Andrew Johnson

January 13, 2020

“Andrew Johnson was not a statesman. He was a man with a fear of losing ground, with a need to be recognized, with an obsession to be right, and when seeking revenge on enemies—or perceived enemies—he had to humiliate, harass, and hound them. Heedless of consequences, he baited Congress and bullied men, believing his enemies were enemies of the people. It was a convenient illusion.” This is an excerpt from “The Impeachers” by Brenda Wineapple. As we approach the impeachment trial of another president, it is amazing how history does more than rhyme.

Horace Greeley said, “There is something grand to us in this spectacle of a great nation changing an incompetent ruler by the gentle and easy process of law.” Wendell Phillips followed with “Impeachment is the refuge of the common sense of the nation, which in the moment of difficulty says to the magistrate, you ought to have known by your common sense, and your moral sense, that this has unfitted you for your office.”

The mistake the impeachers made was to define Johnson’s transgressions too narrowly and too legalistically. What Johnson was guilty of was much worse than a legal infraction. He was guilty of failing to protect a highly vulnerable part of the population, and condemning thousands to their deaths. Today’s impeachers, similarly, need to look beyond the narrowly drawn up articles of impeachment, and look to the President’s utter disregard for norms, principles, and the integrity of our elections.

As we know, Johnson gets impeached, but is not removed from office. Trump has been impeached, and will probably not get removed from office. There is an old saying that you can judge a man by the company he keeps. I would say Trump is in good company. Unfortunately, Ulysses S. Grant is not waiting in the wings.

Will Trump’s impeachment be ultimately worth it? From her book, Wineapple says, “The impeachment verdict also protected the party, particularly important before a presidential election. As young Republican writer William Dean Howells conceded, while it had been “a serio-comic necessity…the impeachment of Presidents is hardly an ‘issue’ to inspire enthusiasm in their election.””