Impeach Lincoln

[Laurie Verge]

Yes, they did. They also gave away t-shirts imprinted with the cover of the book.

[LincolnMan]

Gee, I don't care for that to be honest. Sounds beneath what a museum of that stature should be doing. Am I being a prude?

[Bill Richter]

L S Foster was defeated in the election of 1866 (probably too soft for other radical Republicans) and replaced in March of 1867 by Ben Wade as president pro tem of the US senate.

The impeachment of Lincoln is not a far stretch. Lots of his own party thought him too soft on the prosecution of the war and the ending of slavery, and Reconstruction with his 10% plan of readmission.

Although no one knows what his Reconstruction policies might have bee, it is widely believed by historians and buffs alike that he would have been able to stymie Congress more than Johnson did as Lincoln was a Republican and not a War Democrat as Johnson, and slicker and more flexible in his Reconstruction desires than Johnson proved to be.

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One other thing. Assuming that George Atzerodt was correct and that Sgt Harney was sent to blow up the White House during a cabinet meeting, the reason that it was to be done was to kill Lincoln and Johnson and throw the succession to the presidency to the president pro tem of the US senate. The Rebs knew that this was Foster, considered more moderate in his politics, and thus start an argument between him and the Radicals as to how to run the war and reconstruct the South. This would have screwed up communications between the White House and the Army commands long enough to allow Lee to break off from Grant and join Johnston in NC, defeat Sherman in detail and come back to reclaim Richmond by meeting Grant's army strung out along the roads. This is the Campaign of 1865 referred to in Tidwell, Hall and Gaddy, Come Retribution, 25-26, 362-402, and I used in Last Confederate Heroes, I, 356-61, and II, 421-22. See Laurie? Fiction sometimes works, as in the Impeachment of Lincoln.

[Karen S. Campbell]

I've never read anything about any attempt to actually impeach Lincoln. The people who might have wanted to do just that were the Radical Republicans who eventually impeached President Johnson. Lincoln was too good of a diplomat and could handle difficult people well. He opposed the extremes of the Radical Republican agenda but he didn't alienate them. Many of his cabinet were radical republicans: Salmon Chase, Edwin Stanton, William Fessenden, and James Speed. He often appointed Radical Republicans to diplomatic posts overseas.

Johnson did not have the same political skill as Lincoln and, of course, he was greatly dis-respected even before he became President.

[Thomas Thorne]

I just finished "The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln" by Stephen L. Carter.

It is a delightful romp thru alternate history with all sorts of hairpin curves-an ideal plane,train or beach treat for history buffs. Please do not skip ahead to p. 500 ;you will miss half the fun of what is essentially a mystery.

I am really impressed by the author's knowledge of the period in question-not just political history but on topics such as social etiquette between the sexes. I wonder what our experts on the forum will tell us how knowledgeable Carter is about the latter.

The idea that Lincoln would have been impeached by the Radical Republicans for softness toward the defeated South is an old one which has suffered sustained bombardment in recent years. Carter's connecting it to separate counts charging Lincoln with waging ruthless war by abusing civil liberties of people that Radical Republicans deemed to be traitors is silly.
Tom

[Bill Richter]

Silly? It sounds like politics as usual to me.

[JMadonna]

It's doubtful that anyone 'impeached' would ever be convicted as long as the Senate is the jury. The founding fathers did not foresee political parties controlling Senators.