THE PRESIDENT'S ANSWER.
On February 25th, 1868, Messrs. Stevens and Bingham, a committee of the
House, appeared at the bar of the Senate, and Mr. Stevens said:
Mr. President, in obedience to the order of the House of
Representatives, we appear before you, and in the name of the House
of Representatives and of all the people of the United States, we do
impeach Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, of high crimes
and misdemeanors in office; and we further inform the Senate that the
House of Representatives will in due time exhibit particular articles
of impeachment against hint and make good the same; and in their name
we demand that the Senate take order for the appearance of said Andrew
Johnson to answer said impeachment.
The committee retired, and after debate the following resolution was
adopted by the Senate:
Resolved, That the Message of the House of Representatives relating to
the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. President of the United States, be
referred to a select committee of seven, to consider and report thereon.
On the 26th, Mr. Howard, from the select committee appointed to consider
and report upon the Message of the House of Representatives in relation
to the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, President of the United States,
reported the following resolution:
Whereas, the House of Representatives on the 25th day of the present
month, by two of their members, Messrs. Thaddeus Stevens and John A.
Bingham, at the bar of the Senate, impeached Andrew Johnson, President
of the United States, of high crimes and misdemeanors in office, and
informed the Senate that the House of Representatives will in due time
exhibit particular articles of impeachment against him and make good
the same; and likewise demanded that the Senate take order for the
appearance of said Andrew Johnson, to answer to the said impeachment:
Therefore,
Resolved, That the Senate will take proper order thereon, of which due
notice shall be given to the House of Representatives.
On the 28th, Mr. Howard, of the Select Committee appointed to prepare
rules for the government of trials of impeachment, reported a series of
rules, which were adopted by the Senate on March 2nd, after a three days
debate.
On the same day, the following gentlemen were elected by the House
of Representatives as Managers to conduct the prosecution of the
impeachment of the President before the Senate: Hons. Jno. A. Bingham,
of Ohio; George S. Boutwell, of Massachusetts; James F. Wilson, of Iowa;
Benj. F. Butler, of Massachusetts; John A. Logan, of Illinois; Thomas
Wilson, of Pennsylvania, and Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania.
On March 3rd it was ordered by the Senate:
That the Secretary of the Senate inform the House of Representatives
that the Senate is ready to receive the managers appointed by the
House of Representatives to carry to the Senate articles of impeachment
against Andrew Johnson, President of the United States.
In the Senate, on the 4th, the following formal proceedings were had:
The managers of the impeachment on the part of the House of
Representatives appeared at the bar, and their presence was announced by
the Sergeant-at-Arms.
The President pro tempore: The managers of the impeachment will advance
within the bar and take the seats provided for them.
The managers came within the bar and took the seats assigned to them in
the area in front of the Vice President's Chair.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives advanced and took a seat on
the right of the President pro tempore of the Senate.
Mr. Manager Bingham:
Mr. President, the managers on the part of the House of Representatives,
by order of the House, are ready at the bar of the Senate, whenever it
may please the Senate to hear them, to present articles of impeachment
and in maintenance of the impeachment preferred against Andrew Johnson,
President of the United States, by the House of Representatives.
The President pro tempore:
The Sergeant-at-arms will make proclamation.
The Sergeant-at-arms:
Hear ye! Hear ye! All persons are commanded to keep silence, on pain of
imprisonment, while the House of Representatives is exhibiting to the
Senate of the United States, articles of impeachment against Andrew
Johnson, President of the United States.
The managers then rose and remained standing, with the exception of Mr.
Stevens, who was too feeble to do so, while Mr. Manager Bingham read the
articles of impeachment, as follows:
Articles exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United
States, in the name of themselves and all the people of the United
States, against Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, in
maintenance and support of their impeachment against him for high crimes
and misdemeanors in ofce.
ARTICLE I.
That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, on the
21st day of February, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and
sixty-eight, at Washington, in the District of Columbia, unmindful
of the high duties of his office, of his oath of office, and of the
requirement of the Constitution that he should take care that the
laws be faithfully executed, did unlawfully, and in violation of the
Constitution and laws of the United States issue an order in writing
for the removal of Edwin M. Stanton from the office of Secretary for the
Department of War, said Edwin M. Stanton having been theretofore duly
appointed and commissioned by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate of the United States, as such secretary, and said Andrew Johnson,
President of the United States, on the twelfth day of August in the year
of our Lord eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and during the recess of
said Senate, having suspended by his order Edwin M. Stanton from said
office, and within twenty days after the first day of the next meeting
of said Senate, that is to say, on the twelfth day of December in the
year last aforesaid having reported to said Senate such suspension with
the evidence and reasons for his action in the case and the name of the
person designated to perform the duties of such office temporarily until
the next meeting of the Senate, and said Senate thereafterwards, on the
thirteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and
sixty-eight, having duly considered the evidence and reasons reported by
said Andrew Johnson for said suspension, and having refused to concur
in said suspension, whereby and by force of the provisions of an act
entitled "An Act regulating the tenure of certain civil offices," passed
March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, said Edwin M. Stanton
did forthwith resume the functions of his office, whereof the said
Andrew Johnson had then and there due notice, and said Edwin M. Stanton,
by reason of the premises, on said 21st day of February, being lawfully
entitled to hold said office of Secretary for the Department of
War, which said order for the removal of said Edwin M. Stanton is in
substance as follows, that is to say:
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C., Feb. 21, 1868.
Sir:--By virtue of the power and authority vested in me as President by
the Constitution and laws of the United States you are hereby removed
from office as Secretary for the Department of War, and your functions
as such will terminate upon the receipt of this communication.
You will transfer to Brevet Major General Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant
General of the army, who has this day been authorized and empowered
to act as Secretary of War ad interim. all records, books, papers, and
other public property now in your custody and charge.
Respectfully yours, Andrew Johnson. To the Hon. Edwin M. Stanton,
Washington, D. C.
Which order was unlawfully issued with intent then and there to
violate the act entitled "An Act regulating the tenure of certain civil
offices," passed March 2d, 1867, and with the further intent contrary
to the provisions of said act, in violation thereof, and contrary to
the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, and without the
advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, the said Senate
then and there being in session, to remove said Edwin M. Stanton from
the office of Secretary for the Department of War, the said. Edwin M.
Stanton being then and there Secretary for the Department of War, and
being then and there in the due and lawful execution and discharge of
the duties of said office, whereby said Andrew Johnson. President of
the United States, did then and there commit and was guilty of a high
misdemeanor in office.
ARTICLE II.
That on the said twenty-first of February, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, at Washington, in the District
of Columbia, said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States,
unmindful of the high duties of his office, of his oath of office, and
in violation of the Constitution of the United States, and contrary
to the provisions of an act entitled "An act regulating the tenure
of certain civil offices," passed March second, eighteen hundred and
sixty-seven, without the advice and consent of the Senate of the
United States, said Senate then and there being in session, and without
authority of law, did, with intent to violate the Constitution of the
United States, and the act aforesaid, issue and deliver to one Lorenzo
Thomas a letter of authority in substance as follows, that is to say:
Executive Mansion. Washington, D. C., February 21, 1868.
Sir:--The Hon. Edwin M. Stanton having been this day removed from office
as Secretary for the Department of War, you are hereby authorized and
empowered to act as Secretary of War ad interim, and will immediately
enter upon the discharge of the duties pertaining to that office.
Mr. Stanton has been instructed to transfer to you all the records,
books, papers, and other public property now in his custody and charge.
Respectfully yours, Andrew Johnson. To Brevet Major General Lorenzo
Thomas. Adjutant General U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.
Then and there being no vacancy in said offce of Secretary for the
Department of War, whereby said Andrew Johnson. President of the United
States, did then and there commit and was guilty of a high misdemeanor
in office.
ARTICLE III.
That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, on the
twenty-first day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-eight, at Washington, in the District of Columbia,
did commit and was guilty of a high misdemeanor in office in this, that,
without authority of law, while the Senate of the United States was then
and there in session, he did appoint one Lorenzo Thomas to be Secretary
for the Department of War ad interim, without the advice and consent of
the Senate, and with intent to violate the Constitution of the United
States, and no vacancy having happened in said office of Secretary for
the Department of War during the recess of the Senate, and no vacancy
existing in said office at the time, and which said appointment, so
made by said Andrew Johnson, of said Lorenzo Thomas, is in substance as
follows, that is to say:
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C., Feb. 21, 1868. Sir:--The Hon.
Edwin M. Stanton having been this day removed from office as Secretary
for the Department of War, you are hereby authorized and empowered to
act as Secretary of War ad interim, and will immediately enter upon the
discharge of the duties pertaining to that office.
Mr. Stanton, has been instructed to transfer to you all the records,
books, papers, and other public property now in his custody and charge.
Respectfully yours, Andrew Johnson. To Brevet Major General Lorenzo
Thomas, Adjutant General, U. S. Army, Washington, D. C
ARTICLE IV.
That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, unmindful of
the high duties of his office and of his oath of office, in violation of
the Constitution and laws of the United States, on the twenty-first
day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-eight, at Washington, in the District of Columbia, did unlawfully
conspire with one Lorenzo Thomas, and with other persons to the House
of Representatives unknown, with intent, by intimidation and threats,
unlawfully to hinder and prevent Edwin M. Stanton, then and there the
Secretary for the Department of War, duly appointed under the laws
of the United Stales, from holding said office of Secretary for the
Department of War, contrary to and in violation of the Constitution of
the United States, and of the provisions of an act entitled "An act to
define and punish certain conspiracies," approved July thirty-first,
eighteen hundred and sixty-one, whereby said Andrew Johnson, President
of the United States, did then and there commit and was guilty of a high
crime in office.
ARTICLE V.
That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, unmindful
of the high duties of his office and of his oath of office, on the
twenty-first day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-eight, and on divers other days and times in said
year, before the second day of March, in the year, of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, at Washington, in the District
of Columbia, did unlawfully conspire with one Lorenzo Thomas, and with
other persons to the House of Representatives unknown, to prevent and
hinder the execution of an act entitled "An act regulating the tenure
of certain civil offices," passed March second, eighteen hundred and
sixty-seven, and in pursuance of said conspiracy, did unlawfully attempt
to prevent Edwin M. Stanton, then and there being Secretary for the
Department of War, duly appointed and commissioned under the laws of
the United States, from holding said office, whereby the said Andrew
Johnson, President of the Unite States, did then and there commit and
was guilty of a high misdemeanor in office.
ARTICLE VI.
That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, unmindful
of the high duties of his office and of his oath of office, on the
twenty-first day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-eight, at Washington, in the District of Columbia, did
unlawfully conspire with one Lorenzo Thomas by force to seize, take and
possess the property of the United States in the Department of War, and
then and there in the custody and charge of Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary
for said Department, contrary to the provisions of an act entitled
"An act to define and punish certain conspiracies," approved July
thirty-one, eighteen hundred and sixty one, and with intent to violate
and disregard an act entitled "An act regulating the tenure of certain
civil offices," passed March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven,
whereby said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, did then
and there commit a high crime in office.
ARTICLE VII.
That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, unmindful
of the high duties of his office and of his oath of office, on the
twenty-first day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-eight, at Washington, in the District of Columbia, did
unlawfully conspire with one Lorenzo Thomas with intent unlawfully
to seize, take, and possess the property of the United States in
the Department of War, in the custody and charge of Edwin M. Stanton
Secretary for said Department, with intent to violate and disregard the
act entitled "An act regulating the tenure of certain civil offices"
passed March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, whereby said
Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, did then and there
commit a high misdemeanor in office.
ARTICLE VIII.
That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, unmindful of
the high duties of his office and of his oath of office, with intent
unlawfully to control the disbursements of the moneys appropriated for
the military service and for the Department of War, on the twenty-first
day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-eight, at Washington, in the District of Columbia, did unlawfully
and contrary to the provisions of an act entitled "An act regulating the
tenure of certain civil offices," passed March second, eighteen hundred
and sixty-seven, and in violation of the Constitution of the United
States, and without the advice and consent of the Senate of the United
States, and while the Senate was then and there in session, there being
no vacancy in the office of Secretary for the Department of War, and
with intent to violate and disregard the act aforesaid, then and
there issue and deliver to one Lorenzo Thomas a letter of authority in
writing, in substance as follows, that is to say:
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C., Feb. 21, 1868.
Sir:--The Hon. Edwin M. Stanton having been this day removed from office
as Secretary for the Department of War, you are hereby authorized and
empowered to act as Secretary of War ad interim, and will immediately
enter upon the discharge of the duties pertaining to that office.
Mr. Stanton has been instructed to transfer to you all the records,
books, papers, and other public property now in his custody and charge.
Respectfully yours, Andrew Johnson. To Brevet Major General Lorenzo
Thomas, Adjutant General, United States Army, Washington, D. C.
Whereby said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, did then
and there commit and was guilty of a high misdemeanor in office.
ARTICLE IX.
That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, on the
twenty-second day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and sixty-eight, at Washington, in the District of
Columbia, in disregard of the Constitution, and the laws of the United
States duly enacted, as commander-in-chief of the army of the United
States, dial bring before himself then and there William H. Emory, a
major-general by brevet in the army of the United States, actually in
command of the department of Washington and the military forces thereof,
and did then and there, as such commander-in-chief, declare to and
instruct said Emory that part of a law of the United states, passed
March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven entitled "An act making
appropriations for the support of the army for the year ending June
thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight and for other purposes,"
especially the second section thereof, which provides, among other
things, that "all orders and instructions relating to military
operations, issued by the President or Secretary of War, shall be issued
through the General of the Army, and, in case of his inability, through
the next in rank," was unconstitutional, and in contravention of the
commission of said Emory, and which said provision of law had been
theretofore duly and legally promulgated by General Orders for the
government and direction of the army of the United States, as the said
Andrew Johnson then and there well knew, with intent thereby to induce
said Emory, in his official capacity as commander of the department
of Washington, to violate the provisions of said act, and to take and
receive, act upon, and obey such orders as he, the said Andrew Johnson,
might make and give, and which should not be issued through the General
of the army of the United States, according to the provisions of said
act, and with the further intent thereby to enable him, the said Andrew
Johnson, to prevent the execution of the act entitled "An act regulating
the tenure of certain civil offices," passed March second eighteen
hundred and sixty-seven and to unlawfully prevent Edwin M. Stanton then
being Secretary for the Department of War, from holding said office and
discharging the duties thereof, whereby said Andrew Johnson, President
of the United States, did then and there commit and was guilty of a high
misdemeanor in office.
And the House of Representatives by protestation saving to themselves
the liberty of exhibiting at any time hereafter any further articles,
or other accusation or impeachment against the said Andrew Johnson,
President or the United States, and also of replying to his answers
which he shall wake unto the articles herein preferred against him, and
of offering proof to the same, and every part thereof, and to all and
every other article, accusation, or impeachment which shall be exhibited
by them, as the case shall require, do demand that the said Andrew
Johnson may be put to answer the high crimes and misdemeanors in office
herein charged against him, and that such proceedings, examinations,
trials, and judgments may be thereupon had and given as may be agreeable
to law and justice.
ARTICLE X.
That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, unmindful of
the high duties of his office, and the dignity and proprieties thereof,
and of the harmony and courtesies which ought to exist and be maintained
between the executive and legislative branches of the government of
the United States, designing and intending to set aside the rightful
authority and powers of Congress, did attempt to bring into disgrace,
ridicule, hatred, contempt and reproach, the Congress of the United
States, and the several branches thereof, to impair and destroy the
regard and respect of all the good people of the United States for the
Congress and legislative powers thereof, (which all officers of the
government ought inviolably to preserve and maintain.) and to excite the
odium and resentment of all the good people of the United States against
Congress and the laws by it duly and constitutionally enacted; and in
pursuance of his said design and intent, openly and publicly, and before
divers assemblages of the citizens of the United States, convened in
divers parts thereof to meet and receive said Andrew Johnson as the
Chief Magistrate of the United States, did, on the eighteenth day
of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-six, and on divers other days and times, as well before as
afterward, make and deliver, with a loud voice, certain intemperate,
inflammatory, and scandalous harangues, and did therein utter loud
threats and bitter menaces, as well against Congress as the laws of the
United States duly enacted thereby, amid the cries, jeer, and laughter
of the multitudes then assembled and in hearing.
ARTICLE XI.
That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, unmindful
of the high duties of his office, and of his oath of offce, and in
disregard of the Constitution and laws of the United States, did,
heretofore, to wit, on the eighteenth day of August, A. D. eighteen
hundred and sixty-six, at the City of Washington, and the District of
Columbia, by public speech, declare and affirm, in substance, that the
thirty-ninth Congress of the United States was not a Congress of the
United States authorized by the Constitution to exercise legislative
power under the same, but, on the contrary, was a Congress of only
part of the States, thereby denying, and intending to deny, that the
legislation of said Congress was valid or obligatory upon him, the said
Andrew Johnson, except in so far as he saw fit to approve the same,
and also thereby denying, and intending to deny, the power of the said
thirty-ninth Congress to propose amendments to the Constitution of the
United States; and, in pursuance of said declaration, the said Andrew
Johnson, President of the United States, afterwards, to-wit, on the
twenty first day of February, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty-eight,
at the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, did, unlawfully,
and in disregard of the requirements of the Constitution that he should
take care that the laws be faithfully executed, attempt to prevent the
execution of an act entitled "An act regulating the tenure of certain
civil offices," passed March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven,
by unlawfully devising and contriving, and attempting to devise
and contrive means by which he should prevent Edwin M. Stanton from
forthwith resuming the functions of the office of Secretary for the
Department of War, notwithstanding the refusal of the Senate to concur
in the suspension theretofore made by said Andrew Johnson of said Edwin
M. Stanton from said office of Secretary for the Department of War; and,
also, by further unlawfully devising and contriving, and attempting to
devise and contrive means, then and there, to prevent the execution of
an act entitled "An act making appropriations for the support of the
army for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and
sixty-eight, and for other purposes," approved March second, eighteen
hundred and sixty-seven; and also, to prevent the execution of an act
entitled "An act to provide for the more efficient government of the
rebel States," passed March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven,
whereby the said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, did
then, to wit, on the twenty-first day of February, A. D. eighteen hundred
and sixty-eight, at the city of Washington, commit, and was guilty of, a
high misdemeanor in office.
Schuyler Colfax, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Attest: Edward
McPherson, Clerk of the House of Representatives.
At the conclusion of the reading of the Articles of Impeachment, the
President of the Senate responded that "the Senate will take order upon
the subject of impeachment, of which proper notice will be given to the
House of Representatives."
In addition to the Speaker and Managers, a large number of the
members of the House of Representatives were present to witness the
extraordinary and impressive proceedings, and at its close all withdrew
and the Senate resumed the routine business of the day's session.
On Monday, March 23rd, 1868, the President, by his attorneys, appeared
at the bar of the Senate and made answer to the several Articles of
Impeachment, as follows:
(Answer to only the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 11th Articles, are here given,
as the 2nd, 3rd and 11th were the only Articles put to vote--all others
being abandoned, and as the 1st Article, though never put to vote,
contained practically all there was of the impeachment.)
ANSWER TO ARTICLE I.
For answer to the first article he said: 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 said department; and
furthermore, that the 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 entrusted 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 13th 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:
War Department, Washington, August 5, 1867.
Sir:-Your note of this day has been received, stating that public
considerations of a high character constrain you "to say that my
resignation its Secretary of War will be accepted."
In reply I have the honor to say that public considerations of a high
character, which alone have induced me to continue at the head of this
department, constrain me not to resign the office of Secretary of War
before the next meeting of Congress.
Very respectfully yours. Edwin M. Stanton.
This respondent, as President of the United States, was thereon of
opinion that, having regard to the necessary official relations and
duties of the Secretary for the Department of War to the President of
the United States according to the Constitution and laws of the United
States, and having regard to the responsibility of the President for
the conduct of the said Secretary, and having regard to the permanent
executive authority of the office which the respondent holds under
the Constitution and laws of the United States, it was impossible,
consistently with the public interests, to allow the said Stanton to
continue to hold the said office of Secretary for the Department of War;
and it then became the official duty of the respondent, as President of
the United States, to consider and decide what act or acts should and
might lawfully be done by him, as President of the United States, to
cause the said Stanton to surrender the said office.
This respondent was informed and verily believed that it was practically
settled by the first Congress of the United States, and had been so
considered and uniformly and in great numbers of instances acted on by
each Congress and President of the United States, in succession, from
President Washington to, and including President Lincoln, and from the
first Congress to the thirty-ninth Congress, that the Constitution of
the United States conferred on the President, as part of the executive
power and as one of the necessary means and instruments of performing
the executive duty expressly imposed on him by the Constitution of
taking care that the laws be faithfully executed, the power at any and
all times of removing from office all executive officers for cause to be
judged of by the President alone. This respondent had, in pursuance of
the Constitution, required the opinion of each principal officer of the
executive departments, upon this question of constitutional executive
power and duty, and had been advised by each of them, including the
said Stanton, Secretary for the Department of War, that under the
Constitution of the United States this power was lodged by the
Constitution in the President of the United States, and that
consequently, it could be lawfully exercised by him, and the Congress
could not deprive him thereof; and this respondent, in his capacity of
President of the United States, and because in that capacity he was both
enabled and bound to use his best judgment upon this question, did, in
good faith and with an earnest desire to arrive at the truth, come to
the conclusion and opinion, and did make the same known to the honorable
the Senate of the United States by a message dated on the 2nd day of
March, 1867, that the power last mentioned was conferred and the duty
of exercising it, in fit cases, was imposed on the President by the
Constitution of the United States, and that the President could not be
deprived of this, power or relieved of this duty, nor could the same be
vested by law in the President and the Senate jointly, either in part or
whole.
This respondent was also then aware that by the first section of "An act
regulating the tenure of certain civil offices," passed March 2, 1867,
by a constitutional majority of both houses of Congress, it was enacted
as follows:
"That every person holding any civil office to which he has been
appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and every
person who shall hereafter be appointed to any such office, and shall
become duly qualified to act therein, is and shall be entitled to hold
such office until a successor shall have been in like manner appointed
and duly qualified, except as herein otherwise provided: Provided, That
the Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, of War, of the Navy, and of
the Interior, the Postmaster General, and the Attorney General shall
hold their offices respectively for and during the term of the President
by whom they may have been appointed, and one month thereafter, subject
to removal by and with the advice and consent of the Senate."
This respondent was also aware that this act was understood and intended
to be an expression of the opinion of the Congress by which that act was
passed, that the power to remove executive officers for cause might,
by law, be taken from the President and vested in him and the Senate
jointly; and although this respondent had arrived at and still retained
the opinion above expressed, and verily believed, as he still believes,
that the said first section of the last mentioned act was and is wholly
inoperative and void by reason of its conflict with the Constitution
of the United States, yet, inasmuch as the same had been enacted by the
constitutional majority in each of the two houses of that Congress, this
respondent considered it to be proper to examine and decide whether the
particular case of the said Stanton, on which it was this respondent's
duty to act, was within or without the terms of that first section of
the act; or, if within it, whether the President had not the power,
according to the terms of the act, to remove the said Stanton from
the office of Secretary for the Department of War, and having, in his
capacity of President of the United States, so examined and considered,
did form the opinion that the case of the said Stanton and his tenure of
office were not affected by the first section of the last-named act.
And this respondent, further answering, says, that although a case thus
existed which, in his judgment as President of the United States, called
for the exercise of the executive power to remove the said Stanton from
the office of Secretary for the Department of War, and although this
respondent was of the opinion, as is above shown, that under the
Constitution of the United States the power to remove the said Stanton
from the said office was vested in the President of the United States;
and also this respondent was also of the opinion, as is above shown,
that the case of the said Stanton was not affected by the first section
of the last named act, and although each of the said opinions had been
formed by this respondent upon an actual case, requiring him, in his
capacity of President of the United States to come to some judgment and
determination thereon, yet this respondent, as President of the United
States, desired and determined to avoid, if possible, any question of
the construction and effect of the said first section of the last named
act, and also the broader question of the executive power conferred on
the President of the United States, by the Constitution of the United
States, to remove one of the principal officers of one of the executive
departments for cause seeming to him sufficient; and this respondent
also desired and determined that if, from causes over which he could
exert no control, it should become absolutely necessary to raise and
have, in some way, determined either or both of the said last named
questions, it was in accordance with the Constitution of the United
States, and was required of the President thereby, that questions of so
much gravity and importance, upon which the legislative and executive
departments of the government had disagreed, which involved powers
considered by all branches of the government, during its entire history
down to the year 1867, to have been confided by the Constitution of the
United States to the President, and to be necessary for the complete and
proper execution of his constitutional duties, should be in some proper
way submitted to that judicial department of the government instrusted
by the Constitution with the power, and subjected by it to the duty, not
only of determining finally the construction of and effect of all acts
of Congress, but of comparing them with the Constitution of the United
States and pronouncing them inoperative when found in conflict with that
fundamental law which the people have enacted for the government of all
their servants. And to these ends, first, that, through the action of
the Senate of the United States, the absolute duty of the President
to substitute some fit person in place of Mr. Stanton as one of his
advisers, and as a principal subordinate officer whose official conduct
he was responsible for and had lawful right to control, might, if,
possible, be accomplished without the necessity of raising any one
of the questions aforesaid; and, second, if this duty could not be
so performed then that these questions, or such of them as might
necessarily arise, should be judicially determined in manner aforesaid,
and for no other end or purpose, this respondent, as President of the
United States, on the 12th day of August, 1867, seven days after the
reception of the letter of the said Stanton of the 5th of August,
hereinbefore stated, did issue to the said Stanton the order following
namely:
Executive Mansion, Washington, August 12, 1867.
Sir:--By virtue of the power and authority vested in me as President by
the Constitution and laws of the United States, you are hereby suspended
from office as Secretary of War, and will cease to exercise any and all
functions pertaining to the same.
You will at once transfer to General Ulysses S. Grant, who has this day
been authorized and empowered to act as Secretary of War ad interim, all
records, books, papers, and other public property now in your custody
and charge. To Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.
To which said order the said Stanton made the following reply:
War Department, Washington City, August 12, 1867.
Sir:--Your note of this date has been received, informing me that, by
virtue of the powers vested in you as President by the Constitution and
laws of the United States, I am suspended from office as Secretary of
War, and will cease to exercise any and all functions pertaining to the
same, and also directing me at once to transfer to General Ulysses
S. Grant, who has this day been authorized and empowered to act as
Secretary of War ad interim, all records, books, papers, and other
public property now in my custody and charge. Under a sense of public
duty I am compelled to deny your right, under the Constitution and laws
of the United States, without the advice and consent of the senate, and
without legal cause, to suspend me from office as Secretary of War, or
the exercise of any or all functions pertaining to the same, or without
such advice and consent to compel me to transfer to any person the
records, books, papers, and public property in my custody as Secretary,
But inasmuch as the General commanding the Armies of the United has
been appointed ad interim and has notified me that he has accepted the
appointment, I have no alternative but to submit, under protest, to
superior force.
To the President.
And this respondent, further answering, says, that it is provided in and
by the second section of "An act to regulate the tenure of certain civil
offices," that the President may suspend an officer from the performance
of the duties of the office held by him, for certain causes therein
designated, until the next meeting of the Senate, and until the case
shall be acted on by the senate; that this respondent, as President
of the United States, was advised, and he verily believed and still
believes, that the executive power of removal from office confided to
him by the Constitution as aforesaid includes the power of suspension
from office at the pleasure of the President, and this respondent, by
the order aforesaid, did suspend the said Stanton from office, not until
the next meeting of the Senate, or until the Senate should have acted
upon the case, but by force of the power and authority vested in him by
the Constitution and laws of the United States, indefinitely and at the
pleasure of the President, and the order, in form aforesaid, was made
known to the Senate of the United States on the 12th day of December, A.
D. 1867, as will be more fully hereinafter stated.
And this respondent, further answering, says, that in and by the act
of February 13, 1795, it was, among other things, provided and enacted
that, in case of vacancy in the office of Secretary for the Department
of War, it shall be lawful for the President, in case he shall think it
necessary, to authorize any person to perform the duties of that office
until a successor be appointed or such vacancy filled, but not exceeding
the term of six months; and this respondent, being advised and believing
that such law was in full force and not repealed, by an order dated
August 12, 1867, did authorize and empower Ulysses S. Grant, General of
the armies of the United States, to act as Secretary for the Department
of War ad interim, in the form in which similar authority had
theretofore been given, not until the next meeting of the Senate and
until the Senate should act on the case, but at the pleasure of the
President, subject only to the limitation of six months in the said
last-mentioned act contained; and a copy of the last-named order
was made known to the Senate of the United States on the 12th day
of December, 1867, as will be hereinafter more fully stated: and in
pursuance of the design and intention aforesaid, if it should become
necessary to submit the said question to a judicial determination, this
respondent, at or near the date of the last-mentioned order, did
make known such his purpose to obtain a judicial decision of the said
question, or such of them as might be necessary.
And this respondent, further answering, says, that in further pursuance
of his intention and design, if possible, to perform what he judged to
be his imperative duty, to prevent the said Stanton from longer holding
the office of Secretary for the Department of War, and at the same time
avoiding, if possible, any question respecting the extent of the power
of removal from executive office confided to the President by the
Constitution of the United States, and any question respecting the
construction and effect of the first section of the said "act regulating
the tenure of certain civil offices," while he should not, by any act
of his, abandon and relinquish, either a power which he believed the
Constitution had conferred on the President of the United States, to
enable him to perform the duties of his office, or, a power designedly
left to him by the first section of the act of Congress last aforesaid,
this respondent did, on the 12th day of December, 1867, transmit to the
senate of the United States a message a copy whereof is hereunto annexed
and marked B, wherein he made known the orders aforesaid and the reasons
which had induced the same, so far as this respondent then considered it
material and necessary that the same should be set forth, and reiterated
his views concerning the constitutional power of removal vested in the
President, and also expressed his views concerning the construction of
the said first section of the last mentioned act, as respected the power
of the President to remove the said Stanton from the said office of
Secretary for the Department of War, well hoping that this respondent
could thus perform what he then believed, and still believes, to be his
imperative duty in reference to the said Stanton, without derogating
from the powers which this respondent believed were confided to the
President, by the Constitution and laws, and without the necessity of
raising, judicially, any questions respecting the same.
And this respondent, further answering, says, that this hope not having
been realized, the President was compelled either to allow the said
Stanton to resume the said office and remain therein contrary to the
settled convictions of the President, formed as aforesaid respecting
the powers confided to him and the duties required of him by the
Constitution of the United States, and contrary to the opinion formed
as aforesaid, that the first section of the last mentioned act did not
affect the case of the said Stanton, and contrary to the fixed belief
of the President that he could no longer advise with or trust or be
responsible for the said Stanton, for the said office of Secretary for
the Department of War, or else he was compelled to take such steps as
might, in the judgment of the President, be lawful and necessary to
raise, for a judicial decision, the questions affecting the lawful right
of the said Stanton to resume the said office, or the power of the said
Stanton to persist in refusing to quit the said office if he should
persist in actually refusing to quit the same; and to this end, and to
this end only, this respondent did, on the 21st day of February, 1868
issue the order for the removal of the said Stanton, in the said first
article mentioned and set forth, and the order authorizing the said
Lorenzo F. Thomas to act as Secretary of War ad interim, in the said
second article set forth.
And this respondent, proceeding to answer specifically each substantial
allegation in the said first article, says: He denies that the said
Stanton, on the 21st day of February, 1868, was lawfully in possession
of the said ofce of Secretary for the Department of War. He denies that
the said Stanton, on the day last mentioned, was lawfully entitled to
hold the said office against the will of the President of the United
States. He denies that the said order for the removal of the said
Stanton was unlawfully issued. He denies that the said order was issued
with intent to violate the act entitled "An act to regulate the tenure
of certain civil offices." He denies that the said order was a violation
of the last mentioned act. He denies that the said order was a violation
of the Constitution of the United States, or of any law thereof, or of
his oath of office. He denies that the said order was issued with an
intent to violate the Constitution of the United States or any law
thereof, or this respondent's oath of office; and he respectfully, but
earnestly insists that not only was it issued by him in the performance
of what he believed to be an imperative official duty, but in the
performance of what this honorable court will consider was, in point
of fact, an imperative official duty. And he denies that any and all
substantive matters, in the said first article contained, in manner
and form as the same are therein stated and set forth, do, by law,
constitute a high misdemeanor in office, within the true intent and
meaning of the Constitution of the United States.
ANSWER TO ARTICLE II.
And for answer to the second article, this respondent says that he
admits he did issue and deliver to said Lorenzo Thomas the said writing
set forth in said second article, bearing date at Washington, District
of Columbia, February 21, 1868, addressed to Brevet Major General
Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant General United States army, Washington,
District of Columbia, and he further admits that the same was so issued
without the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, then
in session; but he denies that he thereby violated the Constitution of
the United States, or any law thereof, or that he did thereby intend to
violate the Constitution of the United States or the provisions of any
act of Congress; and this respondent refers to his answer to said first
articles for a full statement of the purposes and intentions with which
said order was issued, and adopts the same as part of his answer to this
article; and he further denies that there was then and there no vacancy
in the said office of Secretary for the Department of War, or that he
did then and there commit or was guilty of a high misdemeanor in office;
and this respondent maintains and will insist:
1. That at the date and delivery of said writing there was a vacancy
existing in the office of Secretary for the Department of War.
2. That notwithstanding the Senate of the United States was then in
session, it was lawful and according to long and well established usage
to empower and authorize the said Thomas to act as Secretary of War ad
interim.
3. That if the said act regulating the tenure of civil offices be held
to be a valid law, no provision of the same was violated by the issuing
of said order or by the designation of said Thomas to act as Secretary
of War ad interim.
ANSWER TO ARTICLE III.
And for answer to said third article, this respondent says that he
abides by his answer to said first and second articles in so far as
the same are responsive to the allegations contained in the said third
article, and, without here again repeating the same answer, prays the
same be taken as an answer to this third article as fully as if here
again set out at length; and as to the new allegation contained in said
third article, that this respondent did appoint the said Thomas to be
Secretary for the Department of War ad interim, this respondent denies
that he gave any other authority to said Thomas than such as appears in
said written authority set out in said article, by which he authorized
and empowered said Thomas to act as Secretary for the Department of War
ad interim; and he denies that the same amounts to an appointment, and
insists that it is only a designation of an officer of that department
to act temporarily as Secretary for the Department of War ad interim,
until an appointment should be made. But whether the said written
authority amounts to an appointment or to a temporary authority or
designation, this respondent denies that in any sense he did thereby
intend to violate the Constitution of the United States, or that he
thereby intended to give the said order the character or effect of
an appointment in the constitutional or legal sense of that term. He
further denies that there was no vacancy in said office of Secretary for
the Department of War existing at the date of said written authority.
ANSWER TO ARTICLE XI.
And in answer to the eleventh article, this respondent denies that on
the 18th day of August, in the year 1866, at the City of Washington, in
the District of Columbia, he did, by public speech or otherwise, declare
or affirm, in substance or at all, that the thirty-ninth Congress of the
United States was not a Congress of the United States authorized by the
constitution to exercise legislative power under the same, or that he
did then and there declare or affirm that the said thirty-ninth Congress
was a Congress of only part of the States in any sense or meaning other
than that ten States of the Union were denied representation therein;
or that he made any or either of the declarations or affirmations in this
behalf, in the said article alleged, as denying or intending to
deny that the legislation of said thirty-ninth Congress was valid or
obligatory upon this respondent, except so far as this respondent saw
fit to approve the same; and as to the allegation in said article, that
he did thereby intend or mean to be understood that the said Congress
had not power to propose amendments to the Constitution, this respondent
says that in said address he said nothing in reference to the subject of
amendments of the Constitution, nor was the question of the competency
of the said Congress to propose such amendments, without the
participation of said excluded States at the time of said address in any
way mentioned or considered or referred to by this respondent, nor in
what he did say had he any intent regarding the same, and he denies
the allegation so made to the contrary thereof. But this respondent, in
further answer to, and in respect of, the said allegations of the said
eleventh article hereinbefore traversed and denied, claims and insists
upon his personal and official right of freedom of opinion and freedom
of speech, and his duty in his political relations as President of the
United States to the people of the United States in the exercise of such
freedom of opinion and freedom of speech, in the same manner, form and
effect as he has in this behalf stated the same in his answer to the
said tenth article, and with the same effect as if he here repeated the
same; and he further claims and insists, as in said answer to said tenth
article he has claimed and insisted, that he is not subject to question,
inquisition, impeachment, or inculpation, in any form or manner, of or
concerning such rights of freedom of opinion or freedom of speech or his
alleged exercise thereof.
And this respondent further denies that on the 21st day of February, in
the year 1868, or at any other time, at the City of Washington, in the
District of Columbia, in pursuance of any such declaration as is in
that behalf in said eleventh article alleged, or otherwise, he did
unlawfully, and in disregard of the requirement of the Constitution that
he should take care that the laws should be faithfully executed, attempt
to prevent the execution of an act entitled "An act regulating the
tenure of certain civil offices," passed March 2, 1867, by unlawfully
devising or contriving, or attempting to devise or contrive, means by
which he should prevent Edwin M. Stanton from forthwith resuming
the functions of Secretary for the Department of War, or by lawfully
devising or contriving, or attempting to devise or contrive, means to
prevent the execution of an act entitled "An act making appropriations
for the support of the army for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1868,
and for other purposes," approved March 2, 1867, or to prevent the
execution of an act entitled "An act to provide for the more efficient
government of the rebel States," passed March 2, 1867.
And this respondent, further answering the said eleventh article, says
that he has, in his answer to the first article, set forth in detail the
acts, steps, and proceedings done and taken by this respondent to and
toward or in the matter of the suspension or removal of the said Edwin
M. Stanton in or from the office of Secretary for the Department of
War, with the times, modes, circumstances, intents, views, purposes, and
opinions of official obligation and duty under and with which such acts,
steps, and proceedings were done and taken; and he makes answer to this
eleventh article of the matters in his answer to the first article,
pertaining to the suspension or removal of said Edwin M. Stanton, to the
same intent and effect as if they were here repeated and set forth.
And this deponent, further answering the said eleventh article, denies
that by means or reason of anything in said article alleged, this
respondent, as President of the United States, did, on the 21st day
of February, 1868, or at any other day or time, commit, or that he was
guilty of, a high misdemeanor in office.
And this respondent, further answering the said eleventh article, says
that the same and the matters therein contained do not charge or allege
the commission of any act whatever by this respondent, in his office of
President of the United States, nor the omission by this respondent of
any act of official obligation or duty in his office of President of
the United States; nor does the said article nor the matters therein
contained name designate, describe, or define any act or mode or form
of attempt, device, contrivance, or means, or of attempt at device,
contrivance or means, whereby this respondent can know or understand
what act or mode or form of attempt, device, contrivance or means, or
of attempt at device, contrivance, or means are imputed to or charged
against this respondent, in his office of President of the United
States, or intended so to be, or whereby this respondent can more fully
or definitely make answer unto the said article than he hereby does.
And this respondent, in submitting to this honorable court this
his answer to the articles of impeachment exhibited against him,
respectfully reserves leave to amend and add to the same from time to
time, as may become necessary or proper, and when and as such necessity
and propriety shall appear. Andrew Johnson Henry Stanbery, B. R. Curtis,
Thomas A. R. Nelson, William M. Evarts. W. S. Groesbeck. Of Counsel.