:
1. That the President had violated the Tenure of Office Act by dismissing Stanton.
2. That he had violated the Anti-conspiracy Act.
3. That he had declared laws unconstitutional.