THE UNITED STATES _vs_. ANDREW JOHNSON, PRESIDENT.
The answer of the respondent to the articles of impeachment was
submitted by his counsel, as follows:
Senate of the United States, sitting as a court of impeachment for the
trial of Andrew Johnson, President of the United States.
THE ANSWER OF THE SAID ANDREW JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
TO THE ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT EXHIBITED AGAINST HIM BY THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES.
_Answer to Article I_.--For answer to the first article he says that
Edwin M. Stanton was appointed Secretary for the Department of War on
the 15th day of January, A.D. 1862, by Abraham Lincoln, then President
of the United States, during the first term of his Presidency, and was
commissioned, according to the Constitution and laws of the United
States, to hold the said office during the pleasure of the President;
that the office of Secretary for the Department of War was created by an
act of the First Congress in its first session, passed on the 7th day of
August, A.D. 1789, and in and by that act it was provided and enacted
that the said Secretary for the Department of War shall perform and
execute such duties as shall from time to time be enjoined on and
intrusted to him by the President of the United States, agreeably to the
Constitution, relative to the subjects within the scope of the said
Department; and, furthermore, that the said Secretary shall conduct the
business of the said Department in such a manner as the President of the
United States shall from time to time order and instruct.
And this respondent, further answering, says that by force of the act
aforesaid and by reason of his appointment aforesaid the said Stanton
became the principal officer in one of the Executive Departments of the
Government within the true intent and meaning of the second section
of the second article of the Constitution of the United States and
according to the true intent and meaning of that provision of the
Constitution of the United States; and, in accordance with the settled
and uniform practice of each and every President of the United States,
the said Stanton then became, and so long as he should continue to hold
the said office of Secretary for the Department of War must continue to
be, one of the advisers of the President of the United States, as well
as the person intrusted to act for and represent the President in
matters enjoined upon him or intrusted to him by the President touching
the Department aforesaid, and for whose conduct in such capacity,
subordinate to the President, the President is by the Constitution and
laws of the United States made responsible.
And this respondent, further answering, says he succeeded to the office
of President of the United States upon and by reason of the death of
Abraham Lincoln, then President of the United States, on the 15th day
of April, 1865, and the said Stanton was then holding the said office
of Secretary for the Department of War under and by reason of the
appointment and commission aforesaid; and not having been removed from
the said office by this respondent, the said Stanton continued to hold
the same under the appointment and commission aforesaid, at the pleasure
of the President, until the time hereinafter particularly mentioned,
and at no time received any appointment or commission save as above
detailed.
And this respondent, further answering, says that on and prior to the
5th day of August, A.D. 1867, this respondent, the President of the
United States, responsible for the conduct of the Secretary for the
Department of War, and having the constitutional right to resort to
and rely upon the person holding that office for advice concerning
the great and difficult public duties enjoined on the President by
the Constitution and laws of the United States, became satisfied that
he could not allow the said Stanton to continue to hold the office
of Secretary for the Department of War without hazard of the public
interest; that the relations between the said Stanton and the President
no longer permitted the President to resort to him for advice or to be,
in the judgment of the President, safely responsible for his conduct of
the affairs of the Department of War, as by law required, in accordance
with the orders and instructions of the President; and thereupon, by
force of the Constitution and laws of the United States, which devolve
on the President the power and the duty to control the conduct of the
business of that Executive Department of the Government, and by reason
of the constitutional duty of the President to take care that the laws
be faithfully executed, this respondent did necessarily consider and did
determine that the said Stanton ought no longer to hold the said office
of Secretary for the Department of War. And this respondent, by virtue
of the power and authority vested in him as President of the United
States by the Constitution and laws of the United States, to give effect
to such his decision and determination, did, on the 5th day of August,
A.D. 1867, address to the said Stanton a note of which the following
is a true copy:
SIR: Public considerations of a high character constrain me to say that
your resignation as Secretary of War will be accepted.
To which note the said Stanton made the following reply: