Impeached

The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy

By: David O. Stewart

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

In 1868 Congress impeached President Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, the man who had succeeded the murdered Lincoln, bringing the nation to the brink of a second civil war. Enraged to see the freed slaves abandoned to brutal violence at the hands of their former owners, distraught that former rebels threatened to regain control of Southern state governments, and disgusted by Johnson's brawling political style, congressional Republicans seized on a legal technicality as the basis for impeachment - whether Johnson had the legal right to fire his own secretary of war, Edwin Stanton.

The Senate trial featured the most brilliant lawyers of the day, along with some of the least scrupulous, while leading political fixers maneuvered in dark corners to save Johnson's presidency with political deals, promises of patronage jobs, and even cash bribes. Johnson escaped conviction by a single vote.

David Stewart, the author of the highly acclaimed The Summer of 1787, challenges the traditional version of this pivotal moment in American history. Rather than seeing Johnson as Abraham Lincoln's political heir, Stewart explains how the Tennessean squandered Lincoln's political legacy of equality and fairness and helped force the freed slaves into a brutal form of agricultural peonage across the South.

©2009 David O. Stewart (P)2019 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Riveting... Stewart vibrantly renders... the poisonous politics, the personal animosities and the unbridled corruption." (Kirkus, starred review)

Very interesting

I really enjoyed this book. When it starts with the president drunk at hos swearing in you know it will be good. What corruption! The narrator was odd though. His accents were over the top, it took me about half the book to get used to his voice. The author did a great job and there were several chuckles from me. I recommend it. I am listening/reading a book on every president.

well done

so many players involved it was a challenge without a score card. The case is strongly made that bribes were involved in achieving not guilty.

Highly recommended

I have picked this book because of the current events going on in Washington with impeachment of Trump. This book was very well written and explained the complexities that was going on at the time of Johnson’s impeachment. This has demonstrated that Johnson was experiencing a very rare circumstance compared to other presidents who have faced impeachment. I have learned that due to the circumstances there are miss information about the impeachment process and the historical ramifications of it. On the other side, I have learned that the dealings were very corrupt in nature, which has me wondering what is really going onIn Washington today as we face another impeachment process. Very detailed and long, but highly recommend

An intriguing snippet of history

Andrew Johnson himself isn't overly fascinating--that's for sure--but this crucial moment in history is very important and intriguing. Following up Abraham Lincoln was already a tough challenge to begin with as president, but when you add in the fact Johnson was a Democrat and diametrically opposed on most all of the important issues from Lincoln (as he was a Republican), this was bound to be an explosive transition of power considering it was on the heels of the Civil War. And truth be told, unless you're a real political junkie, or enjoy law as it relates to national politics, I'm not sure you'll enjoy this book a ton. That said, the narration is great, the drama of what was about to happen with the impeachment of Johnson will certainly peak your interest, but the story is indeed very narrowly focused. I don't feel as if I learned a ton about Johnson himself, though I certainly did about the people and issues surrounding him at that time. However, as I've been working my way through the presidents of the United States, this is an absolutely essential read as you observe the arc of history as it unfolds in America.

Dramatic and gripping

The turmoil of the Johnson presidency and his disputes with Congress over Reconstruction are told here in gripping narrative, culminating in a protracted impeachment process.