IMPEACHED PRESIDENT ANDREW JOHNSON ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES!

impeach-mh.jpg The Case Abandoned and the Court Adjourned

The New York Times
May 27, 1868

This most historic issue of the Times carries front page single-column headlines: “IMPEACHMENT. The Final Vote Taken on the Second and Third Articles. Acquittal of the President on Both Charges. The Case Abandoned and the Court Adjourned.”

The Times in-depth reporting of the Impeachment Trial comprises much of the front page, beginning with, “The impeachment proceedings begun by the House of Representatives on Saturday, the 22d of February, is at an end. The President is acquitted of high crimes and misdemeanors, and the Court stands adjourned without date.” The galleries were packed with interested spectators awaiting the final verdict. The Times own editorial on the Impeachment Trial stated, in part, “The closing of Impeachment and the adjournment of the Court will, we think, gratify the great body of the people. While there is–as there has been for a long time–a strong desire on the part of the Republican Party for the removal of Mr. Johnson from office, there has been no wish, among the people, to have this result brought about by any means that would not be universally recognized as just and fair. And we are inclined to believe that the course of the trial satisfied almost everbody that, however imprudent, overbearing and unjustifiable Mr. Johnson’s conduct has been, the evidence did not convict him of such high crimes and misdemeanors as would warrant his conviction and removal from office.”

The trial of the President, who incurred the wrath of Thaddeus Stevens and other Congressmen by dismissing Secretary of War Stanton, on grounds for impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors finally comes to an end. After months of arguments and counterarguments, the charges were finally dismissed when the Senate failed, by one vote, to attain a two-thirds majority. Had Johnson been impeached, the entire American Democratic System might have been thrown into turmoil.

8 pp., complete, and in excellent condition, save for a very small missing piece at the upper left corner of the front page–it affects no text and is not noticeable. A most important issue of The Times!

$750.

impeach-headlines.jpgimpeach-trial.jpg

Posted by mmitchell | Filed Under All Historic Newspapers, Late 19th Century