Going to the Devil: The Impeachment of 1868 - Production & Contact Info

Going to the Devil: The Impeachment of 1868 (2019)
78 min | Documentary

Primary photo for Going to the Devil: The Impeachment of 1868

Going to the Devil: The Impeachment of 1868 (2019)

78 min | Documentary

Andrew Johnson, a southerner and opposition-party leader on Abraham Lincoln's National Union Party ticket of 1868, was intoxicated at his swearing-in only 41 days before being elevated to the presidency. He swiftly promoted the restoration...See moreAndrew Johnson, a southerner and opposition-party leader on Abraham Lincoln's National Union Party ticket of 1868, was intoxicated at his swearing-in only 41 days before being elevated to the presidency. He swiftly promoted the restoration of states' rights and white privilege even as racial violence erupted across the post-Civil War South. As the death toll rose, Johnson blamed his troubles on an alleged conspiracy of political enemies in Congress. And he spoke aloud about hanging some of them. One of Johnson's holdover cabinet members from the Lincoln administration, War Secretary Edwin Stanton, clashed with the new president, barricading himself in the war office. As he did so, Congress drafted legislation to protect Stanton, and lure Johnson into the trap of violating the "high crimes and misdemeanors" language of the Constitution. "The coincidence that the impeachment trial took place in a presidential election year is striking," attorney David O. Stewart says in the documentary. Some of Johnson's political opponents feared imposing impeachment as a potential remedy in place of public ballots. But congressional majority leaders opted for a constitutional coup d'état. "They just felt Johnson's abuses, his wrong conduct, his violation of the way a president should act, had piled up. And I think they felt the eyes of history on them," Stewart says The decision to proceed with articles of impeachment in the House-and a trial in the Senate-was fraught and controversial, and undergirded by rumors of conspiracy. "Congress is disregarding the will of the president. The president is disregarding the will of Congress. And you've got the secretary of War arguably in mutiny. This is a conflict of a type we've never actually had any other time in our history," says Stewart. Literary critic Brenda Wineapple says, "You have a country that's broken apart and that is trying to find its way in an entirely new era. It was a wonderful opportunity. A second founding. A second chance. A rebirth. The fact it didn't happen is tragic, of course. But there was a moment-a crossroads-and the country could have gone in a different direction. It almost did. It's important to remember that. It's also important to remember why it didn't." Written by Kevin Manzel See less

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Cast	+ Add Cast
11 cast members

Name	Known for
Charlie Ray La Pat Narrator (voice) Narrator (voice) See fewer	Going to the Devil: The Impeachment of 1868 (2019)
David O. Stewart Self - Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy Self - Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy See fewer	1787 the American Constitution
Brenda Wineapple Self - The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation Self - The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation See fewer	The Gettysburg Address (2025)
Harold Holzer Self - Director, Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute Self - Director, Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute See fewer	Lincoln (2012)
Sasha Olinick Andrew Johnson (voice) Andrew Johnson (voice) See fewer	Facing Change: Ending Racism, Everyone's Responsibility (2022)
Frank Britton Thaddeus Stevens (voice) Thaddeus Stevens (voice) See fewer	Ask a Slave (2013)
Matthew Eckel Other Voices (voice) Other Voices (voice) See fewer	Timer (2009)
Michael Levin Other Voices (voice) Other Voices (voice) See fewer	Going to the Devil: The Impeachment of 1868 (2019)
Vincent Stovall Other Voices (voice) Other Voices (voice) See fewer	When We Try (2020)
Tammy Cornelious Other Voices (voice) Other Voices (voice) See fewer	Pillars of Hope (2011)
Steve Bittle Other Voices (voice) Other Voices (voice) See fewer	Going to the Devil: The Impeachment of 1868 (2019)