David Stewart is the awardwinning author of several acclaimed histories, including The Summer of 1787: The men Who invented the Constitution. Why was President Johnson impeached by  the US House and escaped being thrown out of office by one vote in the Senate trail?  At the outset of the civil war, Johnson was a slave owner and a US Senator from Tennessee who favored staying in the Union.  He was Lincoln’s VP in his second term.  When Lincoln died in April of 1865, Johnson became President, without a VP.  Johnson wanted to readmit the Southern States with their former political leaders; but the US Congress with the Republican Stalwarts  in charge, wanted freed  slaves to have equal voting rights and  hold office in the US  Congress instead of the Southern  generals.  President Johnson’s acquittal was bought by one vote.