Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875

Andrew Johnson was vice president under Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and served as president, following Lincoln’s assassination, during the first three years of Reconstruction.

Born on December 29, 1808, in Raleigh, North Carolina, Johnson came from a poor family and was sent by his parents to apprentice in a tailor’s shop. Gaining a basic education from his coworkers and customers, Johnson eventually ran away from Raleigh before his apprenticeship obligation was completed and lived in Alabama and Tennessee. He established a successful tailor shop in Greeneville, Tennessee, earning enough money to purchase property and improve his education. He also began purchasing slaves, ultimately owning ten enslaved people before the Civil War.

Johnson became interested in politics in Tennessee and developed great skill as a stump speaker. He was elected mayor of Greeneville in 1834 and then won a seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives. Initially a Whig, Johnson joined the Democratic Party and gained strong party support. He improved his political standing by serving in the Tennessee militia, rising to the rank of colonel. In the early 1840s, he won election to the United States House of Representatives, serving in that body until 1853, when he became governor of Tennessee. He served two terms and then successfully ran for the United States Senate in 1856.

During the secession crisis and the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Johnson remained loyal to the Union. He faced harsh criticism from other Tennesseans, and was the only member of a seceded state to stay in the Senate. He was unable to return home during Congressional recesses during the war. In 1862, when his term as senator ended, Lincoln appointed Johnson military governor of Tennessee. He accepted the position and the rank of brigadier general, but faced retribution from Confederates in Tennessee who confiscated his land and property. As the war progressed, Johnson increasingly supported Republican efforts against slavery, including the Emancipation Proclamation.
During the 1864 presidential campaign, Lincoln selected Johnson as his vice presidential candidate to draw in southern Unionist and War Democrat support. They won the election, but Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865, only a few weeks after the inauguration, leaving Johnson to assume the presidency. Taking the executive office in the final days of the Civil War, Johnson began to enact his vision of Reconstruction of the southern states. He advocated for a rapid restoration of the Union and offered amnesty to most former Confederates. Johnson made exceptions for higher ranking Confederate officials, and required them to personally petition for pardons. He was less supportive of former slaves, and began to draw criticism from Republicans. In late 1865, states like Mississippi established highly restrictive laws, nicknamed Black Codes, against African Americans, drawing the ire of many northern Republicans. When Radical Republicans passed legislation designed to protect the rights of freed people, Johnson vetoed it, causing an even greater split between Congress and the president.

By 1866, Johnson’s popularity in the north had dropped significantly. Radical Republicans won electoral victories and in 1867 implemented stricter Reconstruction policies, placing the former Confederate states under military rule. When Johnson dismissed Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton over policy disagreements, Republicans in Congress impeached him. He barely survived conviction in the United States Senate in 1868, but his political influence had essentially ended. The Republican Party chose Civil War hero Ulysses S. Grant as its next presidential candidate, and Johnson returned to Tennessee when his term ended in 1869.

Although unpopular in the north, Johnson was welcomed home in Tennessee by residents who appreciated his political battle against Radical Republicans in Washington, D.C. He won an election to the United States Senate in 1875, but served only a few weeks before dying of a stroke on July 31, 1875. He was married to Eliza McCardle and had five children. Johnson is buried in Greeneville, Tennessee.

(Wikipedia; The White House; FindaGrave)

Andrew Johnson belonged to the following social groups: