WI: Johnson and Grant are impeached?

Johnson's impeachment was of course unsuccessful. It failed by a single vote. However, Johnson very easily could have been convicted and removed from office. In that case, the President pro tempore of the Senate, Benjamin Wade, would have taken over.

However, Grant was a very scandalous President as well, if not more so than Johnson. His administration was notoriously corrupt. By the end of his term, the Democrats had a majority in the House of Representatives and would have majority in the Senate after the 1878 elections.

If Johnson had been impeached and the Democrats had more power in Congress, could Ulysses S. Grant have been impeached, maybe even removed from office, for one of his scandals?

I've heard that if Johnson's impeachment had been successful, the Presidency would be 'weakened', but that rarely goes into detail. Would Grant have to worry if Johnson got the boot?
 
If Johnson was impeached, then the Radicals might have gained control of the government, in which case it would be very difficult for the Redeemer Democrats to re-establish themselves in the South.
 
I've heard that if Johnson's impeachment had been successful, the Presidency would be 'weakened', but that rarely goes into detail. Would Grant have to worry if Johnson got the boot?


Not really. All it would have proved is that a President was in trouble if his opponents had a two thirds majority in the Senate - and during Grant's administration the Democrats were never anywhere near that - they didn't even gain a simple majority there until two years after he left the White House.
 
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