Andrew Johnson 1868 Letter Signed as President - During His Impeachment Trial

Description

17th President.  Manuscript letter signed
"Andrew Johnson
" AS PRESIDENT, Executive Mansion letterhead, 5x8, Washington, April 11, 1868, to the historian Harmon C. Westervelt concerning Congressional opposition to Johnson and alluding to the Impeachment, in full:
I regret that an earlier acknowledgement of your communication of the 7th of February last has been prevented by the pressure of official duties.
I beg that you will tender to Mr. Bowne and Mr. Ketchum my thanks for a copy of the remarks of the latter gentleman, so neatly and ingeniously transcribed, delivered in Union Square September 17, 1866.
With assurances of my appreciation of the kind expressions contained in your letter.
One week prior to the letter, the case against Johnson in the Senate was wrapped up. Johnson sent this letter while his defense team was making their case to the Senate between April 9-20, 1868.
After President Johnson notified Congress on February 21, 1868, that he had removed Edwin Stanton as Secretary of War and replaced him with Adjutant-General Lorenzo Thomas, it took the House of Representatives only three days to impeach him for "high crimes and misdemeanors." Meanwhile, Stanton refused to abandon his office and had Thomas arrested for attempting to exercise the duties of the Secretary of War. Johnson’s trial in the Senate, which he did not attend, began on March 23 and was presided over by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase. There were eleven articles of impeachment, and conviction was considered a strong possibility.
Johnson had plenty of detractors, but the ordeal through which the President was passing brought out his supporters as well. These were mainly Democrats, as that party’s followers were lukewarm about the impeachment or opposed it altogether. In New York a mass meeting had been held on September 17, 1866, when Johnson first came under concerted attack. It asked people to attend who were in favor of an immediate restoration of the Union (as opposed to a period of reconstruction) and who “desire to forget the dissensions of the past and restore peace to a distracted country, and who approve the open, manly and patriotic course of Andrew Johnson, in opposition to the illegal assumptions and usurpations of a partisan Congress.” The various National Union Associations and Johnson Clubs were invited to cooperate in the movement. The meeting passed a resolution: “Resolved, That we are profoundly grateful that Andrew Johnson, in his high office, untempted by the proffer from Congress of almost despotic power, has maintained that love for the Constitution of our fathers which characterizes the true American citizen; and that, in his masterly State papers and familiar conversations with the people, he has demonstrated that he not only comprehends the Constitution, but that, true to his oath of office, he will preserve, protect and defend it.” Prominent New York Democrats like August Belmont, James Bowne and John Dix attended, and many notables such as orator Hiram Ketchum spoke.
As the pressure on Johnson escalated in the weeks before he removed Stanton in 1868, Jacob A. Westervelt, a Democrat and former Mayor of New York, sent a copy of the remarks at that 1866 meeting, as a way of showing Johnson support. Johnson was way too busy amidst the crisis, impeachment and start of the trial to respond to such messages of encouragement, but in April with the trial underway he found a little time to do so.
Johnson presidential letters are few and far between. Those with any connection to the Impeachment are nearly never found. This is a nice example that alludes to the trial but specifically recognizes his supporters who were making a case on his behalf.
In excellent condition.
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