How did the issue of the removal power result in the impeachment of president Andrew Jonhson?

Answer 1

Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act to prevent President Johnson from removing several top officers in his administration. The law provided that any person holding an office by presidential appointment with Senate consent should remain in that office until a successor had been confirmed by the Senate. The President vetoed the bill, but the veto was overridden. He fired Stanton anyway. That sparked Johnson's impeachment.

Answer 2

Briefly put. Johnson was from Tennessee, a former slave state that had seceded from the union. Johnson remained loyal to the union and at Lincoln's request was made his running mate, but never had any power base in Washington. When Lincoln was suddenly killed soon after his second term began, Johnson became president but Lincoln's cabinet did not easily give him power. When he tried to bring the seceded state back into the union seamlessly rather than punishing them and treating them like conquered enemy, he was rebuffed and accused of being a Southern sympathizer. He had inherited Lincoln's cabinet and logically wanted to clean house and replace the troublemakers with men of his own choosing, but Congress was persuaded to pass a law that made him illegal to fire his cabinet without their approval. When he insisted on firing the biggest problem, Edward Stanton, despite the law, the was impeached.

Answer 3

On August 12, 1867, Johnson suspended Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton and named General Ulysses S. Grant to replace him.