Happy Birthday Dear Andrew
On December 29, 1808 (204 years ago today), Andrew Johnson, the 17th President of the United States, was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was born into relative poverty. His father Jacob was the town constable of Raleigh, but died of an apparent heart attack when Andrew was three, while ringing the town bell, shortly after rescuing three drowning men. His mother Polly Johnson had worked as a washerwoman; she continued in that trade as the sole support of her three children.
Johnson became a tailor, and is the only President to be inaugurated in a suit that he made himself. He was self-educated; he married and had five children. He moved his family to Tennessee and was elected as an alderman and as Mayor of Greeneville, Tennessee before being elected to the state assembly. Later he was elected to the state senate. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served a total of five terms and was elected as Governor of Tennessee for two terms. All these offices were held while Johnson was a member of the Democratic Party.
When Tennessee seceded from the Union in 1861, Johnson was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Tennessee. He was dedicated to Jacksonian Democracy, nationalism and limited government. He was adamantly against secession and remained a Unionist, in spite of the fact that he was a slaveholder and was pro-slavery. Johnson was the only Southern senator who did not resign his seat during the Civil War. He became the most prominent War Democrat from the South and supported Abraham Lincoln's military policies. In 1862, Lincoln appointed Johnson military governor of occupied Tennessee, where he was effective in fighting and ending the rebellion. Johnson implemented Reconstruction policies in the state and transitioned for a time to a pro-emancipation policy.
Johnson was nominated as the vice presidential candidate in 1864 on the National Union Party ticket. He and Lincoln were elected in 1864, and inaugurated in March of 1865. Johnson was quite drunk at his inauguration as vice-president.
A month later Johnson assumed the presidency upon Lincoln's assassination. Johnson was supposed to be assassinated as part of the plot to kill Lincoln, but the man assigned to kill Johnson lost his nerve.
As president, Johnson implemented his own form of Presidential Reconstruction – a series of proclamations directing the seceded states to hold conventions and elections to re-form their civil governments. Johnson adopted a conciliatory attitude towards the South, and his rush to reincorporate the former Confederate states into the union without due regard for freedmen's rights, as well as his vetoes of civil rights bills embroiled him in a bitter dispute with Radical Republicans who demanded harsher measures. The Radicals, who were infuriated with Johnson's lenient policies, impeached Johnson in 1868 (a first for a U.S. president), charging him with violating the Tenure of Office Act, when he sought to remove his Secretary of War without Senate approval. His trial in the Senate ended in an acquittal by a single vote.
As president, Johnson attempted to build a party of loyalists under the National Union label. His failure to turn the National Union brand into a genuine party made Johnson an independent during his presidency, though he later rejoined the Democratic party briefly as a Democratic Senator from Tennessee in 1875 until his death that year. Johnson died from a stroke near Elizabethton, Tennessee, on July 31, 1875. He was buried just outside Greeneville – with his body wrapped in an American flag and a copy of the U.S. Constitution placed under his head, according to his wishes. The burial ground was dedicated as the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery in 1906, now part of the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site.
Johnson became a tailor, and is the only President to be inaugurated in a suit that he made himself. He was self-educated; he married and had five children. He moved his family to Tennessee and was elected as an alderman and as Mayor of Greeneville, Tennessee before being elected to the state assembly. Later he was elected to the state senate. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served a total of five terms and was elected as Governor of Tennessee for two terms. All these offices were held while Johnson was a member of the Democratic Party.
When Tennessee seceded from the Union in 1861, Johnson was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Tennessee. He was dedicated to Jacksonian Democracy, nationalism and limited government. He was adamantly against secession and remained a Unionist, in spite of the fact that he was a slaveholder and was pro-slavery. Johnson was the only Southern senator who did not resign his seat during the Civil War. He became the most prominent War Democrat from the South and supported Abraham Lincoln's military policies. In 1862, Lincoln appointed Johnson military governor of occupied Tennessee, where he was effective in fighting and ending the rebellion. Johnson implemented Reconstruction policies in the state and transitioned for a time to a pro-emancipation policy.
Johnson was nominated as the vice presidential candidate in 1864 on the National Union Party ticket. He and Lincoln were elected in 1864, and inaugurated in March of 1865. Johnson was quite drunk at his inauguration as vice-president.
A month later Johnson assumed the presidency upon Lincoln's assassination. Johnson was supposed to be assassinated as part of the plot to kill Lincoln, but the man assigned to kill Johnson lost his nerve.
As president, Johnson implemented his own form of Presidential Reconstruction – a series of proclamations directing the seceded states to hold conventions and elections to re-form their civil governments. Johnson adopted a conciliatory attitude towards the South, and his rush to reincorporate the former Confederate states into the union without due regard for freedmen's rights, as well as his vetoes of civil rights bills embroiled him in a bitter dispute with Radical Republicans who demanded harsher measures. The Radicals, who were infuriated with Johnson's lenient policies, impeached Johnson in 1868 (a first for a U.S. president), charging him with violating the Tenure of Office Act, when he sought to remove his Secretary of War without Senate approval. His trial in the Senate ended in an acquittal by a single vote.
As president, Johnson attempted to build a party of loyalists under the National Union label. His failure to turn the National Union brand into a genuine party made Johnson an independent during his presidency, though he later rejoined the Democratic party briefly as a Democratic Senator from Tennessee in 1875 until his death that year. Johnson died from a stroke near Elizabethton, Tennessee, on July 31, 1875. He was buried just outside Greeneville – with his body wrapped in an American flag and a copy of the U.S. Constitution placed under his head, according to his wishes. The burial ground was dedicated as the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery in 1906, now part of the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site.