Andrew Johnson's impeachment (1868) was the House's vote to charge the 17th president with violating the Tenure of Office Act after he fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton; the Senate acquitted him by one vote, but the episode marked the peak of his fight with Congress over Reconstruction.
In 1868, the House of Representatives impeached Andrew Johnson, making him the first U.S. president ever impeached. The official charge was violating the Tenure of Office Act, a law Congress passed (over his veto) saying the president couldn't remove certain officials without Senate approval. Johnson fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton anyway, basically daring Congress to act. It did.
But the Tenure of Office Act was really just the legal excuse. The real fight was over Reconstruction. Johnson, a Southern Democrat who stayed loyal to the Union, wanted a quick, lenient restoration of the former Confederate states. He vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, opposed the 14th Amendment, and let Southern states pass Black Codes. Radical Republicans in Congress wanted federal protection for freedpeople and a tougher path back for the South. The impeachment was Congress's attempt to remove the biggest obstacle to its Reconstruction plan. Johnson survived his Senate trial by a single vote (35-19, one short of the two-thirds needed), but he was politically finished, and Congressional Reconstruction moved forward without him.
This term lives in Topic 5.10 (Reconstruction) in Unit 5 and supports learning objective APUSH 5.10.A, explaining the effects of government policy during Reconstruction from 1865 to 1877. The impeachment is your best evidence for KC-5.3.II.i, the idea that Reconstruction altered relationships between branches and levels of government. When Congress impeached a president to control Reconstruction policy, the legislative branch was asserting power over the executive in a way that had never happened before. It also explains why Reconstruction became Congressional Reconstruction. Once Johnson was neutralized, Radical and moderate Republicans could push through the 14th and 15th Amendments and military Reconstruction without a presidential roadblock.
Keep studying APUSH Unit 5
Tenure of Office Act (Unit 5)
This is the law Johnson was charged with breaking. Congress passed it largely as a trap, knowing Johnson would defy it. Firing Stanton gave the House its legal grounds for impeachment, so the two terms are almost always tested together.
Radical Republicans (Unit 5)
The Radicals drove the impeachment. They wanted Johnson gone because he kept vetoing their Reconstruction legislation. Think of the impeachment as the climax of the Radical Republicans vs. Johnson storyline that runs through all of Topic 5.10.
Civil Rights Act of 1866 (Unit 5)
Johnson's veto of this act (which Congress overrode, a first for major legislation) was an early round in the same fight. The pattern of veto, override, escalate is what eventually led to impeachment two years later.
Later presidential impeachments (Units 8-9)
Johnson set the precedent. Nixon resigned in 1974 before the House could vote, and Clinton was impeached and acquitted in 1998. Johnson's case is the starting point for any continuity-and-change argument about checks on presidential power.
No released FRQ has used this term verbatim, but it's classic evidence for Topic 5.10 questions. On multiple choice, expect a stimulus (an excerpt from the impeachment debates, a political cartoon, or the Tenure of Office Act itself) asking you to identify the underlying cause. The trap answer is the Tenure of Office Act alone; the credited answer is the deeper conflict over Reconstruction policy. On SAQs and LEQs about the effects of Reconstruction-era government policy (APUSH 5.10.A), Johnson's impeachment works as specific evidence that Reconstruction shifted power toward Congress and changed the balance between branches. Just remember to say he was acquitted. Claiming he was removed from office is a factual error that can sink an evidence point.
Impeachment is only the House's formal accusation, like an indictment. Removal requires a two-thirds conviction vote in the Senate. Johnson was impeached by the House but acquitted in the Senate by one vote, so he stayed in office and finished his term. Writing 'Johnson was impeached and removed' is one of the most common factual errors on this topic.
Andrew Johnson was the first president ever impeached, charged in 1868 with violating the Tenure of Office Act after he fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.
The impeachment was really about Reconstruction; Radical Republicans wanted to remove the president who kept blocking their plan to protect freedpeople and reshape the South.
Johnson was acquitted in the Senate by a single vote, so he was impeached but never removed from office.
The episode shows Congress asserting power over the presidency, which is direct evidence for KC-5.3.II.i on Reconstruction altering relationships within the federal government.
Even though Johnson survived, the impeachment broke his political power and cleared the way for Congressional Reconstruction, including the 14th and 15th Amendments.
Officially, Johnson was impeached in 1868 for violating the Tenure of Office Act by firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton without Senate approval. The real cause was his ongoing fight with Radical Republicans over Reconstruction, including his vetoes of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and other Reconstruction legislation.
No. The House impeached him, but the Senate vote was 35-19, one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict. Johnson stayed in office and served out his term, though with almost no political influence left.
Lincoln and Congress disagreed over how lenient Reconstruction should be, but Lincoln managed the conflict politically. Johnson escalated it by vetoing nearly everything Congress passed, which turned a policy disagreement into a constitutional showdown that ended in impeachment.
Largely to box Johnson in. The 1867 law barred the president from removing Senate-confirmed officials without Senate consent, protecting allies of Congressional Reconstruction like Stanton inside Johnson's cabinet. When Johnson defied it, the House had its grounds for impeachment.
Yes, it falls under Topic 5.10 (Reconstruction) in Unit 5 and supports learning objective APUSH 5.10.A. It typically appears in questions about the conflict between presidential and Congressional Reconstruction or about how Reconstruction changed the balance of power in the federal government.
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