Impeachment of a President: Andrew Johnson, the Blacks, and ReconstructionThere are few Presidents of the United States whose historical image has changed more frequently than that of Andrew Johnson. In the immediate aftermath of the Civil War and Reconstruction, he was considered inept and stubborn. After some time, however, Reconstruction was no longer seen as a holy crusade, and Johnson's reputation began to improve. By the 1920's, Johnson had become a great hero who had courageously defended the Constitution against unprincipled radicals. But as circumstances changed again and racial problems were once more weighing upon America's conscience, the seventeenth President's achievements began to appear more questionable. Perhaps he had not been so admirable after all; perhaps his stubborn resistance to radical demands for black suffrage merited disapprobation rather than praise. His portrait was tarnished a second time. Not only was he now labeled a racist, but an inept politician as well. “Impeachment of a President: Andrew Johnson, the Blacks, and Reconstruction”, paints a portrait of Johnson as a man who was honest, stubborn, and certain of the justice of his cause. Trefousse argues that Johnson was not the man to inch from the implications of decisions which might interfere temporarily with his long-range aims. Often alienating potential allies, he could have probably achieved more had he cooperated with moderate republicans. In part, he might even have realized his white supremacist aims. But once he had made his decision, once he had refused to come to terms with the moderates, his subsequent actions were not illogical. His policy may not the most intelligent-he was no political genius-but it was not wholly unsuccessful. |
Contents
One Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction | 3 |
Two The Radicals and Reconstruction | 17 |
Three The Widening Breach | 30 |
Copyright | |
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Impeachment of a President: Andrew Johnson, the Blacks, and Reconstruction Hans Louis Trefousse No preview available - 1975 |
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39 Cong 40 Cong acquittal amendment Andrew Johnson April Ashley Ben Wade Bigelow Bill Blaine Boutwell Butler cabinet Carl Schurz Chandler Chicago Tribune Colfax committee Congressional Globe conservatives Constitution conviction Court Democrats elections Fessenden freedmen Freedmen's Bureau Grant Grimes Historical Society Holt Ibid Impeachment Trial James John John Covode Johnson Papers July June justice Library of Congress March McCulloch McPherson ment moderates Moore Diary National Intelligencer Negro suffrage Office Act Ohio political President President's radicals Reconstruction acts removal Republican party Ross secretary secretary of war Senate Sept Sess Sheridan Sherman South Southern Stanton Sumner Papers Tenure of Office Thaddeus Stevens Thomas tion Trefousse Trial of Andrew Triweekly National Intelligencer Trumbull Unionists Univ veto vote W. G. Moore Wade Wade's Washburne Papers Washington Triweekly National Willey William William Pitt Fessenden wrote York Herald York Tribune York World Zachariah Chandler