The trial, held in the Senate in March, was presided over by Chief Justice Salmon Chase . One of Johnson's fiercest critics, Thaddeus Stevens was mortally ill, but he was determined to take part in the proceedings and was carried to the Senate in a chair. Charles Sumner , another long-time opponent of Johnson led the attack. Driven from the legislative chambers, driven from the field of war, this monstrous power has found a refuge in the executive mansion, where, in utter disregard of the Constitution and laws, it seeks to exercise its ancient, far-reaching sway. All this is very plain.
Nobody can question it.
Andrew Johnson is the impersonation of the tyrannical slave power. In him it lives again. Although a large number of senators believed that Johnson was guilty of the charges, they disliked the idea of Wade becoming the next president. Wade, who believed in women's suffrage and trade union rights, was considered by many members of the Republican Party as being an extreme radical. Others Republicans such as James Grimes argued that Johnson had less than a year left in office and that they were willing to vote against impeachment if Johnson was willing to provide some guarantees that he would not continue to interfere with Reconstruction.