Why was Andrew Johnson impeached Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Why was Andrew Johnson impeached - Essay Example Study of history suggests that the act of impeachment of the Political parties is carried out for seeking political gain. Parties use the powers to enforce their cause and it leads to disturbance and conflict between each other. The two party systems in the United States make the process of impeachment a symbolic power struggle between that of the Congress and the President of the United States. The overall nature of the political impeachment may not yield well for the benefit of the nation. Generally in case of impeachment criminal charges are held against the convict, but the case with Andrew Johnson was different .The Congress did not charged any particular sort of criminal offences against the ruling president of America. However it was mentioned in the section 4, of the Article 11 that the crimes of impeachment were based on the treason, bribery or association with other high crimes or transgression. However they alleged the president as a person being criminal and committing a lot of misconduct. Thus the presence of intense partisan politics cannot be ignored in the case of Andrew Johnson. The motives of the Congress were instrumental in deciding the impeachment of Andrew Jonson. It was because of the stubbornness of Johnson which made him unpopular among the radical Congress. Congress had the aim of being popular all over the country and wanted the suffrage of the American which was highly opposed by Johnson which led to his downfall (Political parties and impeachment, n. d). Johnson never tried to enter into an agreement with the Congress and was strict on his decisions which strengthened the opposition of the Congress against him. Lot before the impeachment of Johnson took place, Congress decided to remove Johnson from his position as they were of the view that the reconstruction policy of America undertaken by them will receive severe opposition under Johnson. After the civil war was over, Congress wanted to transform the south in a massive manner. Th ey wanted to revive the economic condition over there and wanted a permanent solution to the class system which was prevalent over there. The Congress was also of the view of providing the freed slaves of the south with a full citizenship of America