For the first time in its history, the Senate voted to acquit or convict a sitting president who had been impeached by the House of Representatives. By a 35-to-19 margin, one vote short of the required two-thirds majority, the Senate failed to convict and therefore remove from office President Andrew Johnson. A second roll-call vote on May 26 produced an identical outcome, and Johnson served out his term as U.S. president. One hundred and thirty-one years later, on February 12, 1999, the Senate voted to acquit another impeached president, William J. Clinton.
May 21, 1929
From its earliest days, the Senate considered treaties and nominations in closed "executive" session. Often, participants leaked to inquiring journalists the documents and decisions of those secret meetings, regularly triggering Senate investigations, which seldom succeeded in apprehending the culprits. On this day in 1929, the Senate launched yet another investigation to learn how a reporter obtained a closed-session roll-call vote on a nomination. After several weeks, the Senate concluded that continued secrecy ran counter to the public's right to be informed, and on June 18 it agreed to conduct all future executive sessions in public view.
May 22, 1856
Caning of Sumner
In an act of great drama and national significance, Representative Preston Brooks (D-SC) entered the Senate Chamber, walked up to the desk of Senator Charles Sumner (R-MA), and severely beat him with a cane. Brooks sought revenge for Sumner's recent "Crimes Against Kansas" speech in which the senator had signaled out Brooks' absent relative, Senator Andrew Butler (D-SC), for attack. Although Sumner survived the beating, he took years to recuperate and was seen only intermittently on the Senate floor. Less than five years later the opening shots in the Civil War were fired.
Origins & Development
The framers of the United States Constitution deliberated at length over the Senate's role in the new federal government. Since that time, the Senate has evolved into a complex legislative body, while remaining true to its constitutional origins. This section provides historical essays describing the Senate's institutional developments including establishing direct election of senators, its constitutional powers such as the sole power to try impeachments, and many other unique elements that define the modern Senate.
The Framers Debate State Representation
During the summer of 1787 delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia debated one issue for months, the question of how congressional representation would be determined. After much deliberation, the delegates established equal state representation in the Senate and proportional representation in the House of Representatives. Called the “Great Compromise” or the “Connecticut Compromise,” this unique plan for congressional representation resolved the most controversial aspect of the drafting of the Constitution.
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