|
Andrew Johnson 1808-1875
Photographic Print by Julian
Vannerson 1859
Library of Congress
Ready or Not
To
President
Lincoln's second
inauguration, Andrew Johnson showed
up well drunk. Incidentally, it was
also Johnson's inauguration as vice
president.
If you're a fan of slurred speech,
his performance was a delight.
|
|
Six weeks later, upon Lincoln's
assassination, Johnson became the
17th president of the United States,
serving from 1865-1869.
Go here for a
list of all U.S.
presidents
This time around, Johnson opted
to give no speech.
Only Andrew Johnson and four
other presidents in U.S. history didn't deliver
any inaugural address. |
This was sometimes
done out of respect when their predecessor had died in
office, or - in Ford's case - when someone had made a proper mess
of it.
|
These four others were:
In 1841,
John Tyler succeeded
President William Henry Harrison who had died of
pneumonia.
In 1850,
Millard Fillmore succeeded
President Zachary Taylor
who had died of cholera.
In 1881,
Chester A. Arthur succeeded
President James A. Garfield
who had been assassinated.
And in 1974,
Gerald Ford succeeded
President Richard M. Nixon
who had resigned. |
 |
The Situation in
1865
On April 9, 1865,
General Lee
surrendered to
General Grant, although some fighting continued until May 13.
Booth shot Lincoln on April 14,
1865.
On April 15, 1865, Lincoln died and Johnson took the
oath of office.
Thus, Johnson found himself
under enormous pressure. He had a 30-year-long career in politics,
but could this really
prepare someone for the task at hand?
Just because the
Civil War (1861-1865)
had ended, didn't
mean the issues had been resolved. The Nation needed a strong
leader that kept North and South together so it could heal
as a whole (Reconstruction.)
And then there was the matter of filling
the boots of an American hero, Abraham Lincoln.
Andrew Johnson's
Character
This was clearly an immense
task, but Johnson brought something to the table, and that
was loyalty.
In fact, he was the only
Southern governor who remained loyal to the Union. In turn,
he was picked to run as Lincoln's vice president for the
1864 elections. How much Lincoln was
personally involved in this selection is debated.
Check the
US Election
Map 1796 - 1968.
To better understand the man Andrew Johnson, let's look
at his early years.
He grew up poor and never
attended school. He taught himself reading and
writing. He was bright and very ambitious. His sympathies were with
the common man, and he could give you an earful about his opinion of
the upper class.
He was a gifted orator as a person who
clearly had a message, and the passion to delivery it.
Critics mention a lack of "breadth of
view" (Clifton R. Hall.)
Andrew Johnson's
Term
Johnson served for one term, and
remained without a vice president.
The three main issues that would
define his presidency were
Reconstruction
Johnson's racial views
Johnson's impeachment
Andrew Johnson's
Impeachment
Johnson became the first
president who was ever impeached by Congress.
Reconstruction was at the heart
of the matter, in particular the question of how to deal
with the defeated South. Radical Republicans in Congress sought
punishment for its secession from the Union, but Lincoln and
Johnson preferred reconciliation.
After a three-months-long trial,
Johnson was acquitted, but only by the tiniest of margins.
The Senate vote was 35 to 19 to remove Johnson from office,
just one vote short of the necessary two-thirds.
Star lawyer
Alan M. Dershowitz finds
very similar ambiguities when comparing
Bill Clinton's
impeachment with Andrew Johnson's impeachment:
The impeachment was carried forward largely on party lines,
and then the removal went along primarily on party lines,
too. The real reason why Johnson was being impeached, and
why they sought his removal, had nothing to do with the
grounds on which his actual impeachment was sought.
The
impeachment was sought on the ground that he had violated
the Tenure of Office Act and some technical statures of
Congress which forbade the president from firing certain
people. But that really wasn't what was at stake.
What was
at stake was Reconstruction, the post-Lincoln America,
whether Johnson — a Democrat who replaced a Republican
— was
carrying out the mandate of his predecessor. The issues
were broad and general, though the focus was particular.
I think one can say the same thing about Clinton impeachment. Bill Clinton was an extraordinarily divisive
president. He was beloved and he was hated. And the people
who hated him, hated him with a passion, and started out
seeking his removal and his delegitimation from his first
day in office.
Andrew Johnson
and Slavery
Johnson owned several slaves, and when one day he told them
that by law they were free to go, but were welcome to stay
should they so choose, they all
stayed.
One of his slaves, Sam, wished
to purchase a lot from Johnson (meaning he had his own
money) to build a small school for
black children. Johnson gave it to them for free.
In later years, Johnson was
against slavery and for black civil rights, but he stopped
short from promoting equal rights.
Here is more on
Slavery and Abolition
Andrew Johnson
After His Presidency
Johnson had grit. Not many U.S. presidents
went on looking for a job as elected official after their presidency.
And he didn't give up after
losing two elections either (in 1870 and 1872.) Finally, in 1875, Andrew Johnson
had his old Senate seat back, and thus he became the only
former American president to serve in the Senate.
And yes, this was the same Senate that
seven years earlier had tried to remove him from office but only
failed by one
vote. Clearly, Johnson was comfortable with being
uncomfortable.
The Family of
Andrew Johnson
On December 29, 1808, Andrew Johnson
was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, to Jacob and
Mary Mc Donough
Johnson. The family was poor.
In 1812, his father Jacob died of an
illness. His mother later remarried but stayed poor.
In 1827, Johnson married
Eliza McCardle. The couple had five children:
1828:
Martha Johnson
1830: Charles
Johnson
1832: Mary Johnson
1834: Robert
Johnson
1852: Andrew Jr.
aka Frank
Eliza contracted
tuberculosis in the 1850s, but made it until 1876,
when she died.
Andrew Johnson's
Short Bio and Key Dates
| 1808 |
Birth in Raleigh,
North Carolina |
| |
|
| 1812, June 18 |
The
War of 1812
begins |
| |
|
| 1815, February 17 |
The
War of 1812
ends |
| |
|
| 1820
|
Missouri
Compromise |
| |
|
| 1821 |
Apprentice to the
tailor James Selby |
| |
|
| 1824 |
Abandons his apprenticeship
|
| |
|
| 1826 |
Moves to
Greeneville, Tennessee, with his
mother and step-father; works as a
tailor |
| |
|
| 1829 |
Is elected alderman
of Greeneville |
| |
|
| 1830 |
Purchases a tailor
shop |
| |
|
| 1834-1838 |
Mayor of Greeneville |
| |
|
1835-1837 and
1839-1841 |
State house of
representatives |
| |
|
|
1841 |
State senate |
| |
|
|
1842 |
Purchases
a slave, Dolly; later more |
| |
|
|
1843-1853 |
Elected as a
Democrat to the 28th, 29th, 30th,
31st, and 32nd Congress |
| |
|
|
1853-1857 |
Governor of Tennessee |
| |
|
|
1854 |
Kansas-Nebraska Act
repeals Missouri Compromise. Slavery
is permitted in the northern
territories |
| |
|
|
1857-1862 |
Elected a
Democrat to the U.S. Senate |
| |
|
| 1857 |
Dred
Scott decision: All Blacks, slave or
free, are denied the right to
citizenship. |
| |
|
| 1859 |
John Brown's raid on
Harper's Ferry and his execution |
| |
|
| April 12, 1861 |
American
Civil War begins |
| |
|
|
1862, May |
Lincoln appoints him Military Governor of Tennessee
(by
then under federal control) |
| |
|
|
1863 |
Lincoln's
Emancipation
Proclamation |
| |
|
| 1864 |
Elected Vice
President of the United States on
the Republican ticket with Abraham
Lincoln |
| |
|
| 1865, March 4 |
Inauguration |
| |
|
| 1865, April 9 |
Lee surrenders to
Grant |
| |
|
| 1865, April 14 |
Lincoln assassinated |
| |
|
| 1865, April 15 |
Lincoln dies,
Johnson becomes 17th U.S. President |
| |
|
|
1865, December 6 |
13th Amendment to
the U.S. Constitution ratified
(Abolition of Slavery) |
| |
|
|
1866 |
First Ku Klux Klan
organized in Tennessee |
| |
|
|
1867, March 2 |
Tenure of
Office Act
Reconstruction Act |
| |
|
| 1867, March 30 |
Alaska
Purchase |
| |
|
|
1868, February 24 |
Impeachment |
| |
|
|
1868, May 26 |
Acquitted,
but barely |
| |
|
|
1868, July 9 |
14th Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution (aka
Reconstruction Amendment) ratified, granting citizenship to
former slaves. |
| |
|
| 1869, March 3 |
End of his
presidential term; retires to his
home in Tennessee |
| |
|
| 1870, February 3 |
15th Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution ratified,
granting African American men the
right to vote |
| |
|
| 1870, May 31 |
First of the 4 Force
Acts, which are civil rights acts to
enforce the 13th, 14th, and 15th
Amendments (Sometimes the three acts
of 1870 and 1871 are listed as the 3
Force Acts, and the 1875 Act is
listed separately as Civil Rights
Act of 1875.) |
| |
|
| 1871, February |
Second of the 4
Force Acts |
| |
|
| 1871, April |
Third of the 4 Force
Acts |
| |
|
| 1875, March 4 |
Elected as a Democrat to the U.S.
Senate |
| |
|
| 1875, March 1 |
Fourth of the 4
Force Acts |
| |
|
| 1875, July 31 |
Died
in Carter's Station near
Elizabethton, Carter County,
Tennessee, while traveling to
Nashville |
The Attempted
Assassination of
Andrew Johnson
Lincoln assassin
J.W. Booth and his crew
had also plans to kill vice
President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State
William H. Seward.
They knifed Seward, but Seward
didn't die from the attack.
And they didn't get to Johnson
at all, because George Andrew Atzerodt,
the thug who was supposed to come after Johnson, lost his nerve.
In the end, Booth was the only
one who succeeded. He died from a bullet in his neck. The
others were executed.
Execution of
the Four Persons Condemned as Conspirators:
Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George
Atzerodt
July 7, 1865 / National
Archives
See also
Governments in History Chart.
And more at the
American Timeline.
More History
|
