The second impeachment inquiry into Andrew Johnson was an impeachment inquiry into United States President Andrew Johnson. It followed a previous inquiry in 1867. The second inquiry, unlike the first (which was run by the House Committee on the Judiciary), was run by the House Select Committee on Reconstruction. The second inquiry ran from its authorization on January 27, 1868, until the House Select Committee on Reconstruction reported to Congress on February 22, 1868.
By early February, it appeared the prospect of an impeachment advancing was improbable. This changed when, on February 21, 1868, Johnson attempted to dismiss and replace Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in violation of the Tenure of Office Act. That day, an impeachment resolution was forwarded to the select committee. The following day, the select committee approved a slightly amended version of the resolution in a party-line 7–2 vote (with all Republican members voting in favor of the impeachment resolution and Democratic members voting against it). On February 24, 1868, the impeachment resolution was passed by the House, thereby impeaching Johnson. Johnson was later acquitted in his impeachment trial.
Background
Some Radical Republicans had entertained the thought of impeaching President Andrew Johnson since as early as 1866. However, the Republican Party was divided on the prospect of impeachment, with moderate Republicans in the party, who held a plurality, widely opposing it at this point. The radicals were more in favor of impeachment, as their plans for strong reform in reconstruction were greatly imperiled by Johnson.
Several attempts were made by Radical Republicans to initiate impeachment, but these were initially successfully rebuffed by moderate Republicans in party leadership. Radical Republicans continued to seek Johnson's impeachment, introducing impeachment resolutions in spite of a rule put in place for the House Republican caucus by the moderate Republican leadership in December 1866 requiring that a majority of House Republicans House Committee on the Judiciary would be required to approve any measure regarding impeachment in party caucus prior to it being considered in the House. Moderate Republicans often stifled these resolutions by referring them to committees, however. On January 7, 1867, Benjamin F. Loan, John R. Kelso, and James Mitchell Ashley each introduced three separate impeachment resolutions against Johnson. the House refused to hold debate or vote on either Loan or Kelso's resolutions. However, they did allow a vote on Ashley's impeachment-related resolution. Unlike the other two impeachment bills introduced that day (which would have outright impeached Johnson), Ashley's bill offered a specific outline of how an impeachment process would proceed, and it did not start with an immediate impeachment. Rather than going to a direct vote on impeaching the president, his resolution would instruct the Judiciary Committee to "inquire into the official conduct of Andrew Johnson", investigating what it called Johnson's "corruptly used" powers, including his political appointments, pardons for ex-Confederates, and his vetoes of legislation. The resolution passed in the House 108–39. It was seen as offering Republicans a chance to register their displeasure with Johnson, without actually formally impeaching him. This launched the first impeachment inquiry against Andrew Johnson. After the end of the 39th Congress, the first impeachment inquiry was renewed in the 40th Congress. On November 25, 1867, the House Committee on the Judiciary voted to recommend impeachment. However, when put to a full vote of the House, the House voted 57–108 against impeaching Johnson on December 7, 1867, with more Republicans voting against impeachment than for it.
Vote authorizing the inquiry
On January 27, 1868, Rufus P. Spalding moved that the rules be suspended so that he could present a resolution resolving,
The motion to allow consideration of the resolution was agreed to by a vote of 103–37, and the House voted to approve the resolution by a vote of 99–31. This launched a new inquiry into Johnson run by the Select Committee on Reconstruction.
No Democrats voted for the resolution, while the only Republicans who cast votes against it were Elihu B. Washburne and William Windom. 57 members were absent from the vote (39 Republicans, 17 Democrats, and 1 Conservative Republican). Additionally, Speaker Schuyler Colfax (a Republican) did not vote, as House rules do not require the speaker to vote during ordinary legislative proceedings, unless their vote would be decisive or if the vote is being cast by ballot.
Inquiry authorization vote January 27, 1868 Party Total votes Democratic Republican Conservative Conservative Republican Independent Republican Yea 0 97 0 0 2 99 Nay 28 2 1 0 0 31
+ Votes by member District Member Party Vote George Madison Adams DemocratNay William B. Allison Republican Yea Oakes Ames Republican Yea George Washington Anderson RepublicanAbsent Stevenson Archer DemocratAbsent Samuel Mayes Arnell Republican Yea Delos R. Ashley RepublicanAbsent James Mitchell Ashley Republican Yea Samuel Beach Axtell DemocratAbsent Alexander H. Bailey Republican Yea Jehu Baker RepublicanAbsent John Denison Baldwin Republican Yea Nathaniel P. Banks Republican Yea Demas Barnes DemocratAbsent William Henry Barnum DemocratNay Fernando C. Beaman Republican Yea James B. Beck DemocratNay John F. Benjamin RepublicanAbsent Jacob Benton Republican Yea John Bingham Republican Yea James G. Blaine RepublicanAbsent Austin Blair Republican Yea George S. Boutwell Republican Yea Benjamin Markley Boyer DemocratAbsent Henry P. H. Bromwell RepublicanAbsent James Brooks DemocratAbsent John Martin Broomall Republican Yea Ralph Pomeroy Buckland Republican Yea Albert G. Burr DemocratNay Benjamin Butler RepublicanAbsent Henry L. Cake Republican Yea Samuel Fenton Cary Independent Republican Yea John Winthrop Chanler DemocratNay John C. Churchill RepublicanAbsent Reader W. Clarke Republican Yea Sidney Clarke Republican Yea Amasa Cobb Republican Yea John Coburn Republican Yea Schuyler Colfax RepublicanDid not vote (speaker) Burton C. Cook Republican Yea Thomas Cornell Republican Yea John Covode Republican Yea Shelby Moore Cullom RepublicanAbsent Henry L. Dawes RepublicanAbsent Nathan F. Dixon II Republican Yea Grenville M. Dodge Republican Yea Ignatius L. Donnelly Republican Yea John F. Driggs Republican Yea Ephraim R. Eckley Republican Yea Benjamin Eggleston Republican Yea Jacob Hart Ela Republican Yea Charles A. Eldredge DemocratNay Thomas D. Eliot Republican Yea John F. Farnsworth Republican Yea Orange Ferriss Republican Yea Thomas W. Ferry Republican Yea William C. Fields Republican Yea Darwin Abel Finney RepublicanAbsent John Fox DemocratAbsent James A. Garfield RepublicanAbsent James Lawrence Getz DemocratAbsent Adam John Glossbrenner DemocratNay Jacob Golladay DemocratNay Joseph J. Gravely RepublicanAbsent John Augustus Griswold RepublicanAbsent Asa Grover DemocratNay Charles Haight DemocratNay George A. Halsey RepublicanAbsent Abner C. Harding Republican Yea Isaac Roberts Hawkins RepublicanAbsent William Higby Republican Yea John Hill RepublicanAbsent William S. Holman DemocratNay Samuel Hooper Republican Yea Benjamin F. Hopkins Republican Yea Julius Hotchkiss DemocratNay Asahel W. Hubbard RepublicanAbsent Chester D. Hubbard Republican Yea Richard D. Hubbard DemocratAbsent Calvin T. Hulburd Republican Yea James M. Humphrey DemocratNay Morton C. Hunter Republican Yea Ebon C. Ingersoll Republican Yea Thomas Jenckes Republican Yea James A. Johnson DemocratNay Thomas Laurens Jones DemocratNay Norman B. Judd Republican Yea George Washington Julian Republican Yea William D. Kelley Republican Yea William H. Kelsey Republican Yea Michael C. Kerr DemocratNay John H. Ketcham RepublicanAbsent Bethuel Kitchen RepublicanAbsent J. Proctor Knott DemocratNay William Henry Koontz Republican Yea Addison H. Laflin Republican Yea George Van Eman Lawrence RepublicanAbsent William Lawrence Republican Yea Benjamin F. Loan RepublicanAbsent William S. Lincoln Republican Yea John A. Logan Republican Yea William Loughridge RepublicanAbsent John Lynch Republican Yea Rufus Mallory Republican Yea Samuel S. Marshall DemocratAbsent James M. Marvin Republican Yea Horace Maynard Republican Yea Joseph W. McClurg Republican Yea James Robinson McCormick DemocratNay Hiram McCullough DemocratAbsent Ulysses Mercur Republican Yea George Funston Miller RepublicanAbsent William Moore Republican Yea James K. Moorhead Republican Yea George W. Morgan DemocratAbsent Daniel Johnson Morrell RepublicanAbsent John Morrissey DemocratAbsent James Mullins Republican Yea William Mungen DemocratNay Leonard Myers Republican Yea Carman A. Newcomb Republican Yea William E. Niblack DemocratNay John A. Nicholson DemocratNay David Alexander Nunn RepublicanAbsent Charles O'Neill Republican Yea Godlove Stein Orth Republican Yea Halbert E. Paine Republican Yea Sidney Perham Republican Yea John A. Peters Republican Yea Charles E. Phelps ConservativeNay Frederick Augustus Pike Republican Yea William A. Pile Republican Yea Tobias A. Plants RepublicanAbsent Luke P. Poland Republican Yea Daniel Polsley Republican Yea Theodore M. Pomeroy Republican Yea Hiram Price Republican Yea John V. L. Pruyn DemocratNay Samuel J. Randall DemocratNay Green Berry Raum RepublicanAbsent William H. Robertson RepublicanAbsent William Erigena Robinson DemocratAbsent Lewis Winans Ross DemocratNay Philetus Sawyer Republican Yea Robert C. Schenck Republican Yea Glenni William Scofield Republican Yea Lewis Selye Independent Republican Yea John P. C. Shanks Republican Yea Samuel Shellabarger RepublicanAbsent Charles Sitgreaves DemocratAbsent Worthington Curtis Smith RepublicanAbsent Rufus P. Spalding Republican Yea Henry H. Starkweather Republican Yea Aaron Fletcher Stevens Republican Yea Thaddeus Stevens RepublicanAbsent Thomas E. Stewart Conservative RepublicanAbsent William Brickly Stokes RepublicanAbsent Frederick Stone DemocratAbsent Stephen Taber DemocratNay John Taffe Republican Yea Caleb Newbold Taylor Republican Yea Francis Thomas Republican Yea John Trimble RepublicanAbsent Lawrence S. Trimble DemocratNay Rowland E. Trowbridge Republican Yea Ginery Twichell Republican Yea Charles Upson Republican Yea Henry Van Aernam Republican Yea Daniel Myers Van Auken DemocratNay Burt Van Horn Republican Yea Robert T. Van Horn Republican Yea Philadelph Van Trump DemocratAbsent Charles Van Wyck Republican Yea Hamilton Ward RepublicanAbsent Cadwallader C. Washburn Republican Yea Henry D. Washburn Republican Yea William B. Washburn RepublicanAbsent Elihu B. Washburne RepublicanNay Martin Welker Republican Yea Thomas Williams Republican Yea William Williams Republican Yea James F. Wilson Republican Yea John Thomas Wilson RepublicanAbsent Stephen Fowler Wilson RepublicanAbsent William Windom RepublicanNay Fernando Wood DemocratAbsent Frederick E. Woodbridge RepublicanAbsent George Washington Woodward DemocratNayNotes: Schuyler Colfax was serving as Speaker of the House. Per House rules, "the Speaker is not required to vote in ordinary legislative proceedings, except when such vote would be decisive or when the House is engaged in voting by ballot."
Membership of House Select Committee on Reconstruction during the inquiry The following is a table of the members during the second session, during which the inquiry took place.
Members of the House Select Committee on Reconstruction during thesecond session of the 40th United States Congress Republican Party Democratic PartyThaddeus Stevens, Pennsylvania (committee chair) Fernando C. Beaman, Michigan John Bingham, Ohio George S. Boutwell, Massachusetts John F. Farnsworth, Illinois Calvin T. Hulburd, New York Halbert E. Paine, WisconsinJames Brooks, New York James B. Beck, Kentucky