Tenure of Office Act

Tenure of Office Act (2 March 1867)Passed over Andrew Johnson’s veto, this act required the president to seek the Senate’s approval before dismissing any federal officials who required senatorial confirmation. Eight of the eleven charges in Johnson’s impeachment trial alleged that he violated this law by dismissing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton on 21 February 1868 and naming Lorenzo Thomas in his place. The law was repealed at Grover Cleveland’s request on 5 March 1887. The Supreme Court declared the law to have been unconstitutional in Myers v. United States (1926).