ceived lack of severity when it came to dealing with Southern States that had seceded from the nation. One of his biggest opponents was the Radical Thaddeus Stevens. When Johnson refused to keep Secretary of War Stanton on the job, Congress immediately used Johnson’s suspension of him to move for impeachment. Johnson had 11 articles of impeachment brought against him, “10 were related to Johnson’s violation of the Tenure of Office Act and the ‘command of the army’ provisions of the Army Appropriations Act. The only other charge was a general accusation that Johnson had attempted to undermine Congress. An outrageous charge that Johnson had been involved in Lincoln’s assassination was withdrawn at the last minute” (Johnson 5).
Only three articles of impeachment would make it to a vote in the Senate. Johnson did not participate in the trial and his lawyers argued that he was using the removal of Stanton to contest the constitutionality of the Tenure of Office Act. Since Stanton had been appointed by Lincoln, the Act did not apply in this case to Johnson, argued his lawyers. The Chief Justice presided over the Senate trial, Justice Chase. Like Clinton’s impeachment proceedings thus far, Johnson’s was very partisan. Radicals pushed the Republicans to band together to bring Johnson down. Johnson’s battles with the Republicans lasted throughout his entire term of office with little abatement.
President Richard Nixon resigned rather than face certain impeachment by the Senate. His impeachment trial was different than either Johnson’s or President Clinton’s. Nixon faced certain conviction in the Senate and resigned instead of facing certain removal from office. Nixon’s case was also different in that there was ample evidence against him of the charges that he obstructed justice, abused power, and his refusal to obey subpoenas by the House. Nixon also served during a time of bitterness and divisio...