Sold – Johnson and Grant Choose Their Words Carefully in a Microcosm of the Impeachment Controversy

By 1867, President Johnson and the Congress dominated by Radical Republicans were at loggerheads over Johnson’s policies on Reconstruction, which Congress considered too soft. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton was also at odds with Johnson and was conspiring with like-minded Republicans in Congress to thwart Johnson’s program.

To deprive Johnson of control over executive personnel and preclude his firing Stanton or his allies, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act (over Johnson’s veto) on March 2, 1867; it provided that all federal officials whose appointment required Senate confirmation could not be removed without the consent of the Senate. In the summer of 1867, with Congress adjourned, Johnson decided the time had come to replace Stanton with a new secretary of war.

On August 5, Johnson sent Stanton the following message: "Public considerations of high character constrain me to say that your resignation as Secretary of War will be accepted." Stanton refused to resign, forcing Johnson to send him a second letter suspending him from office and ordering that he cease all exercise of authority. On August 12, Johnson directed General of the Army Ulysses S. Grant to take charge of the War Department as Secretary of War ad interim (acting). Stanton denied the right of Johnson to fire him and maintained that he was still Secretary, but he vacated the office under compulsion. Although ill-disposed to be at the center of a controversy between his departmental superior (Stanton) and his commander in chief (Johnson), Grant obeyed the order and acted as secretary.

By October 1867, there were the first sustained outcries to impeach President Johnson. So Johnson considered Grant Secretary of War, Republicans (including most military men) considered Stanton as having that post, and Grant was trying to manage the awkward situation and hold himself apart from the political turmoil which would very soon lead to unsuccessful impeachment proceedings against Johnson. Words matter, and the following document perfectly illustrates how people’s terminology can be fraught with meaning.

Joseph A. Hearn enlisted in the army in 1844 and served in both the Mexican and Civil Wars. Acareer soldier then holding the rank of captain in the 34th U.S. Infantry, in mid October 1867 he wrote a letter to President Johnson “to ask for the appointment of brevet major in the army, if your excellency thinks I am worthy of it.”He spoke of “the various duties I have performed during the late rebellion”and referenced“recommendations from officers in the army whom I served under as an enlisted man showing my conduct and capacity as such.”

His immediate commander in the 34th Infantry was Medal of Honor winning General Galusha Pennypacker, the youngest general in the Civil War and later governor of Pennsylvania. Pennypacker was enthusiastic about Hearn and on October 11 endorsed his letter on the integral second leaf, “Respectfully forwarded and earnestly recommended. There is no more reliable or hard-working officer than Capt. Hearn in the service. He is eminently deserving of the small favor he asks, by reason of the long, continual, meritorious and faithful service he has rendered the country.”

President Johnson was evidently convinced, and addressing Grant as his Secretary of War, he wrote below “October 21, 1867. Referred to the Secretary of War ad interim – who will please confer the brevet within applied for.” The next day, the assistant adjutant general of the army, J.C. Kelton, noted the communication as received and sent the letter to Grant, using his military rather than cabinet title: “Respectfully submitted to the General of the Army.” Grant would have been very comfortable relying on Pennypacker’s endorsement, but perhaps was less comfortable with the idea that his military comrades would think he sympathized with Johnson. He wrote on October 23, “The brevet ordered should be for faithful and meritorious service during the war,” and signed the order as “General” and not Secretary of War. Kelton finalized the promotion on October 24. Perhaps he felt his first endorsement to Grant as general was a little flippant or inadvisable.

This time he wrote: “To be appointed by order of the Secretary of War ad int.”So a simple request for a promotion becomes a microcosm for the swirling impeachment controversy.