Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson
Portrait c. 1870–1875
17th President of the United States
In office April 15, 1865 – March 4, 1869
Vice President	None[a]
Preceded by	Abraham Lincoln
Succeeded by	Ulysses S. Grant
16th Vice President of the United States
In office March 4, 1865 – April 15, 1865
President	Abraham Lincoln
Preceded by	Hannibal Hamlin
Succeeded by	Schuyler Colfax
United States Senator from Tennessee
In office March 4, 1875 – July 31, 1875
Preceded by	William G. Brownlow
Succeeded by	David M. Key
In office October 8, 1857 – March 4, 1862
Preceded by	James C. Jones
Succeeded by	David T. Patterson
Military Governor of Tennessee
In office March 12, 1862 – March 4, 1865
Appointed by	Abraham Lincoln
Preceded by	Isham G. Harris (as Governor)
Succeeded by	William G. Brownlow (as Governor)
15th Governor of Tennessee
In office October 17, 1853 – November 3, 1857
Preceded by	William B. Campbell
Succeeded by	Isham G. Harris
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 1st district
In office March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1853
Preceded by	Thomas Dickens Arnold
Succeeded by	Brookins Campbell
Personal details
Born	(1808-12-29)December 29, 1808 Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	July 31, 1875(1875-07-31) (aged 66) Elizabethton, Tennessee, U.S.
Cause of death	Stroke
Resting place	Andrew Johnson National Cemetery, Greeneville, Tennessee, U.S.
Political party	Democratic (from 1839)[1][2]
Other political affiliations	Independent (before 1839)[1][2] Mechanics' (Working Men's) (1829–1835)[3][4] National Union (1864–1868)
Spouse	Eliza McCardle ​ (m. 1827)​
Children	Martha Charles Mary Robert Andrew Jr.
Parents	Jacob Johnson Mary McDonough
Profession	Politician tailor
Signature
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1862–1865
Rank	Brigadier General (as Military Governor of Tennessee)
Battles/wars	American Civil War

This article is part of a series about Andrew Johnson
Early life Andrew Johnson and slavery Legacy Bibliography 15th Governor of Tennessee Governorship 16th Vice President of the United States Vice presidency Drunk V.P. inaugural address Assassination of Abraham Lincoln 17th President of the United States Presidency Inauguration Foreign policy Cabinet appointment Judicial appointment Conclusion of Civil War Reconstruction era Reconstruction Acts Civil Rights Act (1866) Swing Around the Circle Impeachment First inquiry Second inquiry Trial Managers investigation Efforts Timeline Articles of impeachment Vice presidential and Presidential campaigns 1864 National Union national convention election 1868 Democratic National Convention Post-presidency Return to Senate Death Cemetery Historic Site Family Eliza McCardle Johnson Martha Johnson Patterson Charles Johnson Mary Johnson Stover Robert Johnson Frank Johnson
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Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808 – July 31, 1875) was an American politician who served as the 17th president of the United States from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, as he was vice president at that time. Johnson was a Democrat who ran with Abraham Lincoln on the National Union Party ticket, coming to office as the Civil War concluded. He favored quick restoration of the seceded states to the Union without protection for the newly freed people who were formerly enslaved. This led to conflict with the Republican-dominated Congress, culminating in his impeachment by the House of Representatives in 1868. He was acquitted in the Senate by one vote.

Johnson was born into poverty and never attended school. He was apprenticed as a tailor and worked in several frontier towns before settling in Greeneville, Tennessee, serving as an alderman and mayor before being elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1835. After briefly serving in the Tennessee Senate, Johnson was elected to the House of Representatives in 1843, where he served five two-year terms. He became governor of Tennessee for four years, and was elected by the legislature to the Senate in 1857. During his congressional service, he sought passage of the Homestead Bill which was enacted soon after he left his Senate seat in 1862. Southern slave states seceded to form the Confederate States of America, including Tennessee, but Johnson remained firmly with the Union. He was the only sitting senator from a Confederate state who did not resign his seat upon learning of his state's secession. In 1862, Lincoln appointed him as Military Governor of Tennessee after most of it had been retaken. In 1864, Johnson was a logical choice as running mate for Lincoln, who wished to send a message of national unity in his re-election campaign, and became vice president after a victorious election in 1864.

Johnson implemented his own form of Presidential Reconstruction, a series of proclamations directing the seceded states to hold conventions and elections to reform their civil governments. Southern states returned many of their old leaders and passed Black Codes to deprive the freedmen of many civil liberties, but Congressional Republicans refused to seat legislators from those states and advanced legislation to overrule the Southern actions. Johnson vetoed their bills, and Congressional Republicans overrode him, setting a pattern for the remainder of his presidency.^[b] Johnson opposed the Fourteenth Amendment which gave citizenship to former slaves. In 1866, he went on an unprecedented national tour promoting his executive policies, seeking to break Republican opposition.^[5] As the conflict grew between the branches of government, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act restricting Johnson's ability to fire Cabinet officials. He persisted in trying to dismiss Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, but ended up being impeached by the House of Representatives and narrowly avoided conviction in the Senate. He did not win the 1868 Democratic presidential nomination and left office the following year.

Johnson returned to Tennessee after his presidency and gained some vindication when he was elected to the Senate in 1875, making him the only president to afterwards serve in the Senate. He died five months into his term. Johnson's strong opposition to federally guaranteed rights for black Americans is widely criticized. Historians have consistently ranked him one of the worst presidents in American history.

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