Presidents of the USA: Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States, from 1865 to1869. He was born in 1808 in a log cabin in Raleigh, North Carolina. His family was illiterate and poor. He himself was not able to master the basics of reading, grammar or maths and the only thing he was good at was tailoring and he gained his apprenticeship as a tailor but as early as during his boyhood, he ran away from home. 

He was able to settle down, and at the age of seventeen he met his wife, Eliza McCardle. With the support of his new wife he opened a tailor shop in Greenville, Tennessee. Eliza educated Andrew and helped him make wise investments in real estate and farmlands.  Although from a poor background, he had exceptional talents which enabled him to enter in debates at the local academy. 


With his exceptional talents and his debating skills it did not take him long to enter local politics. He was a good orator which gave him an edge over his rivals but his greatest attribute was his ability to interact with the middle class man and it was especially the plantation workers whom he was able to understand and support. His support to the poor middle class people guaranteed his election as a Member of the House of Representatives and the Senate from the 1840’s to the 1850’s. But he was not your average politician who rested on his laurels after election – he advocated a homestead bill which was aimed at providing a free farm to the poor man who voted him in. 

In 1862 President Lincoln appointed Johnson as Military Governor of Tennessee, and Johnson used the State of Tennessee as a model for reconstruction. In 1864 the Republicans, contending that their National Union Party was for all loyal men, nominated Johnson, for Vice President.

After the death of President Lincoln, Andrew Johnson was elected as the 17^th President of the United States. Unfortunately Johnson was branded as an old-fashioned Southern Democrat and he had all his time with the Radical Republicans in Congress. When Johnson reached the White House, First Lady Eliza Johnson was a semi-invalid suffering from tuberculosis. She only made two public appearances during her entire stay in the White House. Nevertheless, she operated behind the scenes with energy and tact and was fondly remembered by the White House staff.

President Andrew Johnson had time on his side just after Lincoln’s death. During the first eight months of his term, Johnson took advantage of Congress being in recess and rushed through his own agenda and policies for Reconstruction. These included handing out thousands of pardons in routine fashion and allowing the South to set up "black codes," which essentially maintained slavery under another name. 

By the time Congress met in December 1865, most Southern States were reconstructed and most importantly, slavery was being abolished. Radical Republicans in Congress moved vigorously to change Johnson's program. They gained the support of Northerners who were dismayed to see Southerners keeping many pre-war leaders and imposing many pre-war restrictions upon the freed slaves. 

The Radicals' first step was to refuse to seat any Senator or Representative from the old Confederacy. Next they passed measures dealing with the former slaves. Johnson vetoed the legislation. The Radicals mustered enough votes in Congress to pass legislation over his veto--the first time that Congress had overridden a President on an important bill. They passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which established Negroes as American citizens and prohibit discrimination against them. 

In a final humiliating gesture, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act, which stripped the President of the power to remove federal officials without the Senate's approval, and in 1867, established a military Reconstruction program to enforce political and social rights for Southern ex-slaves. A few months later Congress submitted the Fourteenth Amendment, which specified that no state should "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." 

All the former Confederate States except Tennessee refused to ratify the amendment; further, there were two bloody race riots in the South. The Radical Republicans won an overwhelming victory in Congressional elections that fall. 

When Johnson allegedly violated the Tenure of Office Act, by dismissing Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, the House voted eleven articles of impeachment against him. He was tried by the Senate in the spring of 1868 and but fortunately sanity prevailed and he was acquitted by one vote. He was the first President of the United to be impeached.

Although acquitted, this was the last straw for Johnson and he returned to the Senate for Tennessee in 1875 but died shortly there after. 

Andrew Johnson was a true exponent of the saying that in America, anyone can grow up to become President. The only other man to attain the office of President with so little formal education was Abraham Lincoln. But that is where the similarities ended. Lincoln rose to the occasion to be esteemed as America's greatest President, Andrew Johnson, his successor, is unfortunately ranked as one of the worst.