Impeached

Impeached

On Monday, March 30, 1868, Benjamin Butler stood in the packed chambers of the United States Senate. A former Union general known for his brashness in the Civil War and now serving his first term in Congress, Butler later confessed that that he had never been more nervous than he had been at that moment. It was the first day of the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, and the radical Massachusetts congressman had been chosen to deliver the prosecution’s opening remarks. During his ensuing speech—all three hours of it—Butler likened Johnson to history’s greatest despots, including Napoleon and Caesar, and proclaimed him as “the elect of an assassin . . . and not of the people.” The very future of the nation, Butler announced, hung in the balance of Johnson’s guilt or innocence.

For all the rhetoric, the impeachment charges were not exactly staggering. Johnson was accused of having broken the law when he fired his secretary of war, Edwin Stanton.

Historian and attorney David O. Stewart tells the fascinating story of how the rancor between Congress and Johnson had reached such a point. After Lincoln’s assassination, Johnson, a Tennessee Democrat, turned a blind eye to the systemic murder of freed slaves and allowed former rebels to take up the highest seats of power in their states. Republicans were apoplectic. Led by the abolitionist congressman Thaddeus Stevens, they soon seized onto a legal technicality and drew up articles of impeachment.

In Impeached, Stewart brings to the table not only a masterful command of the historical facts but the keen insight of a seasoned lawyer—a unique and useful combination he displayed in his bestselling book about the writing of the U.S. Constitution, The Summer of 1787. He chose to write about Johnson’s impeachment because, in his well-argued opinion, it was a litmus test for reconstruction of the nation, as well as “a great testing for the Constitution and the nation.” He points out that Johnson, in defending himself, claimed to be defending the Constitution; the Republicans felt the Constitution needed to change to better reflect the values and ideals championed by Lincoln and over which the Civil War had been fought.

Stewart introduces the reader to the key figures on both sides, each as extreme in his views as the last. And while some brilliantly argued important constitutional issues, others resorted to bribery and other corrupt measures to win their case. Stewart thoroughly chronicles it all.

Impeached is both a dramatic retelling of one of the most pivotal moments in American history and a fascinating exploration of great constitutional issues that continue to perplex the most learned legal scholars to this day.

Hardcover: 464 pages

Publisher: Simon & Schuster ( June 16, 2009 )

Item #: 22-5707

ISBN: 9781416547495

Product Dimensions: 6.25 x 9.25 x 1.16 inches

Product Weight: 26.0 ounces