SUSPENSION DURING IMPEACHMENT
The President is
reported to have said to a Tennessee friend that if Congress should impeach him and
attempt to suspend him during the trial he would resist. He would endeavor to justify such
a course, probably, upon the ground that the Constitutionwhich is so precious to him
and to the Democratic allies and apologists of the rebellionprovides for the removal
of the President only on conviction. But if Congress, upon assembling, should pass a law
providing for the suspension from their functions of all impeached officers of the
Government, from the moment of impeachment until the end of the trial, what then? The
President would, of course, veto the bill; Congress would pass it over the veto, and it
would become the law of the land. Would Andrew Johnson then undertake armed resistance to
the law?Undoubtedly he would if he
thought he should be supported, and very possibly he would under any circumstances. It
must be remembered that the President is not only an ignorant, obstinate, and passionate
man, butif common report may be trustedhe is an intemperate man. It has been
publicly stated that he intended to relieve General Grant and make General Frank Blair
Secretary of War. Now the habits of General Blair are notorious. Jeremiah Black is the
Presidents confidential adviser, and Jeremiah Black is a patriot of the school of
Fernando Wood and Robert Toombs. It is idle to say that such men will not dare to do this
or that. They will dare to do anything. They would undoubtedly prefer the form and letter
of law, but they could very readily devise any pretext. There can be no more stupendous
folly, with our recent experience, than to insist that it is a mere partisan trick to say
that violence is very possible and probable upon the part of the President.
He is besotted with the notion that it is
his business to defend what he calls the Constitutionin other words, certain
theories of his ownagainst Congress. Now, as a matter of fact, under the
Constitution there is no power whatever to oppose the action of Congress, when the veto
has been outvoted. To the extent of the veto the President has a constitutional check upon
Congress. Beyond that, he is as powerless as the man in the moon. When, in opposition to
his veto and by the Constitutional provision, the will of Congress has become law, the
sole constitutional duty of the President is to take care that it be faithfully executed
in such manner as Congress may have appointed. The President may think that it is a law
destructive of the Government, of civil liberty, and of the rights of human nature. But
under the Constitution, when he has vetoed it in vain, he must see to its faithful
execution or resign. If he will do neitherif he remains merely an encumbrance and
paralysis upon the lawCongress may, at its pleasure, constitutionally proceed to
impeach him for high misdemeanors.
The truth is, under the Constitution,
Congress, when it has a two-thirds majority against the President, is the really superior
and supreme branch of the Government; and the only final check of its action is not the
will of the President but of the people. One very great advantage of the present political
situation is that it dispels some of the vague traditional untruths about our Government.
One of the most common theories has been that it was a government of three co-ordinate
branches. Co-ordinate means not subordinate; and the theory, therefore, was, that ours was
a government of three equally supreme departments. Such a fallacy might be entertained
until it was tested. Then, of course, it was sure to be discovered that three supremacies
in the same systems was a mere fiction. When an actual contest arises between all of them,
or any one of them and the other two, it must either be compromisedwhich settles
nothing, and leaves the essential question still openor one most wholly
yieldwhich establishes its inferiorityor each must persist to the lastin
which case force would determine the superiority of one or the other.
The history of the present conflict
between the President and Congress shows that when Congress has not a majority of
two-thirds against the President he is master of the situation. But when Congress has that
majority the President is utterly powerless. If Congress should pass a law over his veto,
and the President should refuse to see it faithfully executed upon the ground that the
Supreme Court had declared it unconstitutional, Congress must either yield to the Supreme
Court, which would make that Court the government of the country, or is must impeach the
President despite the court. If, then, the Chief Justice refused to sit upon the
impeachment, there must be a compromise or a forcible solution. Or suppose Congress and
the President united, and the Court opposed to them. Congress passes a law, and the
President sees that it is executed, while the Supreme Court declares it to be
unconstitutional. What can the co-ordinate supremacy of the Court do? Does the
Constitution require the President to ask the Court before he sees to the execution of a
law, or does it require him to refuse to execute it because the Court declares it
unconstitutional? May every law be held invalid until the court legitimates it? Such a
theory subordinates both Congress and the President to the Supreme Court? In any cast the
fiction of the co-ordinate branches is exposed.
Take another possible case. The President
has issued an amnesty. Certain ex-rebels demand to be registered under it and are refused.
The Supreme Court decides that they may be registered and vote. They are permitted to vote
by authority of the President, sworn to see that the laws are faithfully executed. But
such voting is against the law of Congress, and the President is impeached for authorizing
a plain violation of the law. There is again no alternative but submission or resistance.
There is certainly no equal supremacy. The truth again is, that the will of Congress must
prevail despite the President and the Supreme Court, or the Supreme Court is the real
Legislature.
It was this combination of the Executive
and the Supreme Court upon which the leaders of the Democracy relied ten years ago to
secure the nationality of slavery. They were sure that the opposition could not obtain a
two-thirds majority in Congress, and they everywhere declared that a decision of the
Supreme Court settled finally and forever the constitutionality of a law. Therefore
Buchanan in his inaugural announced the Dred Scott decision. When it came, the New York Express
and the other slaves of the slave-power insolently asked, "What are you going to do
about it?" Mr. Douglas asked Mr. Lincoln the same question upon their stumping
contest through Illinois. Mr. Lincoln, as usual, answered for the intelligence and
conscience and determination of the country in replying that the decision of a court might
be revered as decisions often had been.
If Congress shall think
it wise to impeach the President, after having provided for the suspension of all
impeached officers pending their trial, there will be no letter of the law even upon which
the President could hope to justify resistance. Resistance would be mere revolution. Even
if he pleaded that he was persecuted for opinions sakewhich would be
ludicrously untruethere would be no course for him but submission or resistance. All
that Congress and good citizens can do is to take care that he has no excuse for violence.
For the violence itself, however, they ought to be prepared. If it is not attempted it
will be chiefly because it is anticipated.
Articles Related to Overt
Obstruction of Congress:
Congress
February 2, 1867, page 67
February 16, 1867, page 99
March 16, 1867, page 163
How Long?
June 29, 1867, page 402
Reconstruction and Obstruction
July 6, 1867, page 418
The Summer Session
July 6, 1867, page 418
The Fortieth Congress
July 17, 1867, page 467
Thanks to the District Commanders
July 27, 1867, page 467
Impeachment Postponed
July 27, 1867, page 467
A Desperate Man
August 13, 1867, page 546
The Secretary of War
August 24, 1867, page 530
Samson Agonistes at Washington (cartoon)
August 24, 1867, page 544
The Stanton Imbroglio (illustrated satire)
August 24, 1867, page 542
Secretary Grant
August 31, 1867, page 546
Southern Reconstruction
August 31, 1867, page 547
The Political Situation
September 7, 1867, page 562
General Thomas
September 7, 1867, page 563
Southern Reconstruction
September 7, 1867, page 563
The General and the President
September 14, 1867, page 578
General Sickles Also
September 14, 1867, page 579
Southern Reconstruction
September 21, 1867, page 595
The Presidents Intentions
September 28, 1867, page 610
Impeachment
October 5, 1867, page 626
The Main Question
October 5, 1867, pages 626-627
Suspension during Impeachment
October 19, 1867, page 658
"Disregarding" The Law
November 2, 1867, page 691
Impeachment
December 14, 1867, page 786
General Grants Testimony
December 14, 1867, page 786
The Presidents Message
December 14, 1867, page 787
General Grants Letter
January 1, 1868, page 2
Secretary Stantons Restoration
January 25, 1868, page 51
Reconstruction Measures
January 25, 1868, page 51
The President, Mr. Stanton and General Grant
February 1, 1868, page 66
Romeo (Seward) to Mercutio (Johnson) (cartoon)
February 1, 1868, page 76
The War Office
February 1, 1868, page 77
Secretarys Room in the War Department (illus)
February 1, 1868, page 77
The New Reconstruction Bill
February 8, 1868, page 83
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