Should The Government Transfer To Brevet Major-General Lorenzo Thomas

As time went on during Reconstruction, Johnson began to purge his cabinet of Republicans and replace them with Democrats. Thaddeus Stevens and the Republicans in Congress attempted to limit Johnson’s power in order to protect their political allies. To do that, Stevens and the Republicans passed the Tenure of Office Act, which stated that the President could not dismiss appointed cabinet officials in office, removal was to be carried out “by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.” Nevertheless, the act was essentially created to protect cabinet members (specifically radical Republicans) from being removed from office by Johnson simply because they disagreed with his judgement. Section 5 and 6 of the act declared that any appointment
On February 21, 1868, Lorenzo Thomas was sent by Johnson to notify Stanton of his removal from office. Johnson gave Thomas a letter to deliver to Stanton that stated, “you are hereby removed from the office of Secretary for the Department of War, and your functions as such will terminate upon receipt of their communication. You will transfer to Brevet Major-General L. Thomas, Adjutant-General of the Army.” After Thomas left, Stanton feared he would return and force him out of his office. He made sure that the Senate was notified and he hid in his office when night came. The next day, Thomas stormed into Stanton’s office, determined to remove the Secretary of War with or without force. Upon arrival, Stanton told Thomas that he would not obey the President’s orders and told his aides to ignore him. His decision to remove Stanton was to test the legitimacy of the Tenure of Office Act. This decision would later play a key role in Johnson’s defense during his trials. Johnson strongly believed that the act was unconstitutional and demanded the act to be legally tried in the
The first Article of Impeachment stated that President Johnson was “unmindful of the high duties of his office, of his oath of office, and of the requirement of the Constitution that he should take care that the laws be faithfully executed, did unlawfully, and in violation of the Constitution and laws of the United States, issue and order in writing for the removal of Edwin M. Stanton from the office of Secretary for the Department of War.” In the first article, the letter that Thomas gave to Stanton from the President was included as evidence. Johnson’s removal of Stanton and his violation of the Tenure of Office Act constituted the foundation of nine out of the eleven Articles of Impeachment. Another thing to point out is that several of the articles are identical to each other and differ only by a few words. Articles II and III are examples of how some of the articles are similar. Both articles claim that Johnson had violated the Constitution and the Tenure of Office Act by appointing Lorenzo Thomas as Secretary of War without “the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States.” Article IV says that the President did not allow Stanton to continue his duty as Secretary of War and for conspiring with Thomas as well as others to remove Stanton. Article V stated that Andrew Johnson committed and was guilty of a high misdemeanor. Moreover, this article, like the ones that were mentioned so far, was created