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Impeachment of a President: Andrew Johnson, the Blacks, and Reconstruction (Reconstructing America)
Impeachment of a President Andrew Johnson the Blacks and Reconstruction - Reconstructing America Author:Hans L. Trefousse, Hans L. Trefousee Contemporary events have emphasized, beyond the world of specialized history, the significance of the impeachment and trial of Andrew Johnson as a precedent for the use of this ultimate weapon of Congress against the President. In Impeachment of a President, Hans L. Trefousse focuses on the causes of the failure to convict, the consequences of ... more »the acquittal, and the relationship of the impeachment to the ill success of the Reconstruction. Drawing on a wealth of material, some only recently made available, Professor Trefousse sheds new light on the Presidents objectives and character. In investigating the motivation of the Republican who first felt compelled to indict the President and then failed to muster the necessary two-thirds majority to convict, Professor Trefousse elucidates Johnsons determination to keep the South "a white mans country." His findings, sure to spark controversy, assert that Johnson knowledgeably risked impeachment to accomplish his own goals to thwart radical Reconstruction and maintain white supremacy in the South. Johnson is portrayed as honest, stubborn, and certain of the justice of his cause; he did not flinch from action that would serve his long range aim. In the process, he alienated potential allies, but nevertheless he achieved his purpose the undermining of Reconstruction. And in retarding the program, Johnson played a more fateful role in American history than has generally been realized. Moreover, the acquittal established the principle that American Presidents could not be removed from office for mere political differences with Congress. Johnsons character, too, bears re-examination. Was he, after all, really so rash? Did he, in fact, speak without thinking beforehand? A dedicated Unionist who remained determined to preserve the social order of the South, the Tennessean is shown to have been capable of careful planning and was not as unsuccessful as it sometimes thought. The subsequent failure of the effort to reform the South cast serious doubt on at least some of these suppositions.« less