Andrew Johnson (U.S. president)
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| Andrew Johnson (U.S. president) | |
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| Name | Andrew Johnson |
| Order | 17th President of the United States |
| Vice president | None |
| Term start | April 15, 1865 |
| Term end | March 4, 1869 |
| Predecessor | Abraham Lincoln |
| Successor | Ulysses S. Grant |
| Birth date | December 29, 1808 |
| Birth place | Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Death date | July 31, 1875 |
| Death place | Elizabethton, Tennessee |
| Party | Democratic Party (before 1864), National Union (1864–1868) |
Andrew Johnson (U.S. president) was the 17th President of the United States, assuming office after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. A tailor by trade who rose through local and state offices in Tennessee, he served as U.S. Senator from Tennessee, Military Governor of Tennessee, and Vice President of the United States before becoming president. Johnson’s presidency encompassed the immediate post-American Civil War era and the contentious beginning of Reconstruction.
Early life and career
Johnson was born in Raleigh, North Carolina to a poor family and apprenticed as a tailor, apprenticing in Greeneville, Tennessee. He married Eliza McCardle and moved into Tennessee politics, serving on the Tennessee House of Representatives and later the Tennessee Senate. Johnson was elected as Mayor of Greeneville, Tennessee and then to the U.S. House of Representatives representing Tennessee, where he opposed the Nullification Crisis policies of John C. Calhoun and clashed with Whig Party leaders. He fought political battles with figures such as Henry Clay and Daniel Webster while aligning with the Democratic Party on many issues. Johnson’s early career intersected with national debates over the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the expansion controversies that involved actors like Stephen A. Douglas.
Political rise in Tennessee
Johnson's prominence grew as he championed the interests of small farmers and frontier settlers in Tennessee, positioning himself against the region’s plantation elite including families allied with Nathan Bedford Forrest and other Confederate leaders. He served as Governor of Tennessee and then was elected to the U.S. Senate (Class 1) where he was an outspoken advocate for states' rights positions similar to those of Andrew Jackson while maintaining Unionist loyalty during the secession crisis. After Tennessee seceded, Johnson remained loyal to the Union, cooperating with William G. Brownlow and accepting appointment as Military Governor of Tennessee under President Abraham Lincoln. His alliance with Unionist Democrats and Republicans in Tennessee earned him a selection as Lincoln’s running mate on the National Union ticket in 1864, defeating opponents such as George B. McClellan.
Presidency (1865–1869)
As president after Lincoln’s assassination by John Wilkes Booth, Johnson confronted the immediate challenges of reintegrating the Confederate States and addressing the status of freed enslaved people following the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. His cabinet included figures like William H. Seward and he clashed repeatedly with leaders of the Republican Party such as Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner. Johnson vetoed legislation including the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, which Congress overrode, setting up constitutional confrontations involving the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Internationally, his administration dealt with issues linked to Mexico and the withdrawal of occupation forces that had lingered since the Mexican–American War era and earlier diplomatic disputes involving the Monroe Doctrine.
Reconstruction policies and conflict with Congress
Johnson advocated a lenient plan of presidential reconstruction that granted rapid pardons to former Confederates and restored property rights to many Southern elites, provoking fierce opposition from Radical Republicans led by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner. Congressional Republicans passed measures to protect the civil rights of freedpeople, including the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Reconstruction Acts, which imposed military reconstruction in the South and were championed by lawmakers like Benjamin Wade and Oliver P. Morton. Johnson’s use of pardon power and his vetoes brought him into direct conflict with the United States Congress, leading to repeated overrides and political maneuvers by figures such as George H. Williams and Jacob M. Howard who authored key legislation.
Impeachment and trial
Conflict culminated in Johnson’s impeachment by the United States House of Representatives in 1868, propelled by leaders including Thaddeus Stevens and James Mitchell Ashley, following charges related to violation of the Tenure of Office Act after Johnson attempted to remove Edwin M. Stanton as Secretary of War. The ensuing trial in the United States Senate featured figures like Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase presiding; the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds conviction necessary to remove Johnson, with pivotal senators including Edmund G. Ross and Joseph S. Fowler casting deciding votes. The trial intersected with elections and political calculations involving Ulysses S. Grant and the 1868 presidential contest.
Post-presidency and later life
After leaving the White House, Johnson returned to Tennessee and remained politically active; he campaigned against suffrage expansions that he opposed and appealed to Democrats and Conservative elements in the South. In 1875, he was elected again to the U.S. Senate representing Tennessee, seated shortly before his death in Elizabethton, Tennessee. His later years brought him into contact with national figures such as Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden in the context of the contested politics of the 1870s.
Legacy and historical assessment
Historians and public figures have debated Johnson’s legacy: critics including Frederick Douglass and modern scholars like Eric Foner judge his policies as obstructive to civil rights and amelioration for freedpeople, arguing that his actions enabled the rise of Jim Crow laws and rollback of Reconstruction gains. Defenders point to his Unionist loyalty and portray his objections as constitutional conservatism akin to earlier statesmen like John C. Calhoun in some respects. Johnson’s presidency is frequently compared with those of Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and later presidents facing impeachment such as Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon. His name appears in debates about presidential reconstruction, congressional supremacy, and the limits of executive power—issues examined by legal scholars including Akbar S. Ahmed and historians across institutions like Smithsonian Institution and universities such as Harvard University and Columbia University.