Editing James A. Garfield (section)

===Reconstruction===
In 1864, the U.S. Senate passed the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|13th Amendment]], which abolished slavery throughout the Union. The bill failed to pass the House by a two-thirds majority until January 31, 1865, when it was then sent to the states for ratification. The Amendment opened other issues concerning [[African American]] civil rights. Garfield asked, "[What] is freedom? Is it the bare privilege of not being chained?...If this is all, then freedom is a bitter mockery, a cruel delusion."{{sfn|Foner|2014|p=66}}{{efn|On June 13, 1868, the House passed the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|14th Amendment]] that gave [[African Americans]] U.S. citizenship.{{sfn|Foner|2014|pp=253-254}}}}

Garfield supported [[black suffrage]] as firmly as he supported abolition.{{sfn|Doenecke|1981|pp=47–48}} President Johnson sought the rapid restoration of the Southern states during the months between his accession and the meeting of Congress in December 1865; Garfield hesitantly supported this policy as an experiment. Johnson, an old friend, sought Garfield's backing and their conversations led Garfield to assume Johnson's differences with Congress were not large. When Congress assembled in December (to Johnson's chagrin, without the elected representatives of the Southern states, who were excluded), Garfield urged conciliation on his colleagues, although he feared that Johnson, a former Democrat, might join other Democrats to gain political control. Garfield foresaw conflict even before February 1866, when Johnson vetoed a bill to extend the life of the [[Freedmen's Bureau]], charged with aiding the former slaves. By April, Garfield had concluded that Johnson was either "crazy or drunk with opium."{{sfn|Peskin|1978|p=279}}
[[File:Garfield Monument1.JPG|thumb|upright=.75|alt=A black statue of Garfield atop an elaborate pillar. The United States Capitol rotunda is visible in the background.|[[James A. Garfield Monument|Garfield Monument]], by the Capitol, where he served almost twenty years]]

The conflict between Congress and President Johnson was the major issue of the 1866 campaign, with Johnson taking to the campaign trail in a [[Swing Around the Circle]] and Garfield facing opposition within the Republican party in his home district. With the South still disenfranchised and Northern public opinion behind the Republicans, they gained a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress. Garfield, having overcome his challengers at the district nominating convention, won reelection easily.{{sfn|Caldwell|1965|pp=170–172}}

Garfield opposed the [[Efforts to impeach Andrew Johnson|proposed impeachment of Johnson]] initially when Congress convened in December 1866, but supported legislation to limit Johnson's powers, such as the [[Tenure of Office Act (1867)|Tenure of Office Act]], which restricted Johnson's ability to remove presidential appointees.{{sfn|Peskin|1978|p=278}} Distracted by committee duties, Garfield spoke about these bills rarely, but was a loyal Republican vote against Johnson.{{sfnm|Caldwell|1965|1pp=173–174|Peskin|1978|2pp=287–289}}

On January 7, 1867, Garfield voted in support of the resolution that launched [[first impeachment inquiry against Andrew Johnson|the first impeachment inquiry against Johnson]] (run by the [[House Committee on the Judiciary]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=To Pass a Resolution to Impeach the President. (P. 320-2, ... – House Vote #418 – Jan 7, 1867 |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/39-2/h418 |website=GovTrack.us |access-date=March 23, 2022 |language=en}}</ref> On December 7, 1867, he voted against the unsuccessful resolution to impeach Johnson that the House Committee on the Judiciary had sent the full House.<ref>{{cite web |title=To Pass the Impeachment of President Resolution. – House Vote #119 – Dec 7, 1867 |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/40-2/h119 |website=GovTrack.us |language=en}}</ref> On January 27, 1868, he voted to pass the resolution that authorized the [[Second impeachment inquiry against Andrew Johnson|second impeachment inquiry against Johnson]] (run by the [[House Select Committee on Reconstruction]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=Journal of the United States House of Representatives (40th Congress, second session) pages 259–262 |url=https://voteview.com/source_images/house_journal/66/0#page/259/mode/2up |website=voteview.com |publisher=United States House of Representatives |access-date=March 16, 2022 |date=1868}}</ref> Due to a court case, he was absent on February 24, 1868, [[Impeachment of Andrew Johnson|when the House impeached Johnson]], but gave a speech aligning himself with Thaddeus Stevens and others who sought Johnson's removal shortly thereafter.{{sfnm|Caldwell|1965|1pp=173–174|Peskin|1978|2pp=287–289}} Garfield was present on March 2 and 3, 1868, when the House voted on specific articles of impeachment, and voted in support of all 11 articles.<ref>{{cite web |title=Journal of the United States House of Representatives (40th Congress, Second Session) pages 440–450 and 463–467 |url=https://voteview.com/source_images/house_journal/66/0#page/439/mode/2up |website=voteview.com |access-date=March 17, 2022}}</ref> During the March 2 debate on the articles, Garfield argued that what he characterized as Johnson's attempts to render [[Ulysses S. Grant]], [[William Tecumseh Sherman]], and [[William H. Emory]] personal tools of his demonstrated Johnson's intent to disregard the law and override the Constitution, suggesting that Johnson's trial perhaps could be expedited to last only a day in order to hasten his removal.<ref>{{cite web |title=Congressional. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/118145556 |publisher=Detroit Free Press |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=July 26, 2022 |language=en |url-access=subscription |date=March 3, 1868}}</ref> When Johnson was acquitted in [[Impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson|his trial before the Senate]], Garfield was shocked and blamed the outcome on the trial's presiding officer, Chief Justice Chase, his onetime mentor.{{sfnm|Caldwell|1965|1pp=173–174|Peskin|1978|2pp=287–289}}

By the time Grant succeeded Johnson in 1869, Garfield had moved away from the remaining radicals (Stevens, their leader, had died in 1868). By this time, many in the Republican Party wanted to remove the "Negro question" from national affairs.{{sfn|Foner|2014|p=449}} Garfield hailed the ratification of the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|15th Amendment]] in 1870 as a triumph and favored Georgia's readmission to the Union as a matter of right, not politics. An influential Republican, Garfield said, "[The] Fifteen Amendment confers on the African race the care of its own destiny. It places their fortunes in their own hands."{{sfn|Foner|2014|p=449}} In 1871, Congress took up the [[Ku Klux Klan Act]], which was designed to combat attacks on African Americans' suffrage rights. Garfield opposed the act, saying, "I have never been more perplexed by a piece of legislation." He was torn between his indignation at the Klan, whom he called "terrorists", and his concern for the power given the president to enforce the act through suspension of [[habeas corpus]].{{sfn|Peskin|1978|pp=332–334}}