Andrew Johnson

I

Introduction

Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), 17th president of the United States (1865-1869). Johnson was the first U.S. president to be impeached (see Impeachment). The House of Representatives charged him with misbehavior in office, and he escaped conviction in his Senate trial by only one vote. Johnson became president at a critical time in American history. He succeeded Abraham Lincoln when Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865, only a few days after the Civil War ended. In addition to these trying circumstances, Johnson also had trouble cooperating with other political leaders while proceeding to accomplish his aims.

Johnson’s impeachment was the result of a struggle to preserve the powers of the presidency in the face of attacks by a determined Congress of the United States. Even though Johnson contributed materially to his own difficulties, he must be respected for his staunch defense of the rights reserved to the president by the Constitution of the United States.

II

Early Life

Johnson’s parents, Jacob and Mary McDonough Johnson, were very poor people. Johnson’s father worked as a porter and sexton in Raleigh, North Carolina. Andrew, the younger of their two sons, was born in a small log house in Raleigh on December 29, 1808.

When Johnson was still young, his father died. After a time, Johnson’s mother married again, but the family was still too poor to send him to school. At the age of ten, Johnson was apprenticed to a tailor so that he would learn a trade.

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When Johnson was 17, he and his family traveled west through the mountain passes to Greeneville, in eastern Tennessee, where they settled. When the only tailor in Greeneville moved elsewhere, Johnson opened a tailor shop in a small frame building. The building still stands, along with a sign over the door that reads: “A. Johnson Tailor.”

In 1827, soon after opening his shop, Johnson married Eliza McCardle. She was intelligent and had had some schooling. With the help of his wife, Johnson improved his reading and learned writing and arithmetic.

By applying himself to his trade, Johnson earned a comfortable living for his family. In time he accumulated enough savings to buy a farm of about 40 hectares (100 acres). The Johnsons had two daughters, Martha and Mary, and three sons, Charles, Robert, and Andrew.

Johnson was a thickset man of average height. He was always neat, but he was not handsome. He had dark hair and eyes, a swarthy complexion, and a large-featured face. Johnson was an extremely serious man. However, what he lacked in humor and imagination he made up for by an unshakable faith in what he believed was right and just. He felt a kinship with working people and small farmers, and he disliked people of wealth or privilege.

III

Early Political Career

In 1829 Johnson ran successfully for alderman on a platform that appealed to Greeneville’s working class. In 1834 he was elected mayor of Greeneville. Johnson then served in the Tennessee house of representatives from 1835 to 1837 and from 1839 to 1843, when he was elected to the state senate.

Soon after entering politics, Johnson identified himself with the democratic ideals represented by President Andrew Jackson (1829-1837). Johnson supported Jackson’s political stands, and he even used Jackson’s picture as a campaign symbol. Many people came to think of Johnson as a second Jackson. In addition, Johnson was becoming a skillful campaigner, who was noted for his forceful speeches and sharp debates.

A

United States Congressman

In 1843, Johnson became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the U.S. Congress, where he served until 1853. In Congress he was a champion of the poor. He fought for a homestead law that would make free grants of public lands to settlers who farmed the land. He succeeded in getting a homestead bill passed by the House, but the bill was not passed by the upper chamber, the U.S. Senate.

Although Johnson supported many measures to extend democracy throughout the country, he went along with the proslavery views held in the Southern states. However, because few people in Johnson’s district owned slaves, this was not a major issue to his constituents.

In 1852 the legislature in Tennessee, which was controlled by the Whig Party, combined election districts in such a way that Johnson, a member of the Democratic Party, would have to run for Congress in a predominantly Whig district. This kind of redistricting for political advantage is called gerrymandering. Instead of running for Congress, Johnson ran for governor of Tennessee and was elected in a close race.