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Why were impeachment proceedings held against U.S. President Andrew Johnson?

In February 1868 nine articles of impeachment—charges of misconduct in office—were brought against President Andrew Johnson (1808–1875) as a result of his conflicts with the U.S. Congress.

Johnson was a self-educated and outspoken man who inspired people either to love or hate him. A native of North Carolina, he lived in Tennessee and began his political career as a U.S. Senator from that state. After the outbreak of the Civil War (1861–65; a bloody conflict between the North and the South), he broke bonds with Tennessee and with his own political party, the Southern Democrats, when he swore allegiance to the United States (the Union). He took this position because of his strong belief that the Southern states, which included Tennessee, had violated the laws of the U.S. Constitution by seceding (withdrawing)...

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