President Andrew Johnson
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| President Andrew Johnson | |
|---|---|
 Mathew Benjamin Brady · Public domain · source | |
| Name | Andrew Johnson |
| Caption | Portrait of Andrew Johnson, 1860s |
| Birth date | December 29, 1808 |
| Birth place | Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Death date | July 31, 1875 |
| Death place | Elizabethton, Tennessee |
| Party | Democratic Party (pre-1868), National Union Party (1864–1868) |
| Offices | 17th President of the United States; 16th Vice President of the United States; United States Senator from Tennessee; Governor of Tennessee; Mayor of Greeneville, Tennessee |
President Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States who served from 1865 to 1869 after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. A tailor by trade and a self-educated statesman, Johnson rose from humble origins in Raleigh, North Carolina and Greeneville, Tennessee to hold local, state, and federal offices including United States Senate seats and the Governorship of Tennessee. His presidency presided over the early Reconstruction Era and provoked a landmark constitutional crisis culminating in the first presidential impeachment in U.S. history. Controversial policies and clashes with the United States Congress—notably the Radical Republicans—shaped his complex legacy in American history.
Early life and career
Born in Raleigh, North Carolina and orphaned early, Johnson apprenticed as a tailor in Greeneville, Tennessee and became involved in local politics in the 1820s. He served as Alderman and Mayor of Greeneville, Tennessee, forging ties with regional figures and entering the orbit of the Democratic Party during the era of Andrew Jackson and the Second Party System. Johnson’s self-education led to appointments as Justice of the Peace and later election to the Tennessee House of Representatives, where he opposed states’ elites and aligned with smallholder interests. His early career intersected with contemporaries such as James K. Polk, John C. Calhoun, and regional politicians who dominated Tennessee politics.
Governorship and U.S. Senate
Johnson was elected Governor of Tennessee and served multiple terms in the 1850s, positioning himself against the state’s planter aristocracy and supporting Unionism amid rising sectional tensions. During the 1850s Johnson’s governorship placed him among state executives alongside figures like Sam Houston, Henry Wise, and William Sprague IV. Elected to the United States Senate in 1857, Johnson served until 1862, breaking with many Southern colleagues over secession and aligning with Senator Benjamin Wade–style Unionist sentiment. His senatorial tenure overlapped with national crises involving the Compromise of 1850 legacy, the Kansas–Nebraska Act, and legislative debates featuring Stephen A. Douglas and Jefferson Davis.
Vice presidency and accession
In 1864 Johnson was chosen as the National Union Party vice presidential nominee on a ticket with Abraham Lincoln to broaden wartime unity, replacing the regular Republican Party ticket. Johnson’s selection was intended to appeal to War Democrats and Southern Unionists; he campaigned alongside Lincoln and prominent figures such as Salmon P. Chase, Edwin M. Stanton, and William H. Seward. After Lincoln’s assassination at Ford’s Theatre by John Wilkes Booth, Johnson acceded to the presidency on April 15, 1865, taking the oath administered by Salmon P. Chase and inheriting wartime and reconstruction responsibilities alongside military leaders like Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman.
Presidency (1865–1869)
Johnson’s presidency confronted the aftermath of the American Civil War and the status of the defeated Confederate states, Confederate leaders such as Jefferson Davis, and freed people emancipated by the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment. He favored rapid restoration of Southern governments under Presidential pardons and clashed with Congressional Reconstruction advocates including Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner, and members of the Radical Republicans. Major legislative matters during his term included the passage and interpretation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, debates over the proposed Fourteenth Amendment, and conflicts regarding military governance in the former Confederacy administered by Army commanders and military districts. Johnson’s dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton precipitated confrontation with the Congressional Joint Committee on Reconstruction and enforcement disputes involving the Tenure of Office Act. Internationally, his administration navigated relations with Great Britain, France, and events such as the Alabama Claims aftermath and recognition issues with Mexico amid intervention by Emperor Maximilian and Napoleon III.
Impeachment and trial
The removal of Edwin M. Stanton in 1868 led the United States House of Representatives—influenced by Radical Republicans including Benjamin Wade and Thaddeus Stevens—to pass articles of impeachment alleging violations of the Tenure of Office Act and other charges. The subsequent trial in the United States Senate featured prosecutors like John Bingham and defense arguments invoking Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase’s role presiding and legal counsel including Henry Stanbery. The Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds threshold required for conviction, with pivotal senators such as William Pitt Fessenden, Joseph S. Fowler, and Edwin D. Morgan casting decisive votes for acquittal. The impeachment established precedents regarding executive removal powers, legislative-executive conflict, and constitutional interpretation of impeachment standards.
Later life and legacy
After leaving the presidency in 1869, Johnson returned to Tennessee and resumed political activity, winning election to the United States Senate in 1875, becoming one of the few former presidents to serve later in the Senate. He served briefly before his death in Elizabethton, Tennessee in 1875. Historians and biographers—including scholars tracing interpretations from the Dunning School to revisionist and modern analyses—debate Johnson’s legacy regarding his views on Reconstruction, racial equality, and presidential authority. His opposition to Radical Reconstruction and clashes with figures such as Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner shaped the course of post–Civil War politics, while institutions like Howard University and activism by leaders such as Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington responded to the era Johnson influenced. Monuments, state histories, and scholarly works continue to reassess his role amid broader discussions involving the Fourteenth Amendment, civil rights legislation, and the limits of executive power.