Q: John F. Kennedy profiled eight U.S. Senators in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage. One of the senators was from Kansas. Can you name him? President Andrew Johnson's impeachment votes Illustration from the June 6, 1868 issue of "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper" titled "Taking the vote on the impeachment of President Johnson, Senate Chambers, Washington, D.C., May 16, 1868 - Senator Ross of Kansas voting not guilty." (Photo Courtesy of Kansas Historical Society / kansasmemory.org)
A: Edmund G. Ross
John F. Kennedy profiled eight U.S. Senators in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage, including Kansas Senator Edmund G. Ross. Ross was credited with saving the Presidency of Andrew Johnson after Johnson had been impeached. Ross voted against convicting the president of "high crimes and misdemeanors," which allowed Johnson to stay in office by the margin of one vote. As the seventh of seven Republican senators to break with his party, Ross proved to be the critical vote whose decision would result in conviction or acquittal. Ross lost his bid for re-election two years later, but he did go on to become the governor of the New Mexico Territory. He’s buried in Albuquerque.
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