Review of Impeached by David O. Stewart

Andrew Johnson is generally regarded as one of the three worst, if not THE worst, presidents in America’s history.  Johnson, a Democrat and the only senator from a seceding state to remain loyal to the Union, was tapped by the Republican Party in 1864 to be President Lincoln’s running mate.  Less than a month after becoming Vice President, Lincoln was assassinated, and Johnson acceded to the presidency.  Johnson’s presidency was characterized by constant conflict with Congress, led by Radical Republicans whose vision for Reconstruction could hardly have been more different from Johnson’s.  Johnson’s constant squabbling with Congress, aggravated by his headstrong and combative personality, eventually led to his being the first U. S. president in history (and the only one until the 1990s) to face impeachment.

In Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy, David O. Stewart narrates the events that led to Johnson’s impeachment, which ended in his being acquitted by a single vote.  Historians who have written about the conflict between Johnson and the Radicals have tended to treat one side as heroes and the other as villains.  Stewart, however, refuses to take sides. He instead argues that both sides pursued agendas that were often wrongheaded, both sought above all else to project their own power, and both at times used corrupt means to further their ends.  For Stewart, the Radicals impeached Johnson for purely political means.  Their case against him was slipshod, and their prosecution of him was completely bungled.

This does not mean, however, that Stewart sees Johnson as a victim or as any kind of hero; rather, Johnson emerges in an even worse light.  As have most other historians of the period, Stewart portrays Johnson as petulant, egotistical, pugnacious, and often indecisive, not to mention completely unconcerned with the status of Southern African-Americans, whom he detested.  By going easy on the former Confederate states, Johnson and his defenders claimed to be preserving Lincoln’s legacy.  Stewart begs to differ:

Far from being Lincoln’s political heir, Johnson squandered Lincoln’s legacy. At a most delicate moment in our history, when greatness of spirit was needed, the man from Tennessee could not be more than the forceful, intelligent and intransigent politician he has always been.  The times demanded more. Johnson’s rise from abject poverty to the White House is an inspiring story, but his presidency was so calamitous that it can only be seen as a tragedy (319).

Impeached is a masterfully written account of Johnson’s presidency and impeachment.  The last half of the book in particular reads like a novel, so much so that I often had trouble putting it down.  The book might have been strengthened by the addition of more discussion of Johnson’s pre-presidential career, but other than that, it is near perfect.  Anyone who wants to understand the drama of Johnson’s impeachment, the key players in it, and the impact it had on American history, could do no better than to read this book.