15,697
edits
Changes
→Early Impeachments in the 18th and 19th Century
During the time between the founding of the United States and the Civil War, there were three impeachments, all of whom were judges. Two of these were local district Judges, John Pickering and James Peck, but one was a chief justice (Samuel Chase). Most of the issues against them had to do with abuse of power, and drunkness in the case of John Pickering. In the case of Samuel Chase, Thomas Jefferson had found him obstructionist in his political agenda after the 1800 election. Although a signatory of the Declaration of Independence, Samuel Chase had been known for irregular behavior including using his position in the Contential Congress to improve his business dealings. He was appointed by Washington to the Supreme Court and during the time of Jefferson, the Supreme Court was seen as a threat to seizing too much power. In 1803, articles of impeachment were brought up against him, dealing with the justice's behavior against Thomas Cooper and others. Thomas Cooper was tried under the Alien and Sedition Acts for criticizing John Adams, the previous president. Samuel Chase repeatedly riled against Thomas Cooper, a close friend to Thomas Jefferson, leading to Thomas Jefferson trying to remove Samuel Chase from office because he saw him overstepping his bounds. Ultimately, this proved unsuccessful for Jefferson and Chase was formally acquited in 1805.<ref>For more on Samuel Chase and his case, see: Rehnquist, W. H. (1999). <i>Grand inquests: the historic impeachments of Justice Samuel Chase and President Andrew Johnson (1. Quill ed., reissued)</i>. New York: Quill/Morrow.</ref>
During the Civil War, there was a successful impeachment of a district judge (West Humphreys) for supporting the South in 1862. However, it was the trial of Andrew Johnson in 1868 that proved to be the first impeachment trial against a sitting president. Andrew Johnson, never a strong believer in giving rights to former slaves, came to office as vice-president to Lincoln in 1864 as part of a national unity ticket that had him, a Democrat, serve with Lincoln, a Republican. During the early reconstruction years, Congress repeatedly refused the return of former Southern leaders back to power that Southern states tried to reinstate into the Union. Johnson was sympathetic to the Southern states, setting the stage for conflict with Congress, where they eventually limited his power to shape his cabinet by passing the Tenure of Office Act that prohibited Johnson from firing members of his cabinet. After Johnson tried to fire his Secretary of War (Edwin Stanton), Congress acted and impeached him. Ultimately, Johnson survived and was acquitted, although he was not re-elected later in 1868. Interestingly, one reason Johnson survived was because Congress was fearful that Benjamin Wade, a so-called radical Republican, would push through legislation such as women's suffrage (something not acceptable to most politicians in the 1860s). In the 1870s, two more impeachments occurred, with one district judge (Mark W. Delahay, for drunkenness; acquitted but resigned) and the first cabinet member (William W. Belknap; Secretary of War; acquitted but resigned) impeached.<ref>For more on impeachments that include Andrew Johnson and the late 19th century, see: Harvey, A. L. (2014). <i>A mere machine: the Supreme Court, Congress, and American democracy</i>. Yale University Press.</ref>
[[File:William-blount-wb-cooper.jpg|thumb|Figure 1. William Blount was the first federal government representative to be impeached.]]
