Tenure of Office Act
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The Tenure of Office Act, passed in 1867 over the veto of President Andrew Johnson, denied the President of the United States the power to remove from office anyone who had been appointed or approved by Congress, unless the removal was also approved by Congress. This included officials whom the President himself had appointed, with the advice and consent of the Senate.
In the post-Civil War political environment, President Johnson endorsed the quick re-admission of the Southern secessionist states. The majorities of both houses of Congress, however, passed laws, over Johnson's vetoes, establishing a series of five military districts overseeing newly created state governments, to create local civil rights laws to protect newly freed slaves; to police the area; to ensure the secessionist states would show some good faith before being readmitted; and, arguably, to inflict some punishment on the secessionists. States would be readmitted gradually.
The Tenure of Office Act had been specifically designed by Congress to protect Secretary of War Edwin Stanton from dismissal by President Andrew Johnson. Stanton agreed with "Congressional Reconstruction", and Congress wanted to ensure their military district plan was not undermined by a new Johnson appointee.
In February 1868, after months of public conflict with Congress, Johnson notifed Congress that he was dismissing Stanton; Stanton locked himself in the War Department, and had his declared successor arrested. The crisis led to Johnson's impeachment, the first ever of a United States President, but after a three-month trial, Johnson avoided removal from office by the Senate by a single vote. Stanton resigned in May 1868.
In 1887 the Tenure of Office Act was repealed. In 1926, this type of law was ruled unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Myers v. United States, which affirmed the ability of the President to remove a Postmaster without Congressional approval.