The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation by Wineapple, Brenda - 2020

New York: Random House, 2020. 1st Printing. Trade Paperback. Near Fine. 6x1x9. First printing. Minor edge wear. 2020 Trade Paperback. xxix, 543 pp. 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.