The National Debate Over Reconstruction; Impeachment; and the Election of Grant

The conflict between President Johnson and Congress did not end with the passage of the Reconstruction Act.

When, in February, 1868, Johnson removed Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, in violation of the recently-enacted Tenure of Office Act, he was impeached by the House of Representatives.

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The Senate failed by one vote to remove him from office. Shortly after the trial, the Republicans nominated Ulysses S. Grant, the North's greatest war hero, for president. Grant defeated Democrat Horatio Seymour in the election of 1868.