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Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation
Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation | Brenda Wineapple
5 posts | 4 read | 15 to read
"This absorbing and important book recounts the titanic struggle over the implications of the Civil War amid the impeachment of a defiant and temperamentally erratic American president."--Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Soul of America When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and Vice-President Andrew Johnson became "the Accidental President," it was a dangerous time in America. Congress was divided over how the Union should be reunited: when and how the secessionist South should regain full status, whether former Confederates should be punished, and when and whether black men should be given the vote. Devastated by war and resorting to violence, many white Southerners hoped to restore a pre-Civil War society, if without slavery, and the pugnacious Andrew Johnson seemed to share their goals. With the unchecked power of executive orders, Johnson ignored Congress, pardoned rebel leaders, promoted white supremacy, opposed civil rights, and called Reconstruction unnecessary. It fell to Congress to stop the American president who acted like a king. With profound insights and making use of extensive research, Brenda Wineapple dramatically evokes this pivotal period in American history, when the country was rocked by the first-ever impeachment of a sitting American president. And she brings to vivid life the extraordinary characters who brought that impeachment forward: the willful Johnson and his retinue of advocates--including complicated men like Secretary of State William Seward--as well as the equally complicated visionaries committed to justice and equality for all, like Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner, Frederick Douglass, and Ulysses S. Grant. Theirs was a last-ditch, patriotic, and Constitutional effort to render the goals of the Civil War into reality and to make the Union free, fair, and whole. Advance praise for The Impeachers "In this superbly lyrical work, Brenda Wineapple has plugged a glaring hole in our historical memory through her vivid and sweeping portrayal of President Andrew Johnson's 1868 impeachment. She serves up not simply food for thought but a veritable feast of observations on that most trying decision for a democracy: whether to oust a sitting president. Teeming with fiery passions and unforgettable characters, The Impeachers will be devoured by contemporary readers seeking enlightenment on this issue. . . . A landmark study."--Ron Chernow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Grant
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BookishMarginalia
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#CurrentlyListening — really interesting so far.

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swynn
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Comparisons to recent events are tempting, but the huge takeaway for me was just how much of an opportunity was undone thanks to the malice and bigotry of Andrew Johnson. And what do you do when you're stuck with an incompetent scofflaw of a chief executive trying to unwin hard-fought battles? You impeach them. Even if you know it won't pass the Senate you impeach the bastard anyway. You owe it to history. And oops there I go with recent events.

TheBookHippie 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼✊🏼 4y
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Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

An intemperate white supremacist US president flouts laws and openly wars with Congress, setting up his own impeachment. 2019? Nope. (Well, ok, yes.) This is Andrew Johnson in the 1860s. While dense in places, this book is a great read, especially as a primer for what is likely to come in the modern era. The parallels are extraordinary.

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Hooked_on_books
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Fill in the blank!

It‘s Andrew Johnson. But I‘m going to guess you were thinking of someone else.

julesG 😂😂 4y
Amiable Yikes. 😳 4y
Texreader Good gosh that‘s accurate... 4y
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Hooked_on_books
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Hmmm…now what‘s that line about history repeating?

ljuliel 👍🏼 4y
RamsFan1963 The more things change, the more things stay the same... 4y
Texreader This is a chunkster! Is it an easy read or very academic? I‘m trying to decide whether I want to read it. 4y
Hooked_on_books @Texreader It‘s somewhere in between. At times it zips by and other times I feel like I should take notes. But it‘s completely fascinating and a good mirror for our common era, though of course there are differences. 4y
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