Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy (52 page)

No other manager:
The
Philadelphia Press
on March 23, 1868, described the group photograph as “imperial”; Vinnie Ream to Nathaniel Banks, March 23, 1868, in Nathaniel Banks Papers;
Butler’s Book,
p. 928;
New York Herald
, March 30, 1868.

For Johnson, the parallel:
Moore Diary/AHR, March 29, 1868, p. 130; Moore Diary/Large Diary, March 28, 1868, p. 10. Johnson’s self-education left him with an intimate knowledge of specific works. He sometimes recited long passages from poems, such as Gray’s
Elegy
, and from famous orations. Moore Diary/AJ, January 10, 1867, p. 27.

Navy Secretary Welles judged:
Welles Diary, vol. 3, p. 324 (March 27, 1868); Barlow to R. Taylor, March 20, 1868, in Barlow Papers, Box 64.

16. BEN BUTLER’S HORSE CASE

Waiting to give: Butler’s Book
, p. 929.

Cowed by the significance:
G. A. Townsend,
Washington, Outside and Inside
, p. 371;
Zion’s Herald
, April 16, 1868; Riddle,
Life of Wade
, p. 283;
Washington Daily National Intelligencer
, March 31, 1868;
Cincinnati Commercial
, March 31, 1868.

Johnson should remain: Butler’s Book
, p. 929;
Washington Daily National Intelligencer
, March 31, 1868; Briggs, p. 60; Samuel Sullivan Cox,
Union—Disunion—Reunion: Three Decades of Federal Legislation, 1855 to 1885
(1886), pp. 586–87; Moore Diary/AHR, March 30, 1868, p. 130;
Cincinnati Commercial
, March 31, 1868.

The manager admitted:
Briggs, p. 60; Schurz to Mrs. Schurz, April 4, 1868, in Schurz,
Intimate Letters
, p. 432;
Charleston (SC) Courier
, April 4, 1868;
Globe
Supp., p. 32 (March 30, 1868).

The senators, he continued: Globe
Supp., pp. 29–30 (March 30, 1868).

“[
T
]
hat peril”: The Federalist
, No. 77;
Globe
Supp., pp. 34–36 (March 30, 1868).

On the Senate’s verdict: Globe
Supp., pp. 40–41 (March 30, 1868). The
New York Times
complained in its editorial the next day about Butler’s “unnecessary violence of language” and “appeals that might be very effective in a stump speech.”

When Butler announced: Milwaukee Daily Sentinel
, April 6, 1868;
Philadelphia Press
, April 1, 1868;
New York Herald
, April 4 and 5, 1868;
New York Times
, April 5, 1868;
Globe
Supp., 40th Cong., 2d sess., p. 120 (April 4, 1868);
Washington Daily National Intelligencer
, April 6, 1868;
New York Times
, April 6, 1868, reprinting report from
Baltimore Sun
, April 4, 1868.

President Johnson’s unfortunate addresses:
A correspondent wrote on the opening day of the trial: “the excitement that would have been occasioned by each fresh development has been, to a certain extent, anticipated, and the great trial no longer arouses that exciting interest that manifested itself when impeachment became a fixed fact, and for a fortnight thereafter.”
New York Herald
, April 1, 1868.

Another Republican congressman: Globe
Supp., pp. 56–57 (March 31, 1868) (testimony of Rep. Burt Van Horn; Rep. James Moorhead).

“We have had a Johnson”: Globe
Supp., pp. 59–61 (March 31, 1868).

Adjournment at 6:30
P
.
M
.: Globe
Supp., pp. 62–63 (March 31, 1868);
New York Times
, April 1, 1868.

The motion lost: Globe
Supp., p. 63 (March 31, 1868); Archives,
Managers’ Journal
, pp. 32–33 (April 1, 1868).

Butler had used: Globe
Supp., p. 71 (April 1, 1868).

Having been advised: Cincinnati Commercial
, April 2, 1868;
New York Times
, April 2 and 4, 1868;
Petersburg (VA) Index
, April 3, 1868. The correspondents scored the lawyers as though they were prizefighters, and agreed that Evarts v. Butler was a worthy matchup.
New York Times
, April 2, 1868.

It became a catchphrase: Globe
Supp., p. 76 (April 1, 1868);
Chicago Tribune
, April 2, 1868. The
New York Herald
on April 3 applauded Karsner’s “rustic humor [which] diverted the dullness of the court yesterday..

As one Radical wrote in dismay: New York Times
, April 3, 1868; Storey to his father, May 17, 1868, in Howe,
Portrait of an Independent
, p. 112.

The Senate agreed: Globe
Supp., pp. 86–89 (April 2, 1868).

With this modest flourish: Chicago Tribune
, April 6, 1868;
New York Times
, April 5, 1868.

Stanberry, maintaining the defense position: Philadelphia Press
, April 6, 1868;
New York Herald
, April 7, 1868;
Cincinnati Commercial
, April 5, 1868.

Thad Stevens, who “uses stimulants”: Washington Daily National Intelligencer
, April 1, 1868;
New York Times
, April 5, 1868;
New York Herald
, April 3, 1868;
Chicago Tribune
, April 11, 1868.

One rummaged through:
Archives,
Managers’ Journal
, pp. 31–38; testimony of T. C. Westerly, April 2, 1868; testimony of H. H. Van Dyck, April 4, 1868, in Archives,
Impeachment: Various House Papers
. Butler to Hugh McCulloch, April 6, 1868, Butler Papers. In fact, many government clerks were engaged in exactly the process described in Butler’s letter, to assist the president’s defense. They were examining all presidential appointments and firings since 1789 to find examples that might support Johnson’s legal arguments.
Cincinnati Commercial
, April 8, 1868; Hoar, p. 343.

Evarts matched Butler’s whimsical mood:
Morefield Storey to Susan Storey, April 6, 1868, in Howe,
Portrait of an Independent
, p. 91.

Moore despaired:
Moore Diary/AJ, April 4, 1868, p. 17; Moore Diary/Large Diary, April 8, 1868, p. 4. Johnson’s hostility toward blacks relaxed in individual cases. In mid-March, he attended the funeral of the black former steward at the White House, William Slade.
Philadelphia Press
, March 19, 1868.

He seemed to take comfort:
Moore Diary/Large Diary, April 9, 1868, p. 5; Cowan, pp. 12–13.

“If I used any rough expressions”: Cincinnati Commercial
, April 6, 1868.

Then he blamed the reporter:
Moore Diary/Large Diary, April 7, 1868, p. 3.

He finally concluded:
Moore Diary/AHR, pp. 131–32, April 4 and 7, 1868. General Sherman confirmed to Colonel Moore that Grant never made the statements attributed to him, which had been printed to try to draw him into making a public statement on the impeachment. Moore Diary/Large Diary, April 7, 1868, p. 2;
New York Times
, April 4, 1868.

Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax: North American and United States Gazette
, April 24, 1868.

This time, Johnson:
Diary, April 5, 1868, in Gustavus Fox Papers, New York Historical Society; Welles Diary, vol. 3, pp. 338–39.

17. DEFENDING THE PRESIDENT

The president either:
Clemenceau, p. 175 (April 10, 1868).

He cautioned his audience: New York Tribune
, April 10, 1868;
Chicago Tribune
, April 10 and 11, 1868;
Globe
Supp., p. 123 (April 9, 1868).

After Curtis’s speech: New York Times
, April 10, 1868;
Chicago Tribune
, April 10, 1868;
New York Herald
, April 11, 1868;
Butler’s Book
, p. 930 (emphasis in original).

Accordingly, the Tenure of Office Act: Globe
Supp., pp. 122–25 (April 9, 1868).

If Lincoln’s term:
“The Evidence Against the President,”
Harper’s Weekly
, April 18, 1868, p. 242.

Holding the president: Globe
Supp., p. 129 (April 9, 1868).

The Boston lawyer: Globe
Supp., p. 135 (April 10, 1868).

Though many other factors:
Streichler, p. 173; Browning Diary, vol. 2, p. 192 (April 10, 1868).

Managers Butler and Bingham: New York Herald
, April 11, 1868;
Globe
Supp., p. 140 (April 10, 1868);
New York Times
, April 11, 1868.

When Thomas left the stand: Globe
Supp., pp. 146 (April 10, 1868), 150 (April 11, 1868);
Cincinnati Commercial
, April 12, 1868;
Philadelphia Press
, April 11, 1868;
Washington Daily National Intelligencer
, April 11, 1868; Briggs, p. 63.

The House managers erupted: New York Herald
, April 14, 1868;
Cincinnati Commercial
, April 12, 1868;
Globe
Supp., pp. 150–51 (April 11, 1868).

Stanberry brought Sherman back: Globe
Supp., pp. 151–60 (April 11, 1868), 164–66 (April 13, 1868).

The defense contrived: New York Herald
, April 13, 1868.

Wisely, the managers: Globe
Supp., p. 170 (April 13, 1868).

These arbitrary changes: Globe
Supp., pp. 171–73 (April 11, 1868);
New York Herald
, April 14, 1868;
New York Times
, April 14, 1868; Storey to Miss Helen Appleton, April 20, 1868, in Howe,
Portrait of an Independent
, p. 98. The
New York Herald
said the Senate allowed the question to be put to Sherman out of “pity for the President’s counsel.”
New York Herald
, April 14, 1868.

Stanberry would not be able: New York Times
, April 15, 1868; Browning to Seward, April 14, 1868, in Seward Papers, LOC.

After a lifetime:
Welles Diary, vol. 3, p. 330 (April 13, 1868); Cox, pp. 591–92; Moore Diary/Large Diary, April 12, 1868, April 13, 1868, pp. 8–10.

The next day:
Moore Diary/Large Diary, April 15, 1868, p. 11.

Department heads reported: Washington Daily National Intelligencer
, April 16, 1868;
New York Herald
, April 16, 1868;
Cincinnati Commercial
, April 15, 1868.

Johnson complained that a military display: Cincinnati Commercial
, April 17, 1868;
Washington Daily National Intelligencer
, April 18, 1868; Moore Diary/Large Diary, April 16, 1868, pp. 11–12.

A message on a window shutter:
Allen W. Trelease,
White Terror: The Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction
, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press (1971), pp. 27–116;
New York Herald
, April 9, 1868;
New York Times
, April 7 and 8, 1868; Ku Klux Klan to Stevens, April 4, 1868, Stevens Papers, Box 4; undated paper, Butler Papers, Box 45.

He brought General Sherman:
Archives,
Managers’ Journal
, April 10–14, pp. 41–45.

The Senate ducked: New York Herald
, April 9, 10, and 11, 1868;
Globe
Supp., p. 251 (April 22, 1868).

Stanton continued to provide:
Moore Diary/Large Diary, April 7, 1868, p. 2; Thomas and Hyman, p. 601; Stanton to Butler, March 11, 1868; Stanton to Butler, March 17, 1868; Butler to Bingham, March 21, 1868, in Butler Papers, Box 44; Stanton to Butler, April 1, 1868, and Stanton to Butler, April 11, 1868, in Butler Papers, Box 45.

He was proving: Globe
Supp., pp. 181–94 (April 15, 1868).

Defense lawyer Evarts calmly disparaged: Globe
Supp., pp. 208–9 (April 16, 1868);
Cincinnati Commercial
, April 18, 1868.

He considered telling: New York Herald
, April 18, 1868;
Cincinnati Commercial
, April 18, 1868; Moore Diary/Large Diary, April 19, 1868, p. 15.