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West Wing Musical Chairs
Oh boy, get ready budding historians because we are in for a long one today! On February 24, 1868 Andrew Johnson became the first American president to be impeached and 153 years later we're here to give you a simplified version of his political life and the kind of bullshit excuse Congress used to attempt to oust our 16th President. Kicking it off with Becca’s fun but wildly incorrect guess of Andrew Jackson getting drunk and attempting to organize an actual game of musical chairs in the White House, Mikaela quickly dashed those dreams by essentially yelling “nope! Surprise it’s the first presidential impeachment!”
Starting in 1829 with Andrew Johnson’s election as the alderman of Greenville, Mikaela traces the political career that led Johnson to the White House, highlighting his Congressional career before zeroing in on his appointment as military governor of Tennessee during the Civil War that, in Mikaela’s totally unbiased opinion, led to his appointment as Vice President in 1864. Moving forward, the pair discuss Johnson’s assumption to presidency that left the radical republican congress hopeful and Mikaela gives a bare bones run down of Johnson’s failure during the Reconstruction (and I mean BARE BONES! We had a lot to discuss, ok? And Reconstruction is a topic in and of itself). Getting into the meat of the episode (30 minutes later), Mikaela introduces Becca to the Tenure of Office Act and we all get to suffer through reading a Congressional bill from 1868. Essentially this Act told Johnson he could not appoint any Cabinet positions without the approval of Congress. Of course our man Andy J promptly ignored this rule and replaced Edwin Stanton, leading to his eventual impeachment that he managed to overcome by a mere one vote!
While many articles were helpful with today’s research, the articles Mikaela found most helpful were the United States Senate article on the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, which include the articles of impeachment brought up against Johnson (https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Impeachment_Johnson.htm) and the PBS article “The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson,” a part of their collection on the Presidents (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/grant-impeachment/).
Come check us out on social media!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fuqhistory
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fuqhistory/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fuqhistory
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By Frequently (Un)Asked QuestionsOh boy, get ready budding historians because we are in for a long one today! On February 24, 1868 Andrew Johnson became the first American president to be impeached and 153 years later we're here to give you a simplified version of his political life and the kind of bullshit excuse Congress used to attempt to oust our 16th President. Kicking it off with Becca’s fun but wildly incorrect guess of Andrew Jackson getting drunk and attempting to organize an actual game of musical chairs in the White House, Mikaela quickly dashed those dreams by essentially yelling “nope! Surprise it’s the first presidential impeachment!”
Starting in 1829 with Andrew Johnson’s election as the alderman of Greenville, Mikaela traces the political career that led Johnson to the White House, highlighting his Congressional career before zeroing in on his appointment as military governor of Tennessee during the Civil War that, in Mikaela’s totally unbiased opinion, led to his appointment as Vice President in 1864. Moving forward, the pair discuss Johnson’s assumption to presidency that left the radical republican congress hopeful and Mikaela gives a bare bones run down of Johnson’s failure during the Reconstruction (and I mean BARE BONES! We had a lot to discuss, ok? And Reconstruction is a topic in and of itself). Getting into the meat of the episode (30 minutes later), Mikaela introduces Becca to the Tenure of Office Act and we all get to suffer through reading a Congressional bill from 1868. Essentially this Act told Johnson he could not appoint any Cabinet positions without the approval of Congress. Of course our man Andy J promptly ignored this rule and replaced Edwin Stanton, leading to his eventual impeachment that he managed to overcome by a mere one vote!
While many articles were helpful with today’s research, the articles Mikaela found most helpful were the United States Senate article on the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, which include the articles of impeachment brought up against Johnson (https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Impeachment_Johnson.htm) and the PBS article “The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson,” a part of their collection on the Presidents (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/grant-impeachment/).
Come check us out on social media!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fuqhistory
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fuqhistory/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fuqhistory