LESSER-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT OUR PRESIDENTS
Or PRESIDENTIAL PARAGRAPHS - #17
Mort Fox
Try to imagine playing Shakespeare after Lawrence Olivier, try to imagine being the host
of a late night TV talk show after Johnny Carson, and now try to imagine being president
after the martyred Abraham Lincoln! This was the plight of Andrew Johnson, our 17th
president.
Johnson was born in 1808 in Raleigh, North Carolina into abject poverty. To make
matters worse, his father died when he was only three years old. At the age of fourteen,
he and his older brother were indentured to a tailor to learn that trade. After two years,
they escaped. Eventually he returned to his family and they traveled to Greenville,
Tennessee where he settled.
In Greenville, things started to look up for Johnson. Here he finally learned to read and
write, more than his own name. Much of this was with the help of his young bride, Eliza.
Still in his teens, he opened his own tailor shop. Johnson became very popular and was
alderman and mayor of the city. He then served in the Tennessee legislature. Johnson was
in the U. S. House of Representatives for ten years. He was then made governor of
Tennessee. In 1857 the state legislature elected him to the U. S. Senate.
It was in the senate that he displayed his strong support for the Union. As the other
southern members of the senate left to return to their native states, he renounced them as
traitors. Although Johnson was never an advocate for the elimination of slavery, he was
vehemently opposed to secession. In 1862 President Lincoln appointed him Military
Governor of Tennessee, with the rank of brigadier general. He was given broad powers of
enforcement. He demanded all state employees take a loyalty oath to the Union.
This demonstration of vigorous defense of the Union, led President Lincoln to switch
vice-presidential candidates for the 1864 election. Johnson, who had the support of what
were called War Democrats, was the perfect choice.
He was sworn-in as vice-president on March 4, 1865 and served in that capacity until the
dastardly assassination of President Lincoln on April 14th. Lincoln’s very untimely death
occurred the next day and Johnson took the presidential oath.
As strongly as he had previously felt about punishing the southern treachery, he was
convinced his duty was to continue Lincoln’s more lenient approach to reconstruction.
The radical Republicans in Congress did not agree. They proceeded to make Johnson’s
life miserable. One of their ilk was the Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Since Stanton
was always at odds with the president, it was Johnson’s desire to dispense with the
services of Mr. Stanton. Knowing of this, the Radical Republicans passed the Tenure of
Office Act over Johnson’s veto. This law, which was later repealed, stated that the
president could not discharge certain appointees, including cabinet members without
senatorial approval. The House voted to impeach Johnson. The senate sat in judgment
and he was saved from conviction by one vote, thanks to the courage of seven Republican
senators.
Johnson’s foreign affairs were more successful than his domestic actions. Thanks to his
Secretary of State William Seward, Alaska was purchased from Russia for $7.2 million.
Called Seward’s Folly then, it certainly turned out to be a very great bargain.