Editing Andrew Johnson (section)

== Presidency (1865–1869) ==
{{Main|Presidency of Andrew Johnson}}

=== Accession ===
{{Main|Assassination of Abraham Lincoln}}
[[File:Johnson inauguration (cropped).jpg|thumb|Contemporary woodcut of Johnson being sworn in by Chief Justice Chase as Cabinet members look on, April 15, 1865]]

On the afternoon of April 14, 1865, Lincoln and Johnson met for the first time since the inauguration. Trefousse states that Johnson wanted to "induce Lincoln not to be too lenient with traitors"; Gordon-Reed agrees.{{Sfn|Gordon-Reed|p=87}}{{Sfn|Trefousse|p=192}}

That night, President Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded at [[Ford's Theatre]] by [[John Wilkes Booth]], a Confederate sympathizer. The shooting of the President was part of a conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln, Johnson, and Seward the same night. Seward barely survived his wounds, while Johnson escaped attack as his would-be assassin, [[George Atzerodt]], got drunk instead of killing the vice president. [[Leonard J. Farwell]], a fellow boarder at the [[Kirkwood House (Washington, D.C.)|Kirkwood House]], awoke Johnson with news of Lincoln's shooting. Johnson rushed to the President's deathbed, where he remained a short time, on his return promising, "They shall suffer for this. They shall suffer for this."{{Sfn|Trefousse|pp=193–194}} Lincoln died at 7:22 the next morning; [[Inauguration of Andrew Johnson|Johnson's swearing-in]] occurred between 10 and 11&nbsp;am with Chief Justice [[Salmon P. Chase]] presiding in the presence of most of the Cabinet. Johnson's demeanor was described by the newspapers as "solemn and dignified".{{Sfn|Trefousse|p=194}} Some Cabinet members had last seen Johnson, apparently drunk, at the inauguration.{{Sfn|Gordon-Reed|p=90}} At noon, Johnson conducted his first Cabinet meeting in the Treasury Secretary's office, and asked all members to remain in their positions.{{Sfn|Trefousse|pp=194–195}}

The events of the assassination resulted in speculation, then and subsequently, concerning Johnson and what the conspirators might have intended for him. In the vain hope of having his life spared after his capture, Atzerodt spoke much about the conspiracy, but did not say anything to indicate that the plotted assassination of Johnson was merely a ruse. Conspiracy theorists point to the fact that on the day of the assassination, Booth came to the Kirkwood House and left one of his cards with Johnson's private secretary, [[William A. Browning]]. The message on it was: "Don't wish to disturb you. Are you at home? J. Wilkes Booth."{{Sfn|Gordon-Reed|pp=90–92}}

Johnson presided with dignity over Lincoln's funeral ceremonies in Washington, before his predecessor's body was sent home to [[Springfield, Illinois]], for interment.{{Sfn|Gordon-Reed|p=93}} Shortly after Lincoln's death, Union General [[William Tecumseh Sherman|William T. Sherman]] reported he had, without consulting Washington, reached an armistice agreement with Confederate General [[Joseph E. Johnston]] for the surrender of Confederate forces in North Carolina in exchange for the existing state government remaining in power, with private property rights (slaves) to be respected. This did not even grant freedom to those in slavery. This was not acceptable to Johnson or the Cabinet, who sent word for Sherman to secure the surrender without making political deals, which he did. Further, Johnson placed a $100,000 bounty (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|100000|1865}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}) on Confederate President Davis, then a fugitive, which gave Johnson the reputation of a man who would be tough on the South. More controversially, he permitted the execution of [[Mary Surratt]] for her part in Lincoln's assassination. Surratt was executed with three others, including Atzerodt, on July 7, 1865.{{Sfn|Gordon-Reed|pp=93–95}}

=== Reconstruction ===
{{Main|Reconstruction Era}}

==== Background ====

[[File:Andrew Johnson portrait.jpg|thumb|Official portrait of President Johnson, {{circa|1880}}]]

Upon taking office, Johnson faced the question of what to do with the former Confederacy. President Lincoln had authorized loyalist governments in Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee as the Union came to control large parts of those states and advocated a [[ten percent plan]] that would allow elections after ten percent of the voters in any state took an oath of future loyalty to the Union. Congress considered this too lenient; [[Wade–Davis Bill|its own plan]], requiring a majority of voters to take the loyalty oath, passed both houses in 1864, but Lincoln [[pocket veto]]ed it.{{Sfn|Fitzgerald|p=26}}

Johnson had three goals in Reconstruction. He sought a speedy restoration of the states, on the grounds that they had never truly left the Union, and thus should again be recognized once loyal citizens formed a government. To Johnson, African-American suffrage was a delay and a distraction; it had always been a state responsibility to decide who should vote. Second, political power in the Southern states should pass from the planter class to his beloved "plebeians". Johnson feared that the freedmen, many of whom were still economically bound to their former masters, might vote at their direction. Johnson's third priority was election in his own right in 1868, a feat no one who had succeeded a deceased president had managed to accomplish, attempting to secure a Democratic anti-Congressional Reconstruction coalition in the South.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=28–29}}

The Republicans had formed a number of factions. The [[Radical Republican]]s sought voting and other civil rights for African Americans. They believed that the freedmen could be induced to vote Republican in gratitude for emancipation, and that black votes could keep the Republicans in power and Southern Democrats, including former rebels, out of influence. They believed that top Confederates should be punished. The Moderate Republicans sought to keep the Democrats out of power at a national level, and prevent former rebels from resuming power. They were not as enthusiastic about the idea of African-American suffrage as their Radical colleagues, either because of their own local political concerns, or because they believed that the freedman would be likely to cast his vote badly. Northern Democrats favored the unconditional restoration of the Southern states. They did not support African-American suffrage, which might threaten Democratic control in the South.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=18–21}}

==== Presidential Reconstruction ====
Johnson was initially left to devise a Reconstruction policy without legislative intervention, as Congress was not due to meet again until December 1865.{{Sfn|Fitzgerald|p=28}} Radical Republicans told the President that the Southern states were economically in a state of chaos and urged him to use his leverage to insist on rights for freedmen as a condition of restoration to the Union. But Johnson, with the support of other officials including Seward, insisted that the franchise was a state, not a federal matter. The Cabinet was divided on the issue.{{Sfn|Trefousse|pp=215–216, 234–235}}

Johnson's first Reconstruction actions were two proclamations, with the unanimous backing of his Cabinet, on May 29. One recognized the Virginia government led by provisional Governor [[Francis Pierpont]]. The second provided amnesty for all ex-rebels except those holding property valued at $20,000 or more; it also appointed a temporary governor for North Carolina and authorized elections. Neither of these proclamations included provisions regarding [[black suffrage]] or freedmen's rights. The President ordered constitutional conventions in other former rebel states.{{Sfn|Trefousse|pp=216–217}}

As Southern states began the process of forming governments, Johnson's policies received considerable public support in the North, which he took as unconditional backing for quick reinstatement of the South. While he received such support from the white South, he underestimated the determination of Northerners to ensure that the war had not been fought for nothing. It was important, in Northern public opinion, that the South acknowledge its defeat, that slavery be ended, and that the lot of African Americans be improved. Voting rights were less important at the time—only a handful of Northern states (mostly in New England) gave African-American men the right to vote on the same basis as whites, and in late 1865, Connecticut, Wisconsin, and Minnesota voted down African-American suffrage proposals by large margins. Northern public opinion tolerated Johnson's inaction on black suffrage as an experiment, to be allowed if it quickened Southern acceptance of defeat. Instead, white Southerners felt emboldened. A number of Southern states passed [[Black Codes (United States)|Black Codes]], binding African-American laborers to farms on annual contracts they could not quit, and allowing law enforcement at whim to arrest them for vagrancy and rent out their labor. Most Southerners elected to Congress were former Confederates, with the most prominent being Georgia Senator-designate and former Confederate vice president [[Alexander Stephens]]. Congress assembled in early December 1865; Johnson's conciliatory [[State of the Union|annual message]] to them was well received. Nevertheless, Congress refused to seat the Southern legislators and established a committee to recommend appropriate Reconstruction legislation.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=50–59}}

Northerners were outraged at the idea of unrepentant Confederate leaders, such as Stephens, rejoining the federal government at a time when emotional wounds from the war remained raw. They saw the Black Codes placing African Americans in a position barely above slavery. Republicans also feared that restoration of the Southern states would return the Democrats to power.{{Sfn|Fitzgerald|p=35}}{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=58–59}} In addition, according to [[David O. Stewart]] in his book on Johnson's impeachment, "the violence and poverty that oppressed the South would galvanize the opposition to Johnson".{{Sfn|Stewart|p=26}}

==== Break with the Republicans: 1866 ====
Congress was reluctant to confront the President, and initially only sought to fine-tune Johnson's policies towards the South.{{Sfn|Fitzgerald|p=36}} According to Trefousse, "If there was a time when Johnson could have come to an agreement with the moderates of the Republican Party, it was the period following the return of Congress."{{Sfn|Trefousse|p=240}} The President was unhappy about the provocative actions of the Southern states, and about the continued control by the antebellum elite there, but made no statement publicly, believing that Southerners had a right to act as they did, even if it was unwise to do so. By late January 1866, he was convinced that winning a showdown with the Radical Republicans was necessary to his political plans – both for the success of Reconstruction and for reelection in 1868. He would have preferred that the conflict arise over the legislative efforts to enfranchise African Americans in the District of Columbia, a proposal that had been defeated overwhelmingly in an all-white referendum. A bill to accomplish this passed the House of Representatives, but to Johnson's disappointment, stalled in the Senate before he could veto it.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=62–68}}

[[File:Nast on Andrew Johnson.jpg|thumb|[[Thomas Nast]] cartoon of Johnson disposing of the [[Freedmen's Bureau]] as African Americans go flying]]
Illinois Senator [[Lyman Trumbull]], leader of the Moderate Republicans and Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, was anxious to reach an understanding with the President. He ushered through Congress a bill extending the [[Freedmen's Bureau]] beyond its scheduled abolition in 1867, and the first Civil Rights Bill, to grant citizenship to the freedmen. Trumbull met several times with Johnson and was convinced the President would sign the measures (Johnson rarely contradicted visitors, often fooling those who met with him into thinking he was in accord). In fact, the President opposed both bills as infringements on state sovereignty. Additionally, both of Trumbull's bills were unpopular among white Southerners, whom Johnson hoped to include in his new party. Johnson vetoed the Freedman's Bureau bill on February 18, 1866, to the delight of white Southerners and the puzzled anger of Republican legislators. He considered himself vindicated when a move to override his veto failed in the Senate the following day.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=62–68}} Johnson believed that the Radicals would now be isolated and defeated and that the moderate Republicans would form behind him; he did not understand that Moderates also wanted to see African Americans treated fairly.{{Sfn|Foner|pp=248–249}}

On February 22, 1866, [[Washington's Birthday]], Johnson gave an impromptu speech to supporters who had marched to the [[White House]] and called for an address in honor of [[George Washington|the first president]]. In his hour-long speech, he instead referred to himself over 200 times. More damagingly, he also spoke of "men&nbsp;... still opposed to the Union" to whom he could not extend the hand of friendship he gave to the South.{{Sfn|Stewart|pp=51–52}}{{Sfn|Foner|p=249}} When called upon by the crowd to say who they were, Johnson named Pennsylvania Congressman [[Thaddeus Stevens]], Massachusetts Senator [[Charles Sumner]], and abolitionist [[Wendell Phillips]], and accused them of plotting his assassination. Republicans viewed the address as a declaration of war, while one Democratic ally estimated Johnson's speech cost the party 200,000 votes in the 1866 congressional midterm elections.{{Sfn|Stewart|pp=51–53}}

Although strongly urged by moderates to sign the [[Civil Rights Act of 1866]], Johnson broke decisively with them by vetoing it on March 27. In his veto message, he objected to the measure because it conferred citizenship on the freedmen at a time when 11 out of 36 states were unrepresented in the Congress, and that it "discriminated" in favor of African Americans and against whites.{{Sfn|Foner|pp=250–251}}{{Sfn|Castel|1979|p=70}} Within three weeks, Congress had overridden his veto, the first time that had been done on a major bill in American history.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|p=71}} The veto, often seen as a key mistake of Johnson's presidency, convinced moderates there was no hope of working with him. Historian [[Eric Foner]], in his volume on Reconstruction, views it as "the most disastrous miscalculation of his political career". According to Stewart, the veto was "for many his defining blunder, setting a tone of perpetual confrontation with Congress that prevailed for the rest of his presidency".{{Sfn|Stewart|p=53}}

Congress also proposed the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] to the states. Written by Trumbull and others, it was sent for ratification by state legislatures in a process in which the president plays no part, though Johnson opposed it. The amendment was designed to put the key provisions of the Civil Rights Act into the Constitution, but also went further. The amendment extended citizenship to every person born in the United States (except Indians on reservations), penalized states that did not give the vote to freedmen, and most importantly, created new federal civil rights that could be protected by federal courts. It also guaranteed that the federal debt would be paid and forbade repayment of Confederate war debts. Further, it disqualified many former Confederates from office, although the disability could be removed — by Congress, not the president.{{Sfn|Trefousse|p=252}} Both houses passed the Freedmen's Bureau Act a second time, and again the President vetoed it; this time, the veto was overridden. By the summer of 1866, when Congress finally adjourned, Johnson's method of restoring states to the Union by executive fiat, without safeguards for the freedmen, was in deep trouble. His home state of Tennessee ratified the Fourteenth Amendment despite the President's opposition.{{Sfn|Trefousse|pp=253–254}} When Tennessee did so, Congress immediately seated its proposed delegation, embarrassing Johnson.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=75–76}}

Efforts to compromise failed,{{Sfn|Stewart|pp=57–58}} and a political war ensued between the united Republicans on one side, and on the other, Johnson and his Northern and Southern allies in the Democratic Party. He called a convention of the [[National Union Party (United States)|National Union Party]]. Republicans had returned to using their previous identifier; Johnson intended to use the discarded name to unite his supporters and gain election to a full term, in 1868.{{Sfn|Stewart|pp=60–62}} The battleground was the [[1866 United States House of Representatives elections|election of 1866]]; Southern states were not allowed to vote. Johnson campaigned vigorously, undertaking a public speaking tour, known as the "[[Swing Around the Circle]]". The trip, including speeches in Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Columbus, proved politically disastrous, with the President making controversial comparisons between himself and [[Jesus]], and engaging in arguments with hecklers. These exchanges were attacked as beneath the dignity of the presidency. The Republicans won by a landslide, increasing their two-thirds majority in Congress, and made plans to control Reconstruction.{{Sfn|Trefousse|p=271}} Johnson blamed the Democrats for giving only lukewarm support to the National Union movement.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=88–89}}

==== Radical Reconstruction ====
Even with the Republican victory in November 1866, Johnson considered himself in a strong position. The [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] had not yet been ratified by enough states to go into force, with Tennessee alone among the Southern or [[Border states (American Civil War)|border states]] in voting for it. As the amendment required ratification by three-quarters of the states to become part of the Constitution, he believed the deadlock would be broken in his favor, leading to his election in 1868. Once it reconvened in December 1866, an energized Congress began passing legislation, often over a presidential veto; this included the District of Columbia voting bill. Congress admitted Nebraska to the Union over a veto, and the Republicans gained two senators and a state that promptly ratified the amendment. Johnson's veto of a bill for statehood for [[Colorado Territory]] was sustained; enough senators agreed that a district with a population of 30,000 was not yet worthy of statehood to win the day.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=107–109}}

In January 1867, Congressman Stevens introduced legislation to dissolve the Southern state governments and reconstitute them into five military districts, under [[martial law]]. The states would begin again by holding constitutional conventions. African Americans could vote for or become delegates; former Confederates could not. In the legislative process, Congress added to the bill that restoration to the Union would follow the state's ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, and completion of the process of adding it to the Constitution. Johnson and the Southerners attempted a compromise, whereby the South would agree to a modified version of the amendment without the disqualification of former Confederates, and for limited black suffrage. The Republicans insisted on the full language of the amendment, and the deal fell through. Although Johnson could have pocket vetoed the [[Reconstruction Acts|First Reconstruction Act]] as it was presented to him less than ten days before the end of the Thirty-Ninth Congress, he chose to veto it directly on March 2, 1867; Congress overruled him the same day. Also on March 2, Congress passed the [[Tenure of Office Act (1867)|Tenure of Office Act]] over the President's veto, in response to statements during the Swing Around the Circle that he planned to fire Cabinet secretaries who did not agree with him. This bill, requiring Senate approval for the firing of Cabinet members during the tenure of the president who appointed them and for one month afterwards, was immediately controversial, with some senators doubting that it was constitutional or that its terms applied to Johnson, whose key Cabinet officers were Lincoln holdovers.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=107–109}}

=== Impeachment ===
{{Main|Impeachment of Andrew Johnson|Impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson}}
{{further|Efforts to impeach Andrew Johnson|Timeline of the impeachment of Andrew Johnson|Articles of impeachment adopted against Andrew Johnson|1868 impeachment managers investigation}}
{{see also|First impeachment inquiry against Andrew Johnson|Second impeachment inquiry against Andrew Johnson}}

[[File:The situation.jpg|thumb|"The Situation", a ''[[Harper's Weekly]]'' editorial cartoon, shows Secretary of War Stanton aiming a cannon labeled "Congress" to defeat Johnson. The rammer is "Tenure of Office Bill" and cannonballs on the floor are "Justice".]]

Secretary of War [[Edwin Stanton]] was an able and hard-working man, but difficult to deal with.{{Sfn|Stewart|pp=62–64}} Johnson both admired and was exasperated by his War Secretary, who, in combination with [[General of the Army (United States)|General of the Army]] Grant, worked to undermine the president's Southern policy from within his own administration. Johnson considered firing Stanton, but respected him for his wartime service as secretary. Stanton, for his part, feared allowing Johnson to appoint his successor and refused to resign, despite his public disagreements with his president.{{Sfn|Stewart|pp=64–66}}

The new Congress met for a few weeks in March 1867, then adjourned, leaving the House Committee on the Judiciary behind, tasked in the [[first impeachment inquiry against Andrew Johnson|first impeachment inquiry against Johnson]] with reporting back to the full House whether there were grounds for Johnson to be impeached. This committee duly met, examined the President's bank accounts, and summoned members of the Cabinet to testify. When a federal court released former Confederate president Davis on bail on May 13 (he had been captured shortly after the war), the committee investigated whether the President had impeded the prosecution. It learned that Johnson was eager to have Davis tried. A bipartisan majority of the committee voted down impeachment charges; the committee adjourned on June 3.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=126–127}}

Later in June, Johnson and Stanton battled over the question of whether the military officers placed in command of the South could override the civil authorities. The President had Attorney General [[Henry Stanbery]] issue an opinion backing his position that they could not. Johnson sought to pin down Stanton either as for, and thus endorsing Johnson's position, or against, showing himself to be opposed to his president and the rest of the Cabinet. Stanton evaded the point in meetings and written communications. When Congress reconvened in July, it passed a Reconstruction Act against Johnson's position, waited for his veto, overrode it, and went home. In addition to clarifying the powers of the generals, the legislation also deprived the President of control over the Army in the South. With Congress in recess until November, Johnson decided to fire Stanton and relieve one of the military commanders, General [[Philip Sheridan]], who had dismissed the governor of Texas and installed a replacement with little popular support. Johnson was initially deterred by a strong objection from Grant, but on August 5, the President demanded Stanton's resignation; the secretary refused to quit with Congress out of session.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=128–135}} Johnson then suspended him pending the next meeting of Congress as permitted under the Tenure of Office Act; Grant agreed to serve as temporary replacement while continuing to lead the Army.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=135–137}}

Grant, under protest, followed Johnson's order transferring Sheridan and another of the district commanders, [[Daniel Sickles]], who had angered Johnson by firmly following Congress's plan. The President also issued a proclamation pardoning most Confederates, exempting those who held office under the Confederacy, or who had served in federal office before the war but had breached their oaths. Although Republicans expressed anger with his actions, the 1867 elections generally went Democratic. No seats in Congress were directly elected in the polling, but the Democrats took control of the [[Ohio General Assembly]], allowing them to defeat for reelection one of Johnson's strongest opponents, Senator [[Benjamin Wade]]. Voters in Ohio, Connecticut, and Minnesota turned down propositions to grant African Americans the vote.{{Sfn|Stewart|pp=95–97}}

The adverse results momentarily put a stop to Republican calls to impeach Johnson, who was elated by the elections.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|p=146}} Nevertheless, once Congress met in November, the Judiciary Committee reversed itself and passed a resolution of impeachment against Johnson. After much debate about whether anything the President had done was a high crime or misdemeanor, the standard under the Constitution, the resolution was defeated by the House of Representatives on December 7, 1867, by a vote of 57 in favor to 108 opposed.{{Sfn|Stewart|pp=109–111}}

Johnson notified Congress of Stanton's suspension and Grant's interim appointment. In January 1868, the Senate disapproved of his action, and reinstated Stanton, contending the President had violated the Tenure of Office Act. Grant stepped aside over Johnson's objection, causing a complete break between them. Johnson then dismissed Stanton and appointed [[Lorenzo Thomas]] to replace him. Stanton refused to leave his office, and on February 24, 1868, the House impeached the President for intentionally violating the Tenure of Office Act, by a vote of 128 to 47. The House subsequently adopted [[Articles of impeachment adopted against Andrew Johnson|eleven articles of impeachment]], for the most part alleging that he had violated the Tenure of Office Act, and had questioned the legitimacy of Congress.{{Sfn|Trefousse|pp=313–316}}

[[File:The Senate as a Court of Impeachment for the Trial of Andrew Johnson (1).jpg|thumb|left|Illustration of Johnson's impeachment trial in the [[United States Senate]], by [[Theodore R. Davis]], published in ''Harper's Weekly'']]
[[File:George T. Brown, sergeant-at-arms, serving the summons on President Johnson - sketched by T.R. Davis. LCCN92520335 (1) (3x4).jpg|thumb|left|Illustration of [[Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate]] George T. Brown delivering a [[summons]] for the impeachment trial to Johnson at the White House on March 7, 1868]]
[[File:Andrew Johnson consulting with his counsel (Harper's Weekly March 14, 1868).jpg|thumb|Illustration of Johnson consulting with his counsel for the trial]]

On March 5, 1868, the impeachment trial began in the Senate and lasted almost three months; Congressmen [[George S. Boutwell]], Benjamin Butler and Thaddeus Stevens acted as managers for the House, or prosecutors, and [[William M. Evarts]], [[Benjamin R. Curtis]] and former Attorney General Stanbery were Johnson's counsel; Chief Justice Chase served as presiding judge.{{Sfn|Trefousse|pp=316, 336}}

The defense relied on the provision of the Tenure of Office Act that made it applicable only to appointees of the current administration. Since Lincoln had appointed Stanton, the defense maintained Johnson had not violated the act, and also argued that the President had the right to test the constitutionality of an act of Congress.{{Sfn|Trefousse|p=319}} Johnson's counsel insisted that he make no appearance at the trial, nor publicly comment about the proceedings, and except for a pair of interviews in April, he complied.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|p=81}}

Johnson maneuvered to gain an acquittal; for example, he pledged to Iowa Senator [[James W. Grimes]] that he would not interfere with Congress's Reconstruction efforts. Grimes reported to a group of Moderates, many of whom voted for acquittal, that he believed the President would keep his word. Johnson also promised to install the respected [[John Schofield]] as War Secretary.{{Sfn|Gordon-Reed|pp=138–139}} Kansas Senator [[Edmund G. Ross]] received assurances that the new, Radical-influenced constitutions ratified in South Carolina and Arkansas would be transmitted to the Congress without delay, an action which would give him and other senators political cover to vote for acquittal.{{Sfn|Trefousse|pp=323–324}}

One reason senators were reluctant to remove the President was that his successor would have been Ohio Senator Wade, the [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate|president ''pro tempore'']] of the Senate. Wade, a [[lame duck (politics)|lame duck]] who left office in early 1869, was a Radical who supported such measures as women's suffrage, placing him beyond the pale politically in much of the nation.{{Sfn|Gordon-Reed|p=139}}{{Sfn|Stewart|p=307}} Additionally, a President Wade was seen as an obstacle to Grant's ambitions.{{Sfn|Trefousse|p=330}}

With the dealmaking, Johnson was confident of the result in advance of the verdict, and in the days leading up to the ballot, newspapers reported that Stevens and his Radicals had given up. On May 16, the Senate voted on the 11th article of impeachment, accusing Johnson of firing Stanton in violation of the Tenure of Office of Act once the Senate had overturned his suspension. Thirty-five senators voted "guilty" and 19 "not guilty", thus falling short by a single vote of the two-thirds majority required for conviction under the Constitution. Ten Republicans—Senators Grimes, Ross, Trumbull, [[James Dixon]], [[James Rood Doolittle]], [[Daniel Sheldon Norton]], [[William Pitt Fessenden]], [[Joseph S. Fowler]], [[John B. Henderson]], and [[Peter G. Van Winkle]]—voted to acquit the President. With Stevens bitterly disappointed at the result, the Senate then adjourned for the [[1868 Republican National Convention|Republican National Convention]]; Grant was nominated for president. The Senate returned on May 26 and voted on the second and third articles, with identical 35–19 results. Faced with those results, Johnson's opponents gave up and dismissed proceedings.{{Sfn|Trefousse|pp=323–328}}{{Sfn|Stewart|pp=340–341}}<ref>{{cite web| title=''Senate Journal''. 40th Cong., 2nd sess., 16{{\}}May 26, 1868, 943–51| url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsj&fileName=061/llsj061.db&recNum=942&itemLink=r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(sj061225)):%230610942&linkText=1| work=A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774–1875| publisher=[[Library of Congress]]| location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=June 7, 2019}}</ref> Stanton "relinquished" his office on May 26, and the Senate subsequently confirmed Schofield.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|p=195}} When Johnson renominated Stanbery to return to his position as attorney general after his service as a defense manager, the Senate refused to confirm him.{{Sfn|Trefousse|p=336}}

Allegations were made at the time and again later that bribery dictated the outcome of the trial. Even when it was in progress, Representative Butler began an investigation, held contentious hearings, and issued a report, unendorsed by any other congressman. Butler focused on a New York–based "Astor House Group", supposedly led by [[political boss]] and editor [[Thurlow Weed]]. This organization was said to have raised large sums of money from whiskey interests through Cincinnati lawyer [[Charles Woolley (lawyer)|Charles Woolley]] to bribe senators to acquit Johnson. Butler went so far as to imprison Woolley in the Capitol building <!-- a committee room and then an artist's studio --> when he refused to answer questions, but failed to prove bribery.{{Sfn|Stewart|pp=240–247, 284–292}}

=== Foreign policy ===
Soon after taking office as president, Johnson reached an accord with Secretary of State [[William H. Seward]] that there would be no change in foreign policy. In practice, this meant that Seward would continue to run things as he had under Lincoln. Seward and Lincoln had been rivals for the nomination in 1860; the victor hoped that Seward would succeed him as president in 1869. At the time of Johnson's accession, [[Second French intervention in Mexico|the French had intervened in Mexico]], sending troops there. While many politicians had indulged in saber rattling over the Mexican matter, Seward preferred quiet diplomacy, warning the French through diplomatic channels that their presence in Mexico was unacceptable. Although the President preferred a more aggressive approach, Seward persuaded him to follow his lead. In April 1866, the French government informed Seward that its troops would be brought home in stages, to conclude by November 1867.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=40–41}} On August 14, 1866, Johnson and his cabinet gave a reception for [[Queen Emma of Hawaii]] who was returning to Hawaii after her trip to Britain and Europe.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Apoliona |first=Haunani |author-link=S. Haunani Apoliona |date=January 2010 |title=Ke Kuini Emalani ko luna |volume=27 |page=[http://haunaniapoliona.net/cgi-bin/apo?e=d-010off-apoliona--00-1----0--010---4-------0-1l--11en-Zz-1---10-home---00-3-1-00-0-0-110utfZz-8-00&cl=CL3.7&d=D201001&x=1&hl=0 21] |work=Ka Wai Ola |issue=1 |location=Honolulu |url=https://iskh447eqhe3kks2q2rvzg06-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/KA_WAI_OLA_201001.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://iskh447eqhe3kks2q2rvzg06-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/KA_WAI_OLA_201001.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |access-date=December 25, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Byrd |first=Jodi A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3_JNcXnUjZkC&pg=PA177 |title=The Transit of Empire: Indigenous Critiques of Colonialism |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4529-3317-7 |location=Minneapolis |pages=177–183 |oclc=719427962}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kanahele |first=George S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WLtlBNRt_V4C |title=Emma: Hawaii's Remarkable Queen |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-8248-2240-8 |location=Honolulu |pages=189–226 |oclc=40890919 |author-link=George Kanahele}}</ref>

Seward was an [[expansionist]], and sought opportunities to gain territory for the United States. After the loss of the [[Crimean War]] in the 1850s, the Russian government saw its [[Russian America|North American colony]] (today Alaska) as a financial liability, and feared losing control to Britain whose troops would easily swoop in and annex the territory from neighboring Canada in any future conflict. Negotiations between Russia and the U.S. over the [[Alaska Purchase|sale of Alaska]] were halted due to the outbreak of the Civil War, but after the U.S. victory in the war, talks resumed.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Claus-M Naske |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-xhQl1WDWa0C&pg=PA330 |title=Alaska: A History of the 49th State |last2=Herman E. Slotnick |date=March 15, 1994 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-2573-2 |page=330}}</ref> Russia instructed its minister in Washington, Baron [[Eduard de Stoeckl]], to negotiate a sale. De Stoeckl did so deftly, getting Seward to raise his offer from $5 million (coincidentally, the minimum that Russia had instructed de Stoeckl to accept) to $7 million, and then getting $200,000 added by raising various objections.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|p=120}} This sum of $7.2 million is equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|7200000|1867}}}} in present-day terms.{{Inflation/fn|US}} On March 30, 1867, de Stoeckl and Seward signed the treaty, working quickly as the Senate was about to adjourn. Johnson and Seward took the signed document to the President's Room in the Capitol, only to be told there was no time to deal with the matter before adjournment. The President summoned the Senate into session to meet on April 1; that body approved the treaty, 37–2.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=120–122}} Emboldened by his success in Alaska, Seward sought acquisitions elsewhere. His only success was staking an American claim to uninhabited [[Wake Island]] in the Pacific, which would be officially claimed by the U.S. [[William McKinley#Peace and territorial gain|in 1898]]. He came close with the [[Danish West Indies]] as Denmark agreed to sell and the local population approved the transfer in a plebiscite, but the Senate never voted on the treaty and it expired.<ref>{{Cite book |last=David M. Pletcher |url=https://archive.org/details/diplomacyoftrade00plet |title=The Diplomacy of Trade and Investment: American Economic Expansion in the Hemisphere, 1865–1900 |publisher=University of Missouri Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-8262-1127-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/diplomacyoftrade00plet/page/160 160] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Another treaty that fared badly was the Johnson-Clarendon convention, negotiated in settlement of the [[Alabama Claims|''Alabama'' Claims]], for damages to American shipping from British-built Confederate raiders. Negotiated by the [[United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom|United States Minister to Britain]], former Maryland senator [[Reverdy Johnson]], in late 1868, it was ignored by the Senate during the remainder of the President's term. The treaty was rejected after he left office, and the Grant administration later negotiated considerably better terms from Britain.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=204–205}}{{Sfn|Trefousse|p=349}}

=== Administration and Cabinet ===
{{CSS image crop|Image= JOHNSON, Andrew-President (BEP engraved portrait).jpg |bSize= 325|cWidth= 230|cHeight= 270|oTop= 45|oLeft= 45|Location= right|Description= [[Bureau of Engraving and Printing|BEP]] engraved portrait of Johnson as President}}
{{Infobox U.S. Cabinet
| align                = none
| Name                 = Andrew Johnson
| President            = Andrew Johnson
| President start      = 1865
| President end        = 1869
| Vice President       = none
| Vice President start = 1865
| Vice President end   = 1869
| State                = [[William H. Seward]]
| State start          = 1865
| State end            = 1869
| Treasury             = [[Hugh McCulloch]]
| Treasury start       = 1865
| Treasury end         = 1869
| War                  = [[Edwin Stanton]]
| War start            = 1865
| War end              = 1868{{Efn|Replaced ''ad interim'' by [[Ulysses S. Grant]] in August 1867 before being reinstated by Congress in January 1868}}
| War 2                = [[John Schofield]]
| War start 2          = 1868
| War end 2            = 1869
| Justice              = [[James Speed]]
| Justice start        = 1865
| Justice end          = 1866
| Justice 2            = [[Henry Stanbery]]
| Justice start 2      = 1866
| Justice end 2        = 1868
| Justice 3            = [[William M. Evarts]]
| Justice start 3      = 1868
| Justice end 3        = 1869
| Post                 = [[William Dennison Jr.]]
| Post start           = 1865
| Post end             = 1866
| Post 2               = [[Alexander Randall (Wisconsin politician)|Alexander Randall]]
| Post start 2         = 1866
| Post end 2           = 1869
| Navy                 = [[Gideon Welles]]
| Navy start           = 1865
| Navy end             = 1869
| Interior             = [[John Palmer Usher]]
| Interior date        = 1865
| Interior 2           = [[James Harlan (Iowa politician)|James Harlan]]
| Interior start 2     = 1865
| Interior end 2       = 1866
| Interior 3           = [[Orville Hickman Browning]]
| Interior start 3     = 1866
| Interior end 3       = 1869
}}

==== Judicial appointments ====
{{Main|List of federal judges appointed by Andrew Johnson}}
Johnson appointed nine Article III federal judges during his presidency, all to [[United States district court]]s; he did not appoint a justice to serve on the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]]. In April 1866, he nominated [[Henry Stanbery]] to fill the vacancy left with the death of [[John Catron]], but Congress eliminated the seat to prevent the appointment, and to ensure that he did not get to make any appointments eliminated the next vacancy as well, providing that the court would shrink by one justice when one next departed from office.{{Sfn|Stewart|p=54}} Johnson appointed his Greeneville crony, [[Samuel Milligan]], to the [[United States Court of Claims]], where he served from 1868 until his death in 1874.{{Sfn|Trefousse|p=363}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Milligan, Samuel |website=Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789-present |publisher=Federal Judiciary Center |url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/milligan-samuel}}</ref>

=== Reforms initiated ===
In June 1866, Johnson signed the [[Southern Homestead Act of 1866|Southern Homestead Act]] into law, believing that the legislation would assist poor whites. Around 28,000 land claims were successfully patented, although few former slaves benefitted from the law, fraud was rampant, and much of the best land was off-limits, reserved for grants to veterans or railroads.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zuczek |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QA3hdQzOVC4C&pg=PA595 |page=595 |title=Encyclopedia of the Reconstruction Era: M–Z and primary documents |year=2006 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-0-313-33075-9}}</ref> In June 1868, Johnson signed an eight-hour law passed by Congress that established an eight-hour workday for laborers and mechanics employed by the Federal Government.<ref name="Selcer 65">{{Cite book |last=Selcer |first=Richard F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dqIBqiNoB9wC&pg=PA65 |page=65 |title=Civil War America, 1850 To 1875 |date=May 14, 2014 |publisher=Infobase |isbn=978-1-4381-0797-4}}</ref> Although Johnson told members of a Workingmen's party delegation in Baltimore that he could not directly commit himself to an eight-hour day, he nevertheless told the same delegation that he greatly favoured the "shortest number of hours consistent with the interests of all".{{sfn|Smalley|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=P_s3-82-JusC&pg=PA80 80]}} According to Richard F. Selcer, however, the good intentions behind the law were "immediately frustrated" as wages were cut by 20%.<ref name="Selcer 65" />

=== Completion of term ===
Johnson sought nomination by the [[1868 Democratic National Convention]] in New York in July 1868. He remained very popular among Southern whites, and boosted that popularity by issuing, just before the convention, a pardon ending the possibility of criminal proceedings against any Confederate not already indicted, meaning that only Davis and a few others still might face trial. On the first ballot, Johnson was second to former Ohio representative [[George H. Pendleton]], who had been his Democratic opponent for vice president in 1864. Johnson's support was mostly from the South, and fell away as the ballots passed. On the 22nd ballot, former New York governor [[Horatio Seymour]] was nominated, and the President received only four votes, all from Tennessee.{{Sfn|Trefousse|pp=337–339}}

[[File:Andrew Johnson, Farewell to all my greatness cph.3a03724.jpg|thumb|left|"Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness!": ''Harper's Weekly'' cartoon mocking Johnson on leaving office]]

The conflict with Congress continued. Johnson sent Congress proposals for amendments to limit the president to a single six-year term and make the president and the Senate directly elected, and for term limits for judges. Congress took no action on them. When the President was slow to officially report ratifications of the Fourteenth Amendment by the new Southern legislatures, Congress passed a bill, again over his veto, requiring him to do so within ten days of receipt. He still delayed as much as he could, but was required, in July 1868, to report the ratifications making the amendment part of the Constitution.{{Sfn|Trefousse|pp=340–343}}

Seymour's operatives sought Johnson's support, but he long remained silent on the presidential campaign. It was not until October, with the vote already having taken place in some states, that he mentioned Seymour at all, and he never endorsed him. Nevertheless, Johnson regretted Grant's victory, in part because of their animus from the Stanton affair. In his annual message to Congress in December, Johnson urged the repeal of the Tenure of Office Act and told legislators that had they admitted their Southern colleagues in 1865, all would have been well. He celebrated his 60th birthday in late December with a party for several hundred children, though not including those of [[President-elect of the United States|President-elect]] Grant, who did not allow his to go.{{Sfn|Trefousse|pp=345–347}}

On Christmas Day 1868, Johnson issued a final amnesty, this one covering everyone, including Davis. He also issued, in his final months in office, pardons for crimes, including one for Dr. [[Samuel Mudd]], controversially convicted of involvement in the Lincoln assassination (he had set Booth's broken leg) and imprisoned in [[Fort Jefferson, Florida#Active use: 1860s–1930s|Fort Jefferson]] on Florida's [[Dry Tortugas]].{{Sfn|Trefousse|pp=345–347}}

On March 3, the President hosted a large public reception at the White House on his final full day in office. Grant had made it known that he was unwilling to ride in the same carriage as Johnson, as was customary, and Johnson refused to go to the inauguration at all. Despite an effort by Seward to prompt a change of mind, he spent the morning of March 4 finishing last-minute business, and then shortly after noon rode from the White House to the home of a friend.{{Sfn|Castel|1979|pp=211–212}}{{Sfn|Trefousse|pp=350–351}}