Why was president johnson impeachment trial

On February 24, , something extraordinary happened in the U. Now, Johnson faced trial before the U. If convicted, he would be removed from office.

How many presidents have been impeached and removed from office

He was a Union man, but his roots were in the South. The radicals, who included men like Thaddeus Stevens and Benjamin Butler, wanted to guarantee the rights of the freedmen. One way they tried to do so was by passing the Reconstruction Acts, laws that provided suffrage to freed slaves and prevented former Southern rebels from regaining control of the state governments.

Believing the Acts to be wrong and unconstitutional, Johnson repeatedly blocked their enforcement. He repeatedly gave pardons to ex-Rebels. He hampered military commanders' efforts to block the rise of Southern leaders to power. In frequent speeches and interviews, Johnson publicly expressed his defiance of the Radical Republicans. They knew that their program for reconstruction of the South could not succeed with Andrew Johnson in office.

The final blow came after the passage of the Tenure of Office Act in