"Of course in the Andrew Johnson drama the spectacular act is the impeachment. Americans who so lately had been holding their breath as they watched the great struggle
waged by Grant and Sherman against Robert E. Lee, now had to watch with more painful feelings the assault of Benjamin F. Butler and Thaddeus Stevens against the President of the United States." --John T. Morse, Jr., in the Introduction, 1909
Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson Vol. III offers the view and experiences of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy during the Civil War, of the Abraham Lincoln administration, and of the Andrew Johnson administration that followed. This volume covers the period of January 1,1867 to June 6, 1869.
It was a lifelong custom of Gideon Welles to keep a diary, including during his years in public office. By 1909, his diaries, edited by Welles's son Edgar, were published.