Closing Argument for Johnson Defense
Executive Order to Remove Stanton
Fessenden's Opinion
Political Cartoon: Last Speech on Impeachment
Senate Proceedings for the Trial of Andrew Johnson: The Congressional Globe
Senate Voting Record Johnson Impeachment
Stevens' Closing Argument
Tenure of Office Act
U.S. Constitution: Impeachment
6. Impeachment
Overview
Through the play Now's The Time and the accompanying curriculum, students will explore the Reconstruction Era through the life of Thaddeus Stevens and his colleagues as they sought to push for radical change in the making of a "new" America.
Now's The Time Lesson Plan: Scenes Three, Ten, Twelve and Thirteen
PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIAL:
Executive Order Removing Edward M. Stanton as Secretary of War
Fessenden’s comments during trial/vote
Fessenden Opinion p.452-457 #470-475
Stevens’s Closing ArgumentStevens’s Closing Argument p. 320-324#338-342
Johnson’s Attorney Closing Argument
The Last Speech on Impeachment Thaddeus Stevens Political Cartoon
STEVENS: Andrew Johnson usurped the power of Congress by attempting to restructure these states on his own. When admonished by express acts of Congress – more than once – he disregarded the warning and continued his lawless behavior.
FESSENDEN: The Constitution and the law have always anchored me – through all the tumult and chaos of politics, through loss and mourning, through four years of unceasing legislative labor during the war. They are what I rely on.
JOHNSON: The radicals in Congress are trying to poison the minds of the American people, stirring them up against me. Stevens and his radical friends are in league with the devil!
OBJECTIVES:
Students will be able to address the following:
- What body of Congress has the “sole power of impeachment”?
- What body of Congress has “ the sole power to try all impeachments”?
- What percentage of the US Senate must vote to convict a US President in an impeachment trial in order for the President to be removed from office?
- Define the Tenure of Office Act.
- What events precipitated Johnson’s impeachment?
- What were the charges brought against Johnson in the articles of impeachment?
- How was Johnson impeached but also acquitted?
- What were Stevens and the Radical Republicans’ aims in impeaching Johnson?
- Why did some senators like William Pitt Fessenden and Lyman Trumbull break with their party and vote against conviction?
- What was the defense of Johnson?
- How did the votes break down along party lines and around regional lines?
KEY TERMS/PEOPLE:
- President Andrew Johnson
- Thaddeus Stevens
- William P. Fessenden
- Tenure of Office Act
- Impeachment
- Acquittal
- Radical Republicans
- Executive Order
ACTIVITY 1: Primary Source Analysis and Debate
Review the U.S. Constitution, the Tenure of Office Act and the Articles of Impeachment as a class. Students will need a framework from which to build their arguments in support of their political figure. Divide the students into 3 equal groups. You can divide them into smaller groups within the 3 groups if needed. Assign each group a position, either Radical Republicans, “moderate” Republicans (Fessenden and Trumbull) and Johnson defenders and give them the corresponding primary source documents to review.
In their groups, students will be asked to read the primary source documents that will serve as the foundation for their debate position. Give students additional time to research and build an argument. When students have completed their research, the entire class will join together for an Impeachment of President Andrew Johnson debate. You will help facilitate the debate and ask the members of the class to vote on impeachment. After the votes are tallied, have an open discussion about the process and what they learned from the activity. Check the students for comprehension using the questions listed in the lesson.
ACTIVITY 2: Reflection/Written response
Have the students write a response paper to explain why they voted for or against Johnson in the Senate trial. Ask them to expand upon their thinking to include supporting evidence from the documents and transcripts of the trial.
EXTENSION ACTIVITY:
The playwright, Jean P. Bordewich, wrote Now's The Time during the Trump administration. How does the play reflect not only the struggles within the US during Reconstruction but also in our current political climate? What themes can you identify in the play that correspond with issues we face as a nation today? Choose one theme to examine more thoroughly and in a short paper address the following questions:
- How does your theme from Now's The Time and Reconstruction carry into the world we live in today?
- How was this treated during Reconstruction and how is it treated today?
- Who was most impacted by this in the past and who is most impacted by this today?
- Why do you feel that this theme continues throughout the course of American History and/or American Government?
- What do you wish would change in our nation in order to resolve this perennial issue?
Now's The Time Script: Scenes Three, Ten, Twelve and Thirteen
NOW’S THE TIME written by Jean P. Bordewich
SCENE THREE – THE ACCIDENTAL PRESIDENT
Date: 1865
Location: The Members’ Restaurant in the U.S. Capitol
Characters: Stevens, Fessenden, Downing, Ensemble (others in restaurant)
Senator Fessenden and Congressman Stevens are sitting at a table in the busy, crowded restaurant, which is bustling with a raucous mid-day crowd of Congressmen and Senators; tables covered in white tablecloths groan with platters of wild game, oysters, and meat; the room is redolent with whisky, cigars and sweat. Stevens is irate, talking loudly and nonstop. Fessenden thrusts and parries Stevens’s voluble verbal volleys and aggressive gesticulations. Fessenden is nursing a cup of tea, Stevens a glass of beer.
STEVENS
Johnson is a disaster!
FESSENDEN
Andy was –
STEVENS
--Andy is -- a traitor! You’ve read the newspaper reports – Black Codes are being enacted by one southern state after another…. families sold into indentured servitude—that’s slavery by another name! Forbidding freedmen from owning property or pursuing their trade. Black men, women and children merely accused of stealing a bale of cotton or a horse or even food – can be hanged! Meanwhile, whites murder blacks in cold blood and get off scot-free--
FESSENDEN
--Thaddeus!
STEVENS
--Johnson hasn’t lifted a finger to help. Instead he’s ordered Union troops in the South to stand down! “Let the locals handle things. It’s a civil matter,” he says. It’s shocking!--
FESSENDEN
--Are you finished?
STEVENS
--The freedmen are pouring off the old plantations by the tens of thousands. Where are they to go? Johnson will dismantle the Freedmen’s Bureau – which you and I fought hard for -- – just when the freedmen need it most. And that’s just the beginning of what he will do.
With precise movements, Fessenden dabs his lips with his linen napkin and takes a drink, coolly ignoring Stevens.
FESSENDEN
My, that is excellent tea. Floral.
STEVENS
--Don’t try to shut me up, Pitt! We must stand together against Johnson!
Downing enters.
FESSENDEN
I’m not trying to shut you up -- I’m trying to bring you back to reality! Are you quite through?
Sensing the growing tension, Downing smoothly approaches the table and speaks to Fessenden in a charming and genial manner.
DOWNING
You have a discerning palate, Senator.
FESSENDEN
Oolong?
DOWNING
Indeed, a fine Chinese Oolong.
STEVENS
Pitt, this is Mr. George Downing, the new proprietor of our restaurant.
Fessenden stands and courteously shakes Downing’s hand.
FESSENDEN
Congressman Dixon told me he had persuaded the best restaurateur in Rhode Island to run our dining room, though I don’t know why he’d want his home state to lose you.
DOWNING
The idea was mine. I wanted to be close to great men, such as you, to persuade you to bend the course of events for the benefit of my race. Thank you for all you have done for the Union and the freedmen.
FESSENDEN
Indeed, more remains to be done.
Fessenden sits but Downing remains standing.
DOWNING
I understand abolition runs deep in your family.
FESSENDEN
My father instilled it in all of us. My brothers and I embraced it, and our children did, too. Three of my sons fought for the Union.
STEVENS
His eldest, Samuel, died in the Second Battle of Bull Run.
DOWNING
My deepest condolences.
Beat. Fessenden looks away.
STEVENS
(To Fessenden) Mr. Downing was instrumental in recruiting men for the colored troops-- but only after the governor guaranteed in writing they would receive fair and equal treatment. And he worked with Mr. Frederick Douglass against the Fugitive Slave Law.
FESSENDEN
I’m surprised our paths have not crossed before.
DOWNING
I am pleased the time has finally come. Mr. Douglass is the eloquent public voice of our work. As a businessman, I have applied myself to organizing and fundraising. But now the fight for equality has shifted from the battlefield to Congress.
FESSENDEN
We have no Black representatives here yet – though I trust Reconstruction will change that. Our cause will benefit from your counsel.
DOWNING
I am eager to offer that.
Now I will leave you gentlemen to resume your argument, but not on an empty stomach.
STEVENS
(to Fessenden)
You don’t want to miss the beef and oyster pie, Pitt. Mr. Downing’s family is the biggest in the oyster business. I’m having that.
DOWNING
What shall I ask the waiter to bring you, Senator?
FESSENDEN
Just another pot of this excellent tea.
STEVENS
(rolling his eyes)
Not your stomach problems again, Pitt. You need to eat!
FESSENDEN
(to Downing)
I’ll try your fine oysters another time.
Downing nods and exits. Fessenden refocuses on Stevens.
FESSENDEN
About Johnson. Remember he was steadfast, a bulwark for the Union during the war--
STEVENS
(cutting Fessenden off -- and their tempo picks up)
-- Hopelessly stubborn and--
FESSENDEN
--And the only Southern Senator to stick with the Union. Give him that!
STEVENS
Pig-headed!--
FESSENDEN
--Courageous as Lincoln’s military governor of Tennessee--
STEVENS
--A mule!
FESSENDEN
Lincoln didn’t think he could win the border states without him, and he was probably right!
STEVENS
It was all ambition for Andy. He never had a Republican heart.
Beat.
FESSENDEN
He’s always cordial to me personally.
STEVENS
That’s irrelevant.
FESSENDEN
Perhaps. But I also respect him, grudgingly.
STEVENS
Grudges! He’s all grudges and self-pity. He’s as filled with hate for the black man as--
FESSENDEN
--As you are for the rebels!
STEVENS
It’s not the same! The freedmen are innocent, while the insurrectionists are guilty of the most abominable crimes!
FESSENDEN
Calm down. He’s president now----
STEVENS
--an accidental one! You’ve heard his slogan - “The Constitution as it is, the Union as it was!” It’s appalling!
FESSENDEN
We need to give him a chance, work with him, guide him, bring him along with us on our path to Reconstruction—
STEVENS
--That donkey will never accept the bridle.
FESSENDEN
And neither will you! Your headlong rush to judgment is as much a danger as he is.
STEVENS
Surely you see where he’s headed.
FESSENDEN
There are rules and standards for how things are to be done, even in politics. I think we should follow them.
STEVENS
I did. I wrote after his inauguration asking him to suspend any presidential actions on Reconstruction until Congress was back in session. I never heard from him. He’s determined to ignore Congress altogether!
FESSENDEN
Congress? Or just you?
STEVENS
Johnson’s intent to usurp the entire Congress is very clear.
Stevens shows Fessenden a sheaf of papers.
STEVENS (Con’t.)
Here! I’ve drafted a set of impeachment articles.
Fessenden is clearly taken aback. He looks around to see who might be listening to Stevens’s shocking declaration.
FESSENDEN
Impeachment? Congress has never impeached a president.
STEVENS
Surely you aren’t bowing down to that tyrant!
FESSENDEN
Don’t insult me. I’ve stood up to worse than him and you know it!
STEVENS
Look, Johnson poses a mortal threat to Reconstruction. We owe it to the Union soldiers and their families to see the job through.
Fessenden’s temper rises as Stevens continues to push him.
FESSENDEN
I have never wavered on what I know is right. You can’t deny that. We’ve worked together tirelessly, you in the House, me in the Senate. We financed the war, raised our troops, wrote the civil rights bill --- and passed one Reconstruction bill after another. Even when I felt your tactics were heavy-handed, I went along out of principle.
Fessenden gestures aggressively at Stevens.
But now you’ve gone too far!
STEVENS
Andy doesn’t believe he has to obey those laws that you and I pushed through Congress. He’s a cancer that must be cut out before it’s too late.
FESSENDEN
He’s only been in office a few months. Stop rushing things.
Stevens shakes the papers at him.
STEVENS
Impeachment cannot wait any longer!
Stevens slams the papers down on the table, but Fessenden knows he has the upper hand.
FESSENDEN
You don’t have the votes. Not even in committee.
STEVENS
No.
Fessenden places his napkin on the table.
FESSENDEN
So…let’s not rush to condemn Andy.
Fessenden pushes back his chair and stands, signaling the meeting is over.
FESSENDEN (Con’t.)
He’s not completely unreasonable.
Blackout.
NOW’S THE TIME written by Jean P. Bordewich
SCENE TEN – TENURE OF OFFICE ACT
Date: February 1867
Location: Members’ restaurant in U.S. Capitol
Characters: Stevens and Fessenden
Lights up on Fessenden and Stevens at dinner in the restaurant.
FESSENDEN
Your Tenure of Office bill is a giant mistake, the worst kind of Congressional over-reach, a threat to the precarious equilibrium between Congress and the presidency at this very dangerous time.
STEVENS
Congress has the right to rein in a president who is out of control.
FESSENDEN
It’s a trap!
STEVENS
Precisely!
Stevens illustrates his point with a piece of cheese off his plate.
Congress sets the trap, the rat reaches for the cheese, and as it moves the cheese – wop! – the trap snaps shut.
FESSENDEN
The rat, I presume, is the president; the trap is the Tenure of Office Act; and the cheese?
STEVENS
The cheese is poor Mr. Stanton, our beleaguered Secretary of War, who – against the president’s wishes, as you know--- is keeping our federal troops in the South. But without Stanton -- the last loyal Lincoln man in the Cabinet -- Reconstruction is doomed.
FESSENDEN
You don’t know that will happen.
STEVENS
And you can’t guarantee that it won’t.
Stevens pops the cheese into his mouth.
FESSENDEN
Your bill is unworthy of this great institution.
STEVENS
Don’t forget that over the objections of members of Congress, Johnson has fired more than fifteen hundred loyal Republicans from their government jobs. And we both know he’s itching to get rid of Stanton – just to spite us!
FESSENDEN
I do not think we are treating the president with respect.
STEVENS
Respect? He doesn’t deserve our respect!
FESSENDEN
I mean I do not think we are treating the office of the presidency with respect when we say, he cannot, during a Congressional recess, remove a Cabinet officer if he deems it necessary.
STEVENS
That’s only one small part of the bill.
FESSENDEN
It’s the crux of the dilemma for me. It does not seem logical; it does not seem constitutional. You are a lawyer and a politician, and so am I. We are both very good ones. But passion sometimes inflames your judgment--
STEVENS
--You could use a little more passion!
FESSENDEN
I try to separate my feelings from the facts and the legal precedents that must guide us. Congress should not make laws that contradict the Constitution.
STEVENS
Surely you support the principle contained in this law that if the Senate has confirmed a presidential appointee, it also has the right to agree or not to the dismissal of that appointee.
FESSENDEN
Congress has never tied a president’s hands like that. What constitutional principle are you claiming to protect?
STEVENS
The principle is that Congress must assert itself against a renegade president. We are the first branch of government, with the duty to check excesses in the executive branch.
FESSENDEN
Our duty is to hold our government together in these perilous times. For you, this is about your hatred for Johnson. For me, it’s about the presidency – which will far outlast him.
Beat. Stevens leans back in his chair, then lunges forward toward Fessenden.
STEVENS
If he fires Stanton, I will file impeachment charges -- and I will make sure the House passes them.
FESSENDEN
And send the rat to the Senate for disposal…
Stevens raises his glass of beer.
STEVENS
For removal – from the White House.
.
FESSENDEN
I’ve warned you.
Fessenden stands.
(coolly) Good-day.
Fessenden exits.
Blackout.
NOW’S THE TIME written by Jean P. Bordewich SCENE TWELVE - LINCHPIN
Date: March 1868
Locations: The Members Restaurant in the U.S. Capitol
Characters: Fessenden and Stevens; Soldier
Lights up on Fessenden and Stevens mid-argument over tea at a table in the restaurant. It’s heated and tense, with barely a veneer of Congressional courtesy.
FESSENDEN
(forcefully) Johnson fires Stanton and instead of a thoughtful, measured response, you race forward right away with a magnificent speech and a catalogue of half-baked accusations. With your persuasive oratory and sense of outrage you convince the House of Representatives to vote with you -- for impeachment! – only three days after Stanton’s dismissal. You hadn’t even written up the charges yet! They didn’t even know what they were voting for!
STEVENS
I was pleased to see such unity of conviction among my colleagues.
FESSENDEN
Gratifying, I’m sure, to your sense of urgency. But unseemly. Your impatience has made a hash of this serious, unprecedented circumstance which should be treated with dignity and caution. How dare you cobble together your articles of impeachment and dump them in my Chamber!
STEVENS
The president broke the law. That’s a crime. The House impeached him for it and now you -- the Senate -- must remove him!
FESSENDEN
Even if technically the president did violate a confusing, weak law, does that really rise to the level of a “high crime or misdemeanor”?
Stevens leans as far forward as possible and gestures vigorously.
STEVENS
This isn’t about just that law! It’s about everything Johnson has done to ridicule and obstruct the will of Congress on Reconstruction, on jobs, on backing our troops in the South. Article 10 clearly details his abuse of the presidency and the Congress.
FESSENDEN
Every other article of impeachment refers to the Tenure of Office Act!
Stevens pulls a paper from his pocket and reads it.
STEVENS
Listen, Article 10. Here -- it says Andrew Johnson “brought the office of the president into contempt, ridicule and disgrace and to the great scandal of all good citizens” – and that is a high misdemeanor. And--
FESSENDEN
--It’s a debacle!
STEVENS
--And, this section, that the president “did make and declare, with a loud voice, certain intemperate, inflammatory and scandalous harangues, and utter loud threats and bitter menaces against Congress and the laws of the United States amid the cries, jeers and laughter of the multitudes then assembled” – Wouldn’t you agree that is another high misdemeanor?
FESSENDEN
Misbehavior, yes. Indecorous, yes. But does it merit removal?
STEVENS
The purpose of the Senate trial is to determine the course of this country. It rests in your hands. You’re the linchpin. However you vote, other Senators will follow.
Stevens is coughing.
FESSENDEN
I won’t let you pin this mess on me!
Stevens backs off and takes a drink of tea. His cough subsides.
STEVENS
Yes, it’s messy, but look ahead -- What kind of country will we be 100 years from now? You don’t want your grandchildren and great-grandchildren to look back and say – “It could have been different. If only President Johnson had been stopped in time.”
FESSENDEN
We must proceed with caution, with deliberation, in a matter as unprecedented as removing a president, and especially now.
STEVENS
The Constitution is vague.
FESSENDEN
Precisely. We’ve got to get it right.
STEVENS
The Constitution gives latitude to Congress. I plan to tell the Senate in my closing argument that it can remove Johnson -- and it must.
Fessenden places his napkin on the table.
FESSENDEN
The Senate seems very strong for conviction.
STEVENS
Two thirds?
FESSENDEN
It will be very, very close.
Stevens leans in very close to Fessenden.
STEVENS
And you?
Beat.
Convict?
Fessenden looks away from Stevens and stands to exit.
Blackout.
Lights up on the SOLDIER on a desolate New York City street corner. He puts down a small bundle of his belongings and speaks to the audience.
SOLDIER
Jobs is what politics is all about. Those that win help the ones what got them there. Patronage. The president’s right – what’s the White House worth without that? I need one of them government jobs. I talked to the party bosses, but they told me they got a thousand guys like me with their hands out, every one of us swearing we love old Andy. I know I ain’t special, so I ain’t got my hopes up. I may look fine to you, but I ain’t worked since I got out of the army. You seen the signs, “No Irish Need Apply.” That’s how it is. No one wants us. I might as well be colored. I tell you true, I’m desperate. This world’s got no place for me. My sister kicked me out and I got nowhere to go. I’m thinking of heading out West. I hear the railroads are hiring in the territories. Maybe I’ll go all the way to California. I need to find me luck somewhere.
Blackout.
NOW’S THE TIME written by Jean Bordewich
SCENE THIRTEEN – THE SENATE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL
Date: April 27, 1868
Location: The U.S. Senate chamber in the Capitol and the White House
Characters: Stevens, Four men from Ensemble, Others from Ensemble, Fessenden, Johnson,
Stevens, sick and weak, arrives dramatically in the Senate chamber carried aloft in a chair by four African American men. He must summon all his rhetorical power to persuade the wavering few Republicans in the Senate to convict the president. After depositing Stevens center stage, the chair bearers exit. Spot on Stevens. Stevens descends from his chair and stands.
STEVENS
When Andrew Johnson took the oath of office he swore to obey the Constitution and take care that the laws be faithfully executed. That is and always has been the chief duty of the President of the United States. A civil war of gigantic proportions engulfed our country, and when the so-called confederate States of America were conquered, Congress had the power to create new states or rebuild old ones, to fix the condition of citizenship and union. But Andrew Johnson usurped the power of Congress by attempting to restructure these states on his own. When admonished by express acts of Congress -- more than once -- he disregarded the warning and continued his lawless behavior. That has been his conduct since the fatal day which inflicted him upon the people of the United States! And what has been the consequence? Congress’s attempts to raise from the ashes of the war a new society of freedom for all our people have been consistently opposed by the president. He has done everything imaginable to hand control back to the very slave power that precipitated the years of bloodshed and sacrifice by our Union soldiers, white and black, and to bring into our national government-- into the very halls of Congress! -- the rebels who only a short time ago were at our throats.
Stevens pauses, coughing, then resumes.
Andrew Johnson has promised some of you that he will reform, but what proof can he offer? There is no evidence that he will change. He has tied the hands of the Freedmen’s Bureau, the military governors, and the federal troops stationed in the southern states to keep order and enforce Congress’s dictates. He has undermined the Acts of Congress, and now he is traveling around the states urging them not to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment. Stevens coughs harder into his handkerchief and starts to sink back into the chair. He grasps the arms, gathers his strength and thrusts himself upright again. With this behavior, it is not surprising that we hear daily reports of Black Americans who are threatened, disenfranchised, even murdered for trying to exercise their new rights and build a society of equals. Make no mistake. This trial is not to judge the fate of one mere man; it is a titanic battle for the future of our great Union and all the people in it!
Exhausted from this exertion, Stevens has another coughing spell. His voice is fading; he sits
My honorable colleagues, the sovereign power of the nation rests in Congress. We must enforce the president’s obedience to the law and the Constitution. Stevens coughs repeatedly before continuing. I urge you to do your duty. With extraordinary effort, Stevens summons a final surge of strength, desperate to win this final battle. He bangs his fist, stands, and shouts in a loud, strong voice:
Convict!
Blackout.
Spot on Fessenden in the crowded Senate chamber.
Fessenden stands at his desk to cast his vote.
FESSENDEN
Acquit!
Spot on Johnson in the White House
JOHNSON
Johnson pumps his fists high above his head in a sign of victory.
Vindicated! I am VINDICATED!
Reconstruction is a vicious poison. My policies are the remedy for this great evil.
Johnson steps farther forward and triumphantly addresses the audience as if they are supporters at one of his political rallies.
To all my enemies I declare -- it is time to forget the past!
Let us unfurl the banner of our great country, and inscribe it with these inerasable words: “The Constitution and the Union, one and inseparable, now and forever!”
Blackout.
Now's The Time Video: Lesson Six