As the pace of ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment grew among the states, the National Convention of Colored Men met in Washington, D.C. on this day.  Sixteen states and the District of Columbia were represented, under the chairmanship of John Mercer Langston of Ohio. With the help of U.S. Senator Charles Sumner, its representatives, the majority of them former slaves, made a strong presentation to the Thirty-Ninth Congress that argued their right to the vote based both on simple justice and on their status as citizens, taxpayers, and patriots. (By John Osborne) 

As the movement for the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment grew around the country, a large gathering of African-American military and naval veterans met in convention in Philadelphia with delegates from at least ten states and the District of Columbia. William D. Mathews of Kansas was elected as convention president. Resolutions thanked the nation for the steps taken so far towards emancipation but also held that "the denial of the right of suffrage to all American citizens regardless of color was a blasphemous denial of the divine principle on which all governments are founded" and advocated strongly the rights of black veterans to the franchise.  (By John Osborne)

As part of a flurry of increasingly radical Republican legislative activity in the last days of the Thirty-Ninth Congress, the legislature slipped a rider into the Army Appropiations Act that banned the President from dismissing the commander of the the United States Army, a position General U.S. Grant held at the time, without the "previous approval" of the U.S. Senate.  The controversial measure was clearly aimed at President Johnson but he could not afford to veto an appropiations bill and was forced to accept this restraint on his role as commander-in-chief. The section was repealed in 1869 after Andrew Johnson had left office.  (By John Osborne) 

At the start of the "lame duck" session of the Thirty-Ninth Congress, U.S. Senator George Williams of Oregon introduced the Tenure of Office Act, a bill Republicans had crafted to limit the ability of President Johnson to dictate policy by removing officials from office without the consent of the legislative branch.  Both houses initially passed the measure before the end of the year but disagreement over the inclusion of certain officials, specifically members of the Cabinet, that the lower House stood firm upon, delayed the final passage of the bill in the Senate until February 18, 1867. The House agreed the next day and the bill went to the President. As expected, President Johnson rejected the bill but both chambers easily over-rode his veto on this the same day on a vote of 35 to 10 in the Senate and 138 to 51 in the House. The bill thus became what would be a very important law during the Fortieth Congress.  (By John Osborne).  

At the start of the "lame duck" session of the Thirty-Ninth Congress, U.S. Senator George Williams of Oregon introduced the Tenure of Office Act, a bill Republicans had crafted to limit the ability of President Johnson to dictate policy by removing officials from office without the consent of the legislative branch.  Both houses initially passed the measure before the end of the year but disagreement over the inclusion of certain officials, specifically members of the Cabinet, that the lower House stood firm upon, delayed the final passage of the bill in the Senate until February 18, 1867. The House agreed the next day but, as expected, President Johnson rejected the bill on March 2, 1867. Both chambers easily over-rode his veto on the same day and the bill became what would be a very important law during the Fortieth Congress.  (By John Osborne).  

At the start of the "lame duck" session of the Thirty-Ninth Congress, U.S. Senator George Williams of Oregon introduced the Tenure of Office Act, a bill Republicans had crafted to limit the ability of President Johnson to dictate policy by removing officials from office without the consent of the legislative branch.  Both houses initially passed the measure before the end of the year but disagreement over the inclusion of certain officials, specifically members of the Cabinet, that the lower House stood firm upon, delayed the final passage of the bill in the Senate until this day. The House agreed the next day but, as expected, President Johnson rejected the bill on March 2, 1867. Both chambers easily over-rode his veto on the same day and the bill became what would be a very important law during the Fortieth Congress.  (By John Osborne).  

On the first day of the "lame duck" session of the Thirty-Ninth Congress, U.S. Senator George Williams of Oregon had introduced the Tenure of Office Act, a bill Republicans had crafted to limit the ability of President Johnson to dictate policy by removing officials from office without the consent of the legislative branch.  On this day, two weeks later, the Senate apporived the bill by a vote of 29 to 9, with 14 senators not voting. The House passed the measure soon after but disagreement over the inclusion of certain officials, specifically members of the Cabinet, upon which the lower House stood firm, delayed the final passage of the bill until February 19, 1867.  As expected, President Johnson rejected the bill but both chambers easily over-rode his veto on the same day, March 2, 1867 and the bill became what would be a very important law during the Fortieth Congress.  (By John Osborne).  

At the start of the "lame duck" session of the Thirty-Ninth Congress, U.S. Senator George Williams of Oregon introduced the Tenure of Office Act, a bill Republicans had crafted to limit the ability of President Johnson to dictate policy by removing officials from office without the consent of the legislative branch.  Both houses initially passed the measure before the end of the year but disagreement over the inclusion of certain officials, specifically members of the Cabinet, that the lower House stood firm upon, delayed the final passage of the bill until February 19, 1867.  As expected, President Johnson rejected the bill but both chambers easily over-rode his veto on the same day, March 2, 1867 and the bill became what would be a very important law during the Fortieth Congress.  (By John Osborne).