sion, and when the
President, exercising what he believed to be his constitutional power,
appointed Adjutant-General Thomas in his place, it brought the contest
to a crisis. Stanton, barricaded in the War Office, refused to leave,
while Thomas, bolder in talk than in deeds, threatened to kick him
out.[1151] In support of Stanton a company of one hundred men, mustered
by John A. Logan, a member of Congress, occupied the basement of the
War Department. Not since the assassination of Lincoln had the country
been in such a state of excitement. Meanwhile former propositions of
impeachment were revived, and although without evidence of guilty
intent, the House, on February 14, resolved that Andrew Johnson be
impeached of high crimes and misdemeanours. This trial, which
continued for nearly three months, kept the country flushed with
passion.

[Footnote 1151: _Impeachment Trial_, Vol. 1, p. 223.]

New York Democrats greatly enjoyed the situation. To them it meant a
division of the Republican party vastly more damaging than the one in
1866. Opposition to Grant's candidacy also threatened to widen the
breach. The Conservatives, led by Thurlow Weed, wishing to break the
intolerant control of the Radicals by securing a candidate free from
factional bias, had pronounced for the Soldier's nomination for
President as early as July, 1867,[1152] and although the current of
Republican journalism as well as the drift of party sentiment tended
to encourage the movement, the Radicals opposed it. Grant's report on
the condition of the South in 1865, and his attendance upon the
President in 1866 during the famous swing-around-the-circle, had
provoked much criticism. Besides, his acceptance of the War Office
after Stanton's suspension indicated marked confidence in the Chief
Executive. Indeed, so displeasing had been his record since the close
of the war that the _Tribune_ ridiculed his pretensions, predicting
that if any man of his type of politics was elected it would be by the
Democrats.[1153] Even after the loss of the elections the _Tribune_
continued its opposition. "We object to the Grant movement," it said.
"It is of the ostrich's simple strategy that deceives only himself.
There are times in which personal preference and personal popularity
go far; but they are not these times. Does any one imagine that
General Grant, supported by the Republicans, would carry Maryland or
Kentucky, under her present Constitution, against Seymour or