First, Radical Republicans had falsely accused Johnson of maintaining a harem of "dissolute women." To get him out of office, they soon passed the Tenure of Office Act in 1867 which meant that the president couldn't remove any appointees until he had permission from the Senate. The purpose of this was to keep secretary of war, Edwin M. Stanton. Johnson ended up going against the vote of Congress, and took Stanton out of office in 1868. The House of Representatives immediately voted 126 to 7 to impeach Johnson for "high crimes and misdemeanors" because of the violation of the Tenure of Office Act. The impeachment charges were then taken to court. Johnson's attorney argued that the Tenure of Office Act was unconstitutional. He also promised that Johnson would stop obstructing Republican policies in return for him to stay in office. Johnson ended up winning the Senate vote by one.
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