Videos: 'Andrew Johnson battle the Radical Republicans'/Impeachment of Andrew Johnson'

(Thursday, March 5, 1868, 1:00 p.m. local time) — The impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, accused of committing “high crimes and misdemeanors” by attempting to fire Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton in violation of the Tenure of Office Act, began today in the U.S. Senate with Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase presiding.

Johnson became the first U.S. president to be impeached on Feb. 24, 1868, when the U.S. House of Representatives voted 126 to 47 in favor of an impeachment resolution, three days following Johnson’s attempt to dismiss Stanton.

One week later on Mar. 2, 1868, the House adopted eleven articles of impeachment against the President and and forwarded them to the Senate for trial.