Congress passed the bill known as the "Tenure of Civil Office" on the 2d of March, 1867 (over the President's veto), the first clause of which, now section 1767 of the Revised Statutes, reads thus: "Every person who holds any civil office to which he has been or hereafter may be appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall have become duly qualified to act therein, shall be entitled to hold such office during the term for which he was appointed, unless sooner removed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, or by the appointment with the like advice and consent of a successor in his place, except as herein otherwise provided." General E.D.Townsend, in his "Anecdotes of the Civil War," states tersely and correctly the preliminary circumstances of which I must treat.

He says: "On Monday morning, August 5, 1867, President Johnson invited Mr.Stanton to resign as Secretary of War.

Under the tenure-of-civil-office law, Mr.Stanton declined.

The President a week after suspended him, and appointed General Grant, General- in-Chief of the Army, to exercise the functions.

This continued until January 13, 1868, when according to the law the Senate passed a resolution not sustaining the President's action.