Editing Tenure of Office Act (1867) (section)

==Background==
The notion of the United States Senate advising and consenting the removal of Cabinet members to the same of the appointments were considered during the [[1st United States Congress]]. The vote was tied with 9 in favor and 9 against on July 18, 1789. [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[John Adams]], with his [[List of tie-breaking votes cast by the vice president of the United States|first tie-breaking vote]], voted against the bill, defeating it.

The Constitution adopted by the [[Confederate States of America]] was more explicit on the point, providing in Article II, Section 2, Clause 3 thereof, that "The principal officer in each of the Executive Departments, and all persons connected with the diplomatic service, may be removed from office at the pleasure of the President. All other civil officers of the Executive Departments may be removed at any time by the President, or other appointing power, when their services are unnecessary, or for dishonesty, incapacity, inefficiency, misconduct, or neglect of duty; and when so removed, the removal shall be reported to the Senate, together with the reasons therefor."

In the post-[[American Civil War|Civil War]] political environment, President Johnson, a Democrat who had served as [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s second vice president, endorsed the quick re-admission of the Southern secessionist states. The two-thirds Republican majorities of both houses of Congress, however, passed laws over Johnson's vetoes, establishing a series of five military districts overseeing newly created state governments. This "[[Reconstruction era|Congressional Reconstruction]]" was designed to create local [[civil rights]] laws to protect newly freed slaves; to protect and patrol the area; to ensure the secessionist states would show some good faith before being readmitted; to ensure Republican control of the states; and, arguably, to inflict some punishment on the secessionists. States would be readmitted gradually.

Overpowered politically, Johnson could apply the sole check to the Congressional Reconstruction plan of his control (as [[commander-in-chief]]) of the military, which would be the primary institution enforcing the plan's provisions. Even Johnson's control of the military was, however, inhibited by the fact that his [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]], [[Edwin Stanton]], was a staunch [[Radical Republican]] who supported Congressional Reconstruction in full. This further set Johnson against the Republican-controlled Congress, with Johnson wanting to remove Stanton from office and Congress wanting to keep him in place.