Thaddeus Stevens delivers the last speech to Congress
about the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 11 articles of
impeachment against President Andrew Johnson, nine
of which cite Johnson’s removal of Secretary of War
Edwin M. Stanton, a violation of the Tenure of Office
Act. The House vote made President Johnson the first
president to be impeached in U.S. history.

   
Edwin McMasters Stanton
(December 19, 1814 – December 24, 1869)

Pictured is an illustration of Johnson being served
impeachment summons in the White House.

George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)

The Washington Monument was built in honor of Americas
revolutionary hero and first president George Washington
and was dedicated in Washington, D.C. on February 21,
1885.

The 555-foot-high marble obelisk was first proposed in
1783, and Pierre L’Enfant left room for it in his designs
for the new U.S. capital.
 

After George Washington’s death in 1799, plans for a
memorial for the “father of the country” were discussed,
but none were adopted until 1832, the centennial
of Washington’s birth. 

Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826)

On February 17, 1801, Thomas Jefferson was elected
the third president of the United States. The election
constitutes the first peaceful transfer of power from
one political party to another in the United States.

By 1800, when he decided to run for president,
Thomas Jefferson possessed impressive political
credentials and was well-suited to the presidency.         

       
In addition to drafting the Declaration of
Independence, Jefferson had served in two
Continental Congresses, as minister to
France, as the nations first secretary of
state under George Washington and as
John Adams’ vice president.        

Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin
meet to review a draft of the Declaration of Independence. 

Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.