Arguments and Speeches of William Maxwell Evarts (Volume 1 ) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1919. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... ARGUMENT, IN DEFENCE OF THE PRESIDENT, BEFORE THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SITTING AS A COURT UPON THE IMPEACHMENT OF ANDREW JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES NOTE On the 21st day of February, 1868, President Johnson addressed a note to the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, stating that, by virtue of the power and authority vested in the President under the Constitution and Laws, Mr. Stanton was removed from the office of Secretary of War, and he was directed to turn over the office to General Lorenzo Thomas, who had been authorized by the President to act as Secretary of War ad interim. This action of the President was considered by the House of Representatives as in direct contravention of what was known as the Tenure of Office Act, passed March 2, 1867, which had undertaken to regulate the tenure of office of appointees in the Executive Departments of the Government. It was further considered as displaying, on the part of the President, the deliberate purpose and intent to set himself above the Constitution and beyond the Law. The removal of Secretary Stanton and the appointment of General Thomas to act as Secretary ad interim brought about the culmination of the struggle between Congress and the President, that had been in progress for almost the whole period of Mr. Johnson's occupancy of the presidency. This contest, between the Executive and the Legislative branches of the Government, arose from the effort to solve the great problem of the reconstruction of the Southern States and their re-establishment in the Union after the close of the Civil War. All of this forms an instructive chapter in our Constitutional history and the passage of the Tenure of Office Act was itself but one of the steps taken by Congress to assure its supremacy. Immediate...