The Trial of Andrew Johnson – Part Two: March 23, 1868
150 years ago today, the court came back in session to hear the articles of impeachment against Andrew Johnson as well as his responses to each one. Most of the articles deal with various ways that he was in violation of the Tenure of Office Act by removing Edwin Stanton as Secretary of War. High crime, this. High misdemeanor, that. The defense for President Johnson was that they still didn’t have enough time to build their case outside of preparing the President’s own responses.
The next day, March 24, Justice Chase was set the official beginning of the trial for March 30.
I know this comic late, and all words. But I figured it was important to put the articles of impeachment on the record as part of the story, and let me tell you – it was not easy for my non-lawyer brain to boil these articles down to a sentence each. Anyone more knowledgable than me, feel free to check my work!
