ABSTRACT
In the spring of 1987, as the Iran-Contra mess unfolded, a few constitutional gurus suggested that just possibly President Ronald Reagan had committed an impeachable offense by causing or allowing that weird scheme to be hatched and implemented from within his White House. Andrew Johnson was a self-educated Tennessee tailor who, as a United States senator in 1861, was the only Southern senator to remain loyal to the Union during the Civil War. The more ways Johnson found to circumvent Congress, the more laws Congress passed to force his cooperation. Then Johnson sought further ways of frustrating the new laws. Johnson continued to use the powers of the presidency to defeat the congressional program. Johnson relaxed his campaign of obstruction. All but three of the seceded states complied with congressional requirements and were restored to full rights by the end of 1868.
