Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-01-12

geouS if untactful Tennessean
a Southern member of Congress.
who refused to secede with hi:
State, had committed himself tt
the policies of the Great Emanci-
pator, to whose high station he
had succeeded only by the course
of an assassin's bullet.
johnson Was Top Target
BY 1866, when Edmund Ross
first came to the Senate, the
two branches of the Government
were already at each others
Threats. The radical" Republi-
cans realized that one final ster
was necessary before they coulc
crush President johnson, theil
despiSed foe.
A two-thirds majority was
constitutionally required to &C.
complish their major ambition
now an ill-kept secret, conviction
of the President under ar
impeachment and his dismissal
from ONCE.
The temporary and unstable
two-thirds majority which hao
enabled the Senate radical Re-
publicans on several occasions
to enact legislation over the
Presidents veto was. they knew
insuf1ciently reliable for an i'm.
parchment conviction. Then ar
unexpected tragedy brought fresh
hopes In Kansas.
Senator Jim Lane of Kansas
had been a conservative" Re-
publican sympathetic to Mr.
johnson. But his frontier State
was one of the most radical
in the Union. A mass meeting
at Lawrence reported resolutions
sharply condemning his position
Inundated. mentally ailing, bro
ken in health and laboring under
charges of financial Irregular
ties, Senator Lane took his own
life on July /, 1866.
The radical Republicans fond
est hopes were realized, for the
new Senator from Kansas turned
out to be Edmund G. Ross, the
very man who had introduced
the resolutions attacking Senator
Lane at Lawrence.
There could be no doubt as tc
where Senator Ross sympathies
lay. for his entire career was one
of determined opposition to the
slave States of the South.
The stage was now set for the
final scene the removal oil
johnson. Early in 1867, Congress.
enacted over the Presidents veto
the Tenure-of Office Bill, which
prevented the President from re.
moving without the consent Of
the Senate all new officeholder.
whose appointment required con.
f1rmation by that body. At the
time nothing more than the CRY
for more patronage was involved
cabinet members having origi.
nally been specifically exempt.
Stanton Refuses to Go
On August S, 1867, President
Johnson-convinced that Edwin
M. Stanton, the Secretary o.
War whom he had inherited
from Lincoln, was the surrepti'
tious tool Of the radical Republi.
cans and was seeking to becom,
the dictator Of the conquered
South-asked for his resignation
Mr.. Stanton arrogantly declined
to resign before the next meet
ing Of Congress. The Presiden
suspended Mr.. Stanton, and ap.
pointed in his place Gen. U. S
Grant. On January 10, 1858. al
angry Senate notified the Presi
dent and General Grant that i
did not concur in the suspension
OF Mr.. Stanton.
President johnson, anxious II
obtain a court test Of the act h,
believed unconstitutional, agail
notified Mr.. Stanton that he hat
been summarily removed from
the Office of Secretary of War.
Mr.. Stanton barricaded himsel
IN his Office and public opinion
ran heavily against the Presi
dent. He had INTENTIONAL.
broken the law and dictatoriall,
thwarted the will of Congress
Although previous resolutions o
impeachment had been defeatet
in the House, a new resolution
was swiftly reported on Februar.
"a. by a tremendous vote. Ever.
Republican voted in the affirma
tive.
With the President impeachet
in effect, indicted-by tn
House. the frenzied trial unde
the articles of Impeachment
began on March 5 in the Senate
presided over by the Chief Jus
tice. 1t ranked with all the grea
trials in history-Charles I be
fore the High Court of Justice
Louis XVI before the Frencl
Convention, and Warren Has
tings before the House of Lords
Only two great elements O
drama were missing; the &C
tual cause for which the Presi
dent was being tried was no
fundamental to the welfare o
the Nation; and the defendan
himself was at all times absent
Tickets in Big Demand
Some 1000 tickets wer
printed for admission to the Sen
ate galleries during the trial.
From the 5th Of March to tn,
18th Of May, the drama con
tinued. OF the eleven articles o
impeachment adopted by tn,
House, the first eight were base,
upon the removal OF Mr.. Stan
ton and the appointment of
new Secretary of War in viola
ton Of the Tenure-of-O Office Act
the ninth related to Mr.. John
sons conversation with a gen
eral which was said to Undue
violations of the Army Appro