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[GOP] Republican congressmen did not want a situation in which a possible rebel sympathizer had a potentially tie-breaking vote, hence the decision to have a tenth Justice named.

Alas, what would they have done if a justice had to recuse himself from a case? They could always appoint an eleventh justice. Heck, just be like FDR and go for fifteen.

What they did was destructive to the system of checks and balances and that was its specific intent. It can be rationalized, but it can never be justified.

[GOP] Andrew Jackson Johnson -- a Democrat -- was, by far, the worst President ever. Citing him or his deeds as an authority on anything is absurd.

Andrew Johnson was hand-picked for the job by Abraham Lincoln. He tried to pursue the course intended by Abraham Lincoln, rather than the radical wackos.

The actions of the Congress in McCardle make absolutely clear that they knew the Supreme Court would rule in favor of McCardle. President Johnson was right and the radical wackos were wrong in their pursuit of unconstitutional power.

Andrew Johnson was by no means the worst president ever. There could be various nominees for that honor such as Abraham Lincoln, (unconstitutional actions, the most corrupt administration in history), Ulysses S. Grant (the only competitor for the "most corrupt administration" award), and there are probably more than a few who would nominate Franklin Roosevelt.

Andrew Johnson was indeed Abraham Lincoln's choice -- worst decison he ever made. Much better would have been Hannibal Hamlin again or even Lincoln's first choice, who turned him down -- Ben Butler.

Anyway. the notion that Andrew Johnson tried to implement Lincoln's policies is a fiction concocted by Confederate-apologist Democrat historians. The Radicals you disparage were Radical-ly anti-slavery, which is why so many Democrat historians hated them, and they were never even close to a majority of the Republicans in Congress. Another lie Democrat historians concocted is that they wanted to punish the rebels personally. Far from it, the Radicals were adamantly opposed to punishing anyone for their treason. Thaddeus Stevens, one of the best defense lawyers in the country, offered to defend Jefferson Davis should he come to trial. In contrast, it was Andrew Johnson who all throughout the war had been clamoring for the hanging of "Jefferson Davis and his pirate crew."

Andrew Johnson was by no means the worst president ever. There could be various nominees for that honor ......

May I nominate your obvious oversight, The Rapist? He would be bound to be "worst" in some categories. I don't recall any other presidents selling their offices to the Chinese government, for example.

People have never thought much of Warren Harding, either -- whose personality type, btw, was very close to Slick's and FDR's. Only Harding and Roosevelt never got "caught" the way Slick did, with their breeches down, and neither ever sold his office or got caught lying to a jury.