From Our Archives: A New Look at the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson is an article by Michael Les Benedict that focuses on the impeachment of a former president of the United States. The author specifies that the article only covers the events leading to the impeachment due to the limited space. To provide a thorough chronology of Andrew Johnson’s presidency and ensure an accurate description and analysis of his actions, the author offers four separate segments of the article. The article was written in the light of reawakened interest in the president’s impeachment and covered the story of Andrew Johnson’s presidency, his impeachment, and its relation to the Republican party.
In the first segment of the article, the author depicts the actions of conservative and radical Republicans towards Johnson. According to the author, the radical Republicans made several attempts to institute impeachment proceedings against Johnson, but their conservative colleagues thwarted their plans. The author emphasizes that despite widely spread opinion on Republican congressmen’s eagerness for revenge upon the president, the majority of them hardly displayed it and tried to squelch the radicals’ approach.
The author devoted the second segment to the analysis of the English impeachments and compared them to the radicals’ interpretation of impeachable offenses. In this segment, the article provides a valuable explanation of the radicals’ understanding of the Constitution and its flaws and defines the danger and consequences of “power abuse” (Les Benedict, 499). Further in the segment, the author lists how Johnson’s actions encouraged former confederates and the disastrous consequences his actions had on Southern loyalists and black people.
The next segment of the article covers the chronology of Johnson’s actions with the focus on the event of winter of 1867-68. The author points how at that time, the president’s executive implementations “nullified” congressional legislation (Les Benedict, 504). Les Benedict notes on the contradiction in Johnson’s actions as none of his actions taken separately violated the law, but they were a part of a conscious and determined program. The article depicts the radical Republicans’ anger from the injustice of final failure and emphasizes how the radicals discussed creating a separate radical congressional party organization just two days after the vote.
Lastly, the final segment of the article covers the rest of Johnson’s presidency and his actions, which, according to the author, became even more aggressive after the threat of impeachment was gone. The article lists all the possible outcomes and dangers that Johnson and his offensive presented to Republicans. The author points that Johnson’s impeachment was the last measure that could help to defend the constitutional prerogatives of Congress. Moreover, the author provides impressive metaphors of how the presidential aggression pushed the men against the wall and forced them to take a stand, and the Congress had to choose between themselves and President Johnsons.
In conclusion, the article covers the events preceding President Johnson’s impeachment and provides a significant impact on the existing body of knowledge as part of the article focuses on the radical Republicans’ reaction to Johnson’s actions. The author focuses more on the Republicans’ viewpoint on Johnson’s presidency to address existing stereotypes about Republican’s relation to Johnson. The article provides a remarkable explanation of radical Republicans’ concerns about the loose definitions of roles of Congress and president and the danger that Johnson and his presidency posed for racial equality.
Work Cited
Benedict, Michael Les. “From Our Archives: A New Look at the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson.” Political Science Quarterly, vol. 113, no. 3, 1998, pp. 493–511.