Fessenden << FEHS uhn duhn >>, William Pitt (1806-1869), was a United States senator from Maine from 1854 to 1864 and from 1865 to 1869. He served as secretary of the treasury for several months in 1864.
After the American Civil War (1861-1865), Fessenden chaired the committee that would develop Congress’s policy toward the defeated South. A struggle over this policy broke out between President Andrew Johnson and Congress, and Congress tried to impeach (remove from office) Johnson in 1868. Fessenden, one of the founders of the Republican Party, opposed Johnson’s mild policies toward the South. But he voted against Johnson’s conviction because he felt the charges were insufficient. Johnson was eventually acquitted. See Johnson, Andrew (The trial).
Fessenden was born on Oct. 16, 1806, in Boscawen, New Hampshire. He also served in the state legislature of Maine and the U.S. House of Representatives. He died on Sept. 8, 1869.
