JOHNSON, ANDREW. 



411 



JOHNSON, ANDREW, seventeenth President 

 of the United States, was born at Raleigh, N. 0., 

 December 29, 1808, and died in Carter County, 

 East Tennessee, July 31, 1875, aged 66. He 

 lost his father when only four years of age, and 

 at ten was apprenticed to a tailor of his native 

 place, whom he served seven years. He was 

 not at school a day in his life. While learning 

 his trade he resolved to educate himself, and 

 having learned his letters, he borrowed a book 

 which he had heard read aloud ; he thus 

 learned to read, and at the end of his appren- 

 ticeship, in 1824, he went to Laurens Court- 

 House, S. 0., where ha was employed as a jour- 

 neyman for nearly two years. After working 

 again for a short time at Raleigh, in 1826, he 

 set out to seek his fortune in the West, taking 

 with him his mother, who was dependent on 

 him for support. He obtained work at Green- 

 ville, Tenn., remained there about a year, mar- 

 ried, afterward went farther westward, and 

 eventually returned and settled at Greenville, 

 where he commenced business. Hitherto he 

 could only read, but now, after the labors of 

 the day were over, his wife taught him to write 

 and cipher. The first office he held was that 

 of alderman, to which he was elected in 1828. 

 He wes reflected in 1829, and in 1830 he was 

 chosen mayor, which office he held for three 

 years. In 1835 he was chosen to the Legisla- 

 ture, where he took decided ground against a 

 certain scheme for internal improvements. On 

 account of this course he was defeated at the 

 next election, in 1837, but events having de- 

 monstrated his forecast, he was in 1839 elected 

 again by a large majority. In 1840 he served 

 as presidential elector on the Democratic tick- 

 et ; in 1841 he was elected to the State Sen- 

 ate, and in 1843 to Congress, in which, by suc- 

 cessive elections, he served until 1853. During 

 this period he was a conspicuous advocate of 

 the annexation of Texas, the war with Mexico, 

 and the other measures of Mr. Folk's Adminis- 

 tration. To the question of slavery he was as 

 yet indifferent. In 1853 he was elected Gov- 

 ernor of Tennessee, and reflected in 1855, after 

 a severe contest. At the end of his second 

 term as Governor, in 1857, he was elected 

 United States Senator for a full term, ending 

 March 3, 1863. The opening of the civil war 

 found Mr. Johnson on the side of the Union. 

 Having supported the compromise policy of 

 Breckinridge, he now denounced secession, 

 and supported the Administration of Lincoln. 

 In February, 1861, he made a powerful speech 

 of two days, wherein he arraigned the seced- 

 ing Senators as traitors, and when assailed by 

 Senator Lane, of Oregon, he replied to him 

 with great vigor and animation. These speech- 

 es made him very popular in the North, but, 

 on his return to Tennessee, he was threatened 

 with personal violence, was burnt in effigy at 

 Memphis, and was in daily peril of his life. 

 He fled to the North, a fugitive, as he said, not 

 from justice, but from tyranny. Before his 

 term in the Senate had expired, Mr. Lincoln 



appointed him provisional Governor of Ten- 

 nessee, and gave him the rank of brigadier- 

 general in the Volunteers. He ruled the State 

 with an iron hand, and in 1864 brought her 

 back into the Union. On the reelection of 

 Mr. Lincoln, in 1864, in order to conciliate the 

 war Democrats, Mr. Johnson was elected 

 Vice-President, and after the assassination of 

 Mr. Lincoln, April 14, was sworn in as Presi- 

 dent, April 15, 1865. In May he appointed a 

 commission to try the persons engaged in the 

 assassination of the late President. His at- 

 tempts to reconstruct the Union were not well 

 received by Congress. When this body assem- 

 bled in December, 1865, he sent a message an- 

 nouncing* that eight of the Southern States had 

 been thoroughly reconstructed; the Republi- 

 can majority, however, repudiated the Presi- 

 dent's acts, and proceeded to reorganize the 

 South after its own fashion. Congress passed 

 bill after bill, designed to cripple his power 

 and assert its own authority in the subjugated 

 States. The President vetoed each measure, 

 but it was nevertheless passed by Congress. 

 Before the close of his term he had vetoed no 

 less than nineteen bills. Appealing to the 

 people, the President encouraged the holding 

 of a convention in August, 1866, the specific 

 object of which was not defined. This con- 

 vention approved of his policy, and sent him a 

 deputation to assure him of its confidence. On 

 August 28th he set out on a tour through the 

 Middle and Western States, accompanied by 

 several members of his cabinet and others, 

 making speeches with the view of affecting 

 the approaching election. However, his sup- 

 porters were left in a minority. On August 

 12, 1867, he suspended Mr. Stanton from office 

 as Secretary of War, and appointed General 

 Grant as Secretary ad interim.. The Senate 

 having refused to sanction Mr. Stacton's re- 

 moval, General Grant resigned the office into 

 the hands of Mr. Stanton. On February 21, 

 1868, the President made another attempt to 

 remove Mr. Stanton. The next day the House 

 of Representatives passed a resolution that the 

 President be impeached. At the close of the 

 trial, May 20th, when the final vote was taken, 

 thirty-five voted guilty, nineteen not guilty. 

 As a two-thirds vote is required to convict, 

 the President was formally acquitted. His last 

 act in opposition to Congress was in Decem- 

 ber, 1868, when he issued a proclamation of 

 full pardon to everybody who had participated 

 in the rebellion. Returning home at the close 

 of his term of office, he became, in 1870, a 

 candidate for the United States Senate, but 

 was defeated. In 1872 he was again defeated 

 as Congressman at large. But in January, 

 1875, he was elected United States Senator, 

 and occupied his seat during the brief extra 

 session in March, speaking on a resolution 

 against recognizing the Kellogg government 

 in Louisiana. He had courage, political in- 

 sight, and honesty never shadowed by sus- 

 picion. 



