US Presidents For Dummies

by Marcus Stadelmann

  In May 1865, Johnson started implementing his version of Reconstruction:

  He offered an unconditional pardon and amnesty, and restored all property rights to any Confederate who would swear loyalty to the Union.

  Excluded from the proclamation, however, were large plantation owners. They had to seek an individual presidential pardon. This requirement allowed Johnson to humiliate them. The Southern upper class now had to beg the former tailor for presidential pardons. (Most of them asked for and subsequently received the presidential pardon from Johnson.)

  He forced the Confederate states to abolish slavery by ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

  He repealed the Confederate states’ ordinance of secession.

  He renounced all Confederate debts.

  The move let the former Confederate states regulate their own business. To the great disappointment of Johnson, they did this by electing major Confederate leaders to high-level state offices.

  As a slap in the face to Johnson, and especially Congress, individual Southern states ended up passing the Black Codes, which restricted former slaves’ right to testify against whites, to serve on juries, to bear arms, to hold meetings, to vote, and to own property.

  The drunken clown episode

  Johnson drank a considerable amount of whiskey the night before Lincoln’s inauguration and even took a few shots right before entering the Senate chamber to give his vice-presidential inaugural speech, in an effort to fight a case of typhoid fever.

  Johnson, heavily intoxicated and fairly incoherent, presented the most embarrassing speech in U.S. history right before Lincoln’s memorable second inaugural address. The media referred to him as the “drunken clown,” a label he never lost.

  Ending a president’s Reconstruction

  In the summer of 1865, Johnson, undeterred by the Black Codes, started returning to their original owners plantations that had been confiscated during the war and distributed to former slaves. Johnson decided that only the former slaveholders could properly control the black population in the South. In December 1865, Johnson proudly proclaimed that Reconstruction was now over and that Congress needed to readmit representatives from the Southern states.

  During Reconstruction, states in the Confederacy did not have representation in Congress from the time they seceded until after the Civil War. The last states to regain representation were Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas in 1870.

  Echoing his policies, Johnson, in his 1867 message to Congress, stated that “Blacks have less capacity for government than any other race of people,” and when left to themselves show a “constant tendency to relapse into barbarism.”

  Warring with Congress

  The members of Congress were far from agreeing with Johnson’s declaration that Reconstruction was over. A civil war broke out between the two branches of government.

  The radical wing of the Republican Party considered Johnson a Southern sympathizer. Reports of Southern states returning Confederate leaders to public office, as well as of widespread abuse of former slaves, further undermined Johnson and pushed Congress into trying to change some of Johnson’s policies.

  In early 1866, Congress passed the Civil Rights Bill, which granted citizenship to blacks. The bill overturned the Black Codes (see the section, “Ending a president’s Reconstruction,” earlier in this chapter) by granting blacks the same rights as whites. After the bill was passed, blacks had access to the federal courts to prosecute discrimination.

  To the shock of the Republican Party, Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Bill. Congress overrode Johnson’s veto, making the break between the president and his party complete.

  Congress went on the offensive. In April 1866, Congress took the Civil Rights Bill and made it a part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed “equal protection of the laws” for every U.S. citizen.

  Johnson openly opposed the amendment. He stumped for Democratic candidates, who shared his views, in the 1866 Congressional elections. His campaign swing turned into a disaster when he responded to continuous heckling from Radical Republicans by entering into fierce exchanges. The last straw came when Johnson compared himself to Jesus Christ and openly suggested that Lincoln was removed by divine intervention so that Johnson could become president. The media had a field day with the president. Johnson’s support for candidates from his old party backfired, and the Republican Party gained enough seats in the House to easily override any of Johnson’s vetoes.

  After the elections, Johnson stood by helplessly as the Republicans dismantled his efforts on Reconstruction. Congress passed the Military Reconstruction Act, which divided the South into five military districts and established new state governments based on the equal right to vote.

  Johnson escalated the conflict with Congress in an interview with the New York Times when he said, “The people of the South, poor, quiet, unoffending, harmless, are to be trodden underfoot to protect n------.”

  How to get impeached

  The Constitution of the United States, in Article 2, Section 4, gives Congress the power to impeach the president and remove him from office for “Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Political conflicts are not impeachable offenses.

  An impeachment is similar to a criminal indictment. With a simple majority vote, the House of Representatives can recommend the impeachment and bring charges against the president (or another official subject to impeachment, though, so far, impeachment proceedings have not been started against any official other than a president). The Senate then has the power to impeach and remove the president, which requires a two-thirds majority vote.

  Though the House recommended impeachment for Richard Nixon, only two U.S. presidents, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, faced trial in the Senate. The Senate acquitted both.

  Being impeached

  Wanting to get rid of Johnson, the Republican leadership passed the Tenure of Office Act in 1867. The act prohibited the president from dismissing any federal officials without the consent of the Senate. Congress easily overrode Johnson’s veto of the act. In retaliation, an angry Johnson openly encouraged Southerners to oppose the new Reconstruction plan from Congress.

  Johnson then rashly suspended his secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, who was close to the Radical Republicans. When Johnson attempted to dismiss him altogether, Stanton barricaded himself in his office with several armed guards. When the Senate refused to remove Stanton under the Tenure of Office Act, Johnson declared the act unconstitutional and removed Stanton anyway. (Johnson’s contention that the Tenure of Office Act was unconstitutional was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1926 — too late to help him.)

  The Radical Republicans used the issue to start impeachment proceedings against the president. Johnson responded as only Johnson could — with a curse: “Let them impeach and be damned.”

  In the House, impeachment was a foregone conclusion. Johnson was impeached on 11 counts, with the central issue being the violation of the Tenure of Office Act. In the Senate, impeachment was less certain. Many senators believed that the Tenure of Office Act was unconstitutional in the first place, and they were less than enamored with the idea of having the Senate president pro tem, Benjamin Wade, a Radical Republican, become president. When the vote was tallied, 7 Republicans had crossed party lines and joined all 12 Democrats in the Senate by voting against impeachment. (The final tally was 35 for impeachment, 19 against.) Johnson had survived being impeached by one vote.

  Serving out his term

  Disgraced and disheartened, Johnson served out his term quietly, deadlocked with the Republican Congress. Even his foreign policy accomplishments were downplayed. When Johnson encouraged his secretary of state, William H. Seward, to purchase Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000, he was ridiculed. The purchase was widely referred to as “Seward’s Folly.”

  In the summer of 1868, Johnson’s hopes of becoming the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party w
ere dashed. He returned home to Tennessee, where he received a hero’s welcome. He returned to Washington, D.C. as a senator in 1875. He served just a few months of his term, though. He died of a stroke on July 31, 1875.

  Enter a War Hero: Ulysses Simpson Grant

  Grant’s two terms as president are usually considered to be the most corrupt of any of the presidencies in U.S. history. Why did an honest man suffer such horrible terms in office? For one reason, Grant, shown in Figure 11-2, ran the presidency like a military unit and appointed his friends to high-level positions. Most of these friends turned out to be corrupt. But Grant defended and helped them, undermining his credibility and reputation.

  Grant’s real name was Hiram Ulysses Grant. A mistake on his West Point application had him admitted under the name Ulysses Simpson Grant. Simpson was actually his mother’s maiden name. Grant liked the new name, so he stuck with it.

  Grant’s early career

  Grant failed at many ventures early in his career. He tried his hand at farming and the selling of real estate before settling on a job as a clerk in a leather store, where he worked with his brother.

  Figure 11-2: Ulysses S. Grant, 18th president of the United States.

  Courtesy of the Library of Congress

  The Civil War made Grant’s career. After the creation of the Confederacy and The Civil War made Grant’s career. After the creation of the Confederacy and the attack on Fort Sumter (see Chapter 10), Lincoln called for local militia troops. Grant volunteered and became an officer in an Illinois regiment. He whipped the regiment into shape. Grant’s commanding officer was impressed, so he made him a colonel and sent him into battle.

  Grant’s unit fought well in Missouri, and he was promoted to brigadier general in August 1861. Grant captured Forts Donelson and Henry in Tennessee, giving Lincoln the first major victories of the Civil War. In the process, he captured 14,000 Confederate soldiers and received the nickname “Unconditional Surrender” for always demanding unconditional surrender.

  Just an average guy

  Ulysses S. Grant was born in Ohio in 1822, the son of a middle class farmer and tanner. Young Grant attended local frontier schools, but his true interest was horses. People from all over the area brought their horses to Grant to have them broken in by the teenager.

  Grant used his father’s political connections to get into West Point in 1839, after his father decided that Grant needed to join the military. At West Point, Grant was a mediocre student. He graduated 21st out of a class of 39 in 1843. The topics that he enjoyed while in school were, not surprisingly, horsemanship and mathematics. He was so good at mathematics that he hoped to teach it at West Point. His dream didn’t come true, so he stayed in the military.

  The next two years proved to be boring, as Grant served at various locations in the Southwest. Shortly before the Mexican-American War broke out in 1846, Grant joined a new unit in Missouri, where he met the love of his life, Julia Dent. Grant’s marriage was a happy one. Grant and his wife had four children. When the Mexican-American War broke out, Grant joined General Zachary Taylor’s unit and fought bravely. In 1852, he received orders to go to Oregon Territory and then to California. Because Grant wasn’t able to take his family when he was reassigned, he went into a severe depression and started to drink heavily. Two years later, Grant resigned from the military. The army didn’t mind much, because Grant had become famous for constantly quarrelling with superiors and for drinking too much. His military career seemed to be over.

  Becoming a war hero

  The battle of Shiloh almost cost Grant his military career. He didn’t fortify his positions, waiting for reinforcements instead. When Confederate forces attacked, he was unprepared. Grant took the blame for the thousands of lives lost, and congressmen and cabinet officers urged Lincoln to fire Grant.

  Lincoln stood by his man, saying, “I can’t spare this man, he fights.” Instead of firing Grant, Lincoln appointed him commander of all the Union forces in western Tennessee and northern Mississippi. Over the next three years, Grant fought many battles and won the following major victories:

  Battle of Vicksburg: Grant planned to attack Vicksburg, a Confederate stronghold in Mississippi, in the fall of 1862. The city was so heavily fortified that he bypassed it and instead conquered the capital, Jackson. Then, he moved back and attacked Vicksburg. After failing to take the city, he decided to starve it. After six weeks, the Confederate forces surrendered. Grant captured 30,000 men, and the North took control of the Mississippi river.

  Battle of Chattanooga: In November 1863, Grant, now the commander of the western forces, attacked Confederate forces besieging Chattanooga, Tennessee. After three days, Grant won the battle and freed Tennessee of Confederate forces. Grant’s victory also allowed for the invasion of the Confederacy by Northern forces.

  The Wilderness campaign: Grant became lieutenant general in early 1864, becoming just the third U.S. citizen to hold this position after George Washington and General Winfield Scott. In addition, Lincoln appointed Grant the commander of all Union forces, giving him command of more than half a million men and the chance to implement his own strategies. He stopped capturing cities and went after the major Confederate forces. This strategy proved bloody but successful. In May 1864, Grant attacked the Confederated forces, headed by General Lee himself. During the next month, Grant lost 60,000 men in Virginia’s wilderness. The battle ended in a draw. Grant’s subordinates were more successful, as General Sherman took Atlanta in the fall of 1864.

  Appomattox: After the fairly successful Wilderness campaign, Grant went back to his old strategy. He decided to slowly starve Lee’s armies, who were cooped up outside of Richmond, the capital of Virginia. Grant remained there from June 1864 to April 1865. His other generals slowly conquered the Confederacy during the same period. On April 9, 1865, General Lee surrendered to Grant. The Civil War was over.

  In 1866, Grant received the highest honor the country could bestow on him: He became a full general. Only George Washington held this position before Grant. Grant’s duties were to demobilize, or discharge, the Northern military forces and supervise the process of Reconstruction.

  Entering politics

  Grant didn’t want to become a politician, but because of his popularity, the Republican Party insisted that he do so. President Johnson appointed him secretary of war in 1867. Grant agreed with Johnson on treating the South leniently. He resigned his position when the Senate declared that Johnson didn’t have the authority to fire his former secretary of war. (See “How to get impeached” in the Johnson section of this chapter.) Johnson accused Grant of disloyalty, and Grant subsequently joined the Radical Republicans. He even supported impeaching Johnson. Grant’s path to the presidency was set.

  President Ulysses Simpson Grant (1869–1877)

  In 1868, there was no question who the Republican Party wanted to nominate for president — Grant was the unanimous choice. Grant won the general election in a landslide when he received 214 Electoral College votes to the Democratic nominee’s (Horatio Seymour, the Governor of New York) 80.

  Grant, still the number one war hero, remained popular with the U.S. public despite a horrible first term and was nominated for reelection in 1872. He won the election by a larger margin than he had won in his first term.

  President Grant got off on the wrong foot right away. He handed out federal jobs on the basis of family ties and friendship. He appointed more than 40 of his relatives to federal positions. Soon, scandals broke out. Many of the people Grant appointed turned out to be corrupt. Some of the major scandals of the Grant administration included:

  The secretary of war, William Worth Belnap, resigned after defrauding Native Americans out of $100,000.

  The ambassador to Brazil, James Watson Webb, received $100,000 from the Brazilian government — the Brazilian government expected him to give a favorable report of them in Washington D.C.

  The vice president, Schuyler Colfax, resigned after he admitted to br
ibery during his term as Speaker of the House.

  The secretary of the navy, George Robeson, received $300,000 for giving out contracts to preferred businesses.

  The president’s private secretary, Orville E. Babcock, was implicated in the Whiskey Ring for swindling the government out of millions in liquor taxes.

  One of the main tasks Grant faced was reintegrating the South into the Union. By 1870, the Ku Klux Klan — an organization of white supremacists — was active in the South, and blacks were widely denied their civil rights, including the right to vote. Grant responded with the Force Acts of 1870 and 1871, which made it a federal crime to deny a person his or her civil rights. The only time that Grant used the acts was when he destroyed the Klan in South Carolina. He left the South alone after that. Slowly, segregation and legalized racism reemerged in the former Confederacy.

  Passing on a third term

  Grant briefly considered running for a third term. His wife loved being first lady, and Grant wanted to please her. But the Republican Party wasn’t keen on the idea of renominating him after all the scandals had taken place during his administration. So he withdrew his name.