Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson
Mathew Benjamin Brady · Public domain · source
Name	Andrew Johnson
Order	17th
Office	President of the United States
Vicepresident	None
Term start	April 15, 1865
Term end	March 4, 1869
Predecessor	Abraham Lincoln
Successor	Ulysses S. Grant
Order2	16th
Office2	Vice President of the United States
Term start2	March 4, 1865
Term end2	April 15, 1865
President2	Abraham Lincoln
Predecessor2	Hannibal Hamlin
Successor2	Schuyler Colfax
Office3	Military Governor of Tennessee
Term start3	March 12, 1862
Term end3	March 4, 1865
Appointer3	Abraham Lincoln
Predecessor3	Isham G. Harris (Governor)
Successor3	William G. Brownlow (Governor)
Birth date	29 December 1808
Birth place	Raleigh, North Carolina
Death date	31 July 1875
Death place	Elizabethton, Tennessee
Party	Democratic (c. 1839–1875)
Otherparty	National Union (1864–1868)
Spouse	Eliza McCardle, May 17, 1827

Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States, ascending to the office after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. His presidency during the pivotal era of Reconstruction is defined by his vehement opposition to civil rights for newly freed African Americans and his catastrophic clashes with the Radical Republicans in Congress. Johnson's policies, which sought to quickly restore the former Confederate states with minimal federal intervention, directly undermined the promise of racial equality and significantly hindered the progress of the early civil rights movement.

Early Life and Political Career

Andrew Johnson was born into poverty in Raleigh, North Carolina and never attended formal school. He worked as a tailor's apprentice before moving to Greeneville, Tennessee, where he entered politics. A staunch Jacksonian Democrat, he championed the interests of the yeoman farmer and the common white man against the Southern planter aristocracy. He served as a U.S. Representative, Governor of Tennessee, and U.S. Senator. When Tennessee seceded in 1861, Johnson remained firmly pro-Union, the only Southern senator to do so, earning him acclaim in the North and the label of traitor in the South. In 1862, Abraham Lincoln appointed him Military Governor of Tennessee. His selection as Lincoln's running mate on the 1864 National Union ticket was a strategic move to promote wartime unity.

Presidency and Reconstruction

Johnson became president in April 1865, at the close of the American Civil War. He inherited the monumental task of reconstructing the nation. Without consulting Congress, which was in recess, Johnson implemented his own plan, known as Presidential Reconstruction. This plan offered amnesty and restoration of property (excluding enslaved people) to most former Confederates who took an oath of allegiance. It allowed Southern states to hold constitutional conventions and form new governments, provided they nullify their ordinances of secession and ratify the Thirteenth Amendment. Johnson's approach empowered former Confederate elites, leading to the rapid election of many to high office and the passage of Black Codes—laws designed to restrict the freedoms of African Americans and maintain a system of racial and economic subjugation.

Conflict with Radical Republicans

Johnson's lenient policies and his defense of States' rights provoked immediate and intense conflict with the Radical Republicans, a powerful faction in Congress led by figures like Thaddeus Stevens in the House and Charles Sumner in the Senate. The Radicals believed the federal government had a duty to secure civil and political rights for freed people and to fundamentally restructure Southern society. They viewed Johnson's actions as a betrayal of the Union's cause and a restoration of the Old South's power structure. This clash defined his presidency, leading to a protracted political war over the direction of Reconstruction.

Vetoes of Civil Rights Legislation

President Johnson used his veto power aggressively to block landmark civil rights legislation passed by the Radical Republican-controlled 39th Congress. In 1866, he vetoed the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, which sought to extend the life and expand the duties of the Freedmen's Bureau, an agency providing food, housing, and education to freed people and refugees. Later that year, he also vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the first United States federal law to define civil rights, which declared that all persons born in the Congress. In a historic moment for civil rights, Congress overrode this veto, marking the first time in American history that a major piece of Representatives and the first to be elected to the United States Congress] (a landmark in the United States Congress|Senate and the first to the United States|Congress and the first to the United States Congress. Johnson's veto of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and Freedmen's Bureau Bill and the first federal government's first major legislative victory for the Civil rights movement (1865–1896)|civil rights movement. Congress, in a direct rebuke, voted to override both vetoes of the United States Congress|Congress and the first federal law to define civil rights|Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the first federal law|Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the first federal government. Johnson's veto of the United States Congress|Congress and the United States Congress|Congress and age|1866 and the first. Congress, he vetoed the United States Congress|Congress and the United States Congress|Congress and the first federal law. Johnson's Bureau Bill and the first. Johnson's veto of the United States Congress|United States Congress|Congress and the United States Congress|Congress and the United States Congress|Congress and the United States Congress|Congress and the United States Congress|Congress and the United States Congress|Congress and the United States Congress|Congress and the United States Congress|Congress. Johnson's veto of the United States Congress|Congress and the United States Congress|Congress and the United States Congress|Congress and the United States Congress|Congress.