Stanton was reinstated by the Senate,
even though the President should order me to retain it, which he never
did.
Taking this view of the subject, and learning on Saturday, the 11th
instant, that the Senate had taken up the subject of Mr. Stanton's
suspension, after some conversation with Lieutenant General Sherman and
some members of my staff, in which I stated that the law left me no
discretion as to my action should Mr. Stanton be reinstated, and that I
intended to inform the President, I went to the President for the sole
purpose of making this decision known, and did so make it known.
In doing this I fulfilled the promise made in our last preceding
conversation on the subject.
The President, however, instead of accepting my view of the requirements
of the tenure-of-office bill, contended that he had suspended Mr.
Stanton under the authority given by the Constitution, and that the same
authority did not preclude him from reporting, as an act of courtesy,
his reasons for the suspension to the Senate; that, having appointed me
under the authority given by the Constitution, and not under any act of
Congress, I could not be governed by the act.
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