Home › AP US History › History › Sectional Conflict › Why did the Senate trial fail to remove Presiden…
Why did the Senate trial fail to remove President Johnson from office?
AHe acted within his rights in making the removal
BHe resigned before the vote could be taken
CHe was pardoned by the Chief Justice
DHe had never signed the Tenure of Office Act
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. He acted within his rights in making the removal
1. Congressional antipathy to Johnson rested on his opposition to congressional policy and his violent language.
2. The most serious charge was that he had removed the Secretary of War despite a Tenure of Office Act.
3. At the trial in the Senate it was proved that he was technically within his rights in making that removal.
4. It was also pointed out that removing a President for disagreeing with Congress would set a dangerous precedent.
5. The attempted impeachment therefore failed.
6. Johnson continued in office until his term expired.
7. He did not resign, and no pardon by a judge was involved in the outcome.
_Source: An Outline of American History (U.S. Information Agency, 1990, public domain), section THE WAR’S AFTERMATH_
Related questions
Under the plan Johnson carried through in 1865, which step returned a state to the Union?Beyond denying Scott his freedom, what else did the Court hold in 1857?On what ground did Stephen Douglas argue that the Missouri Compromise was already supersedSouthern leaders held territorial expansion necessary. Which pair of reasons carried that Five railway trunk lines pierced the Appalachian barrier between 1850 and 1857. How did thWhich city did David Farragut force to surrender by entering the mouth of the Mississippi?What did the Reconstruction Act of March 1867 do to the southern states?Which party arose demanding that slavery be excluded from all the territories?