The First Impeachment Proceedings
William Henry Harrison became the first president to die in office. Since this was a first, no one knew what would happen in terms of succession. Up to that point John Tyler, Harrison's Vice-President, had been a non-entity. He hadn't even come to Washington yet, and Harrison had not consulted him on the matter of appointments. In those days the Vice-President didn't even attend cabinet meetings.
Harrison's unprecedented death caused considerable confusion as to any succession plan. The Constitution of the United States stated:
In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President.
A debate immediately ensued as to whether the actual office of President "devolved" upon Vice President Tyler, or merely its powers and duties. Tyler arrived in Washington at 4:00 a.m. on April 6, 1841, and he had made up his own mind that he was now the President of the United States. He took the oath of office in his hotel room, but said that he considered the oath redundant to his oath as Vice President. Out of an abundance of caution, he took the oath anyway. Immediately after his inauguration, Tyler called Harrison's cabinet into a meeting. At that meeting, Secretary of State Daniel Webster informed Tyler of Harrison's practice of making decisions by a majority vote of cabinet. The cabinet expected Tyler to continue this practice, but Tyler is quoted to have told them:
I beg your pardon, gentlemen. I am very glad to have in my Cabinet such able statesmen as you have proved yourselves to be. And I shall be pleased to avail myself of your counsel and advice. But I can never consent to being dictated to as to what I shall or shall not do. I, as President, shall be responsible for my administration. I hope to have your hearty co-operation in carrying out its measures. So long as you see fit to do this, I shall be glad to have you with me. When you think otherwise, your resignations will be accepted.
Tyler delivered his inaugural address on April 9, 1841, but Tyler's claim was not immediately accepted by opposition members in Congress. Congressman (and former President) John Quincy Adams, asserted that Tyler was merely a caretaker and should either be called "Acting President", or remain Vice President. Another who questioned Tyler's authority was Whig leader Henry Clay, who had intended to be the real power behind the presidency. He too saw Tyler as the "Vice-President" and his presidency as a mere "regency".
But Tyler managed to convince a majority of legislators of his position and on June 1, 1841, both houses of Congress passed resolutions declaring Tyler the 10th President of the United States. Tyler became the first U.S. Vice President to assume the office of President upon the death of the incumbent, establishing a precedent that would be followed seven times later. In 1967 Tyler's action of assuming both the full powers and the title of the presidency was legally codified in the Twenty-fifth Amendment.
Despite the Senate and House resolutions of support, Tyler's detractors like Clay and Adams, refused to accepted him as President. He was referred to by many nicknames, including "His Accidency". However, Tyler never wavered from his conviction that he was the rightful President. When his political opponents sent correspondence to the White House addressed to the "Vice President" or "Acting President," Tyler had it returned unopened. Historian Robert Seager II later wrote, "Had William Henry Harrison lived, John Tyler would undoubtedly have been as obscure as any Vice-President in American history."
Tyler opposed the Whig Party stance on a number of issues. He broke with his party on the issue of raising tarriffs to distribute money to the states, because he believed it was wrong to do so when the federal government was facing a shortfall. He vetoed two tariff bills. Shortly after this, Whigs in the House of Representatives initiated the first impeachment proceedings against a President in American history. This was not only a matter of the Whigs supporting the tariff legislation which Tyler vetoed, but it was also because, up to that point in history, Presidents rarely vetoed bills, and then generally on constitutional rather than policy grounds. Tyler's actions also went against the Whigs' idea of the presidency. Congressman John Minor Botts of Virginia, one of Tyler's greatest critics, introduced a resolution on July 10, 1842. It levied several charges against the President and called for a nine-member committee to investigate his behavior, with the expectation of a formal impeachment recommendation.
Tyler was rescued from a surprising source. Henry Clay called this measure prematurely aggressive. Clay favored a more moderate approach, though he still that Tyler's impeachment to be inevitable. The Botts bill was tabled until the following January, when it was rejected, 127-83.
A House select committee headed by John Quincy Adams condemned Tyler's use of the veto and assailed his character. Adams, an ardent abolitionist, was critical of Tyler for being a slaveholder. The committee's report did not formally recommend impeachment, but it allowed for that possibility. In August 1842, by a vote of 98–90, the House endorsed the committee's report. Adams sponsored a constitutional amendment to change the two-thirds requirement to override a veto to a simple majority, but neither house passed such a measure.
The Whigs were unable to pursue further impeachment proceedings in the subsequent 28th Congress, as in the elections of 1842 they lost control of the House (although they retained a majority in the Senate).
Harrison's unprecedented death caused considerable confusion as to any succession plan. The Constitution of the United States stated:
In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President.
A debate immediately ensued as to whether the actual office of President "devolved" upon Vice President Tyler, or merely its powers and duties. Tyler arrived in Washington at 4:00 a.m. on April 6, 1841, and he had made up his own mind that he was now the President of the United States. He took the oath of office in his hotel room, but said that he considered the oath redundant to his oath as Vice President. Out of an abundance of caution, he took the oath anyway. Immediately after his inauguration, Tyler called Harrison's cabinet into a meeting. At that meeting, Secretary of State Daniel Webster informed Tyler of Harrison's practice of making decisions by a majority vote of cabinet. The cabinet expected Tyler to continue this practice, but Tyler is quoted to have told them:
I beg your pardon, gentlemen. I am very glad to have in my Cabinet such able statesmen as you have proved yourselves to be. And I shall be pleased to avail myself of your counsel and advice. But I can never consent to being dictated to as to what I shall or shall not do. I, as President, shall be responsible for my administration. I hope to have your hearty co-operation in carrying out its measures. So long as you see fit to do this, I shall be glad to have you with me. When you think otherwise, your resignations will be accepted.
Tyler delivered his inaugural address on April 9, 1841, but Tyler's claim was not immediately accepted by opposition members in Congress. Congressman (and former President) John Quincy Adams, asserted that Tyler was merely a caretaker and should either be called "Acting President", or remain Vice President. Another who questioned Tyler's authority was Whig leader Henry Clay, who had intended to be the real power behind the presidency. He too saw Tyler as the "Vice-President" and his presidency as a mere "regency".
But Tyler managed to convince a majority of legislators of his position and on June 1, 1841, both houses of Congress passed resolutions declaring Tyler the 10th President of the United States. Tyler became the first U.S. Vice President to assume the office of President upon the death of the incumbent, establishing a precedent that would be followed seven times later. In 1967 Tyler's action of assuming both the full powers and the title of the presidency was legally codified in the Twenty-fifth Amendment.
Despite the Senate and House resolutions of support, Tyler's detractors like Clay and Adams, refused to accepted him as President. He was referred to by many nicknames, including "His Accidency". However, Tyler never wavered from his conviction that he was the rightful President. When his political opponents sent correspondence to the White House addressed to the "Vice President" or "Acting President," Tyler had it returned unopened. Historian Robert Seager II later wrote, "Had William Henry Harrison lived, John Tyler would undoubtedly have been as obscure as any Vice-President in American history."
Tyler opposed the Whig Party stance on a number of issues. He broke with his party on the issue of raising tarriffs to distribute money to the states, because he believed it was wrong to do so when the federal government was facing a shortfall. He vetoed two tariff bills. Shortly after this, Whigs in the House of Representatives initiated the first impeachment proceedings against a President in American history. This was not only a matter of the Whigs supporting the tariff legislation which Tyler vetoed, but it was also because, up to that point in history, Presidents rarely vetoed bills, and then generally on constitutional rather than policy grounds. Tyler's actions also went against the Whigs' idea of the presidency. Congressman John Minor Botts of Virginia, one of Tyler's greatest critics, introduced a resolution on July 10, 1842. It levied several charges against the President and called for a nine-member committee to investigate his behavior, with the expectation of a formal impeachment recommendation.
Tyler was rescued from a surprising source. Henry Clay called this measure prematurely aggressive. Clay favored a more moderate approach, though he still that Tyler's impeachment to be inevitable. The Botts bill was tabled until the following January, when it was rejected, 127-83.
A House select committee headed by John Quincy Adams condemned Tyler's use of the veto and assailed his character. Adams, an ardent abolitionist, was critical of Tyler for being a slaveholder. The committee's report did not formally recommend impeachment, but it allowed for that possibility. In August 1842, by a vote of 98–90, the House endorsed the committee's report. Adams sponsored a constitutional amendment to change the two-thirds requirement to override a veto to a simple majority, but neither house passed such a measure.
The Whigs were unable to pursue further impeachment proceedings in the subsequent 28th Congress, as in the elections of 1842 they lost control of the House (although they retained a majority in the Senate).