The Unexpected President (Article 99)

He was a long time Democrat and a Southerner, chosen to serve as a replacement Vice-President to the leader of the Republican party and a Northerner. No one expected him to ever become President, after all, his boss was only fifty-five years old and in excellent health.

Abraham Lincoln had once said (paraphrased), Politics do not make a President, only events can make a President.” On April 15, 1865, events made Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, President of the United States.

Most of us were taught one thing about Mr. Johnson: he was the first President to be impeached! And, although he was not convicted in the Senate, by one vote, the impeachment is his historical marker. But he was a complicated individual, willing to take a stand, obstinate to a fault, a good administrator, and enjoyed his whiskey. He had owned slaves but even that part of his life is beset with contradictions. He had twice sought the Democratic nomination as President, but never came close to his goal. And when he finally became President, it was in a manner neither he, nor anyone else, wished. 

He was born in North Carolina in 1808. His father died when Andrew was three and his mother, a washerwoman, became the sole support of her family. She apprenticed both of her sons, including Andrew’s brother, to a tailor and, under the laws of servitude at that time, both boys were legally obligated to serve until their 21st birthday.

His parents were illiterate and he never attended any school; but he did learn basic reading and writing while an apprentice. He exhibited a joy of reading and several of the customers of the tailor began to help him develop his literary skills. Even as an adult, he was a voracious reader and later championed the expansion of libraries.

When he was fifteen, Johnson and his brother ran away from the tailor and were sought by authorities. A reward notice read; “Ten Dollars Reward. Ran away from the subscriber, two apprentice boys, legally bound, named William and Andrew Johnson ... [payment] to any person who will deliver said apprentices to me in Raleigh, or I will give the above reward for Andrew Johnson alone." It would seem by that offer that Andrew was the more valuable (hard working) apprentice. Soon, fearing arrest, they returned hoping the tailor would negotiate a price for their freedom.  When that failed, they again escaped but this time far from home, into Tennessee, eventually settling in Greenville.  There was always work for a good tailor and Andrew Johnson was an expert. His new business flourished, he was able to hire additional workers, and, in 1827, at the age of 18, he married 16-year-old Eliza McCardle, the daughter of a local shoemaker. Eliza was well educated and helped him further improve his reading, writing, and arithmetic. It was a congenial marriage that lasted over fifty years and they had five children. By all accounts, Andrew was a loving husband and father, even during his later absences as a national politician. Over time he began to accumulate real estate in the area including a larger home and a farm, and was one of Tennessee’s most prosperous self-made men. At some point, he was able to sell his tailoring business to concentrate on politics. 

He served as alderman and mayor of Greenville, Tennessee and was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1835, and four years later to the State Senate. He was a rising young politician, and at the age of thirty-three, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the first of five terms. While a Representative, then President Polk said of Johnson, “Professing to be a Democrat, he has been politically, if not personally hostile to me during my whole term. He is very vindictive and perverse in his temper and conduct. If he had the manliness and independence to declare his opposition openly, he knows he could not be elected by his constituents.”

But Polk was wrong about Johnson’s electability!

Johnson was defeated only once for election, that in 1837, but he would not lose another race for thirty years. He became a strong advocate of the Democratic Party and was in demand as a speaker at a time when a good orator might not only be appealing for votes, but was also an instructor of issues, and possibly more important, an entertainer.

Johnson decided to seek election as Governor of Tennessee, although the position was not as powerful as in most states. The office did, however, give him a pulpit and he used it to promote both his ideas and himself, and he led the fight to establish a state library and a public school system. But he won re-election as Governor for his stance on two other important causes to the people of Tennessee; protection for slavery and opposition to prohibition of alcohol. He said he opposed the loss of excise tax revenue that prohibition would cause, but his opponent said Johnson did not want to lose his favorite drink. After four more years, he chose to not seek re-election as Governor and turned his attention to gaining appointment to one of Tennessee’s two Senate seats. And, in 1857, he made it!

As a Senator, he straddled two worlds; he was a devoted Unionist, but a Southerner. He opposed secession but believed, as did many Southern Democrats, that the Constitution protected private property, including slaves, and thus prohibited the federal and state governments from abolishing slavery. For three years he managed to generally appease both sides. But when, in 1861, Tennessee voted to secede from the United States and joined other Southern slave states, Johnson remained firmly with the Union. He was the only sitting Senator from a Confederate state who did not resign his seat and he made a courageous speech in the Senate saying; "I will not give up this government ... No; I intend to stand by it ... and I invite every man who is a patriot to ... rally around the altar of our common country ... and swear by our God, and all that is sacred and holy, that the Constitution shall be saved, and the Union preserved." Note that he did not address slavery, only his devotion to the Union.

Johnson's tenure in the U.S. Senate ended in March 1862 when President Lincoln appointed him military governor of Tennessee which carried the rank of Brigadier General. Much of the central and western portions of that seceded state had already been recovered by Union forces; however, the Confederates who remained in parts of Eastern Tennessee confiscated his land and turned his home into a military hospital. During this time, Johnson’s position on slavery began to change and he wrote, "If (those who support) the institution of slavery ... seek to overthrow it (the Government), then the Government has a clear right to destroy it." He also promoted efforts to enlist former slaves into the Union Army, but felt that African-Americans should only perform non-combat tasks to free-up White soldiers for actual fighting.  

As military governor of Tennessee, Johnson was determined to eliminate Confederate influence in the state; and, as a result, he required a loyalty oath from any public official and closed down newspapers he deemed sympathetic to the Confederate cause. By early 1864, all of Tennessee was firmly in Union hands and, as one of his final acts, Johnson certified the new Tennessee Constitution, approved by voters, which abolished slavery. Republican political leaders recognized that Johnson, a confirmed Democrat, had held Tennessee together during his tenure as Military Governor. And, they had a new job in mind for him!

In preparing for Lincoln’s re-election bid in 1864, the national Republican leadership wanted to send a message of unity to voters and formed the National Union party to convey that platform. They also wanted a Southerner as Abraham Lincoln’s running mate; and Andrew Johnson was a natural choice. Although Lincoln admired Hannibal Hamlin, the current Vice-President, he knew the political realities and said, "Andy Johnson, I think, is a good man."

The Lincoln-Johnson ticket won in a landslide by both the popular vote and in the electoral College; of course, eleven Southern states did not participate in the election. Although Johnson was a celebrated figure among Northern politicians, he was despised in the South and considered a traitor. Jefferson Davis had said earlier that when the Confederacy won, Johnson would be the first traitor hanged. Johnson replied that if the South won, he would volunteer to be the first hanged. Neither man was being facetious!

On the morning of March 4, 1865, Presidents Lincoln’s second Inaugural day, Johnson admittedly was hung over from a night of celebrations. He asked outgoing Vice President Hamlin for a drink of whiskey before they left for the Capitol Building, saying, "I need all the strength for the occasion I can have." Unfortunately, he did not have one…or two…but at least three or more. Then, Johnson delivered a near incoherent speech and Hamlin actually stepped up, interrupted the new Vice President, and quickly swore him in. Hamlin later said that Johnson was in a state of profound intoxication. Lincoln, seemingly unperturbed, then gave one of the great speeches of his Presidency, the Second Inaugural Address.

Johnson hid from the public for three weeks at the home of a friend and had a story circulated that he had become ill and only through great determination was able to rise from his sick bed to participate in the ceremonies.  Most observers knew better and his explanation was not well received.  In response to criticism of Johnson's behavior, Lincoln stated that "I have known Andy Johnson for many years; he made a bad slip the other day, but you need not be scared; Andy ain't a drunkard." It was not exactly a ringing endorsement, but probably the best Lincoln could do at the time.

Then, at about 7am on Saturday, April 15, 1865, Abraham Lincoln died, and Johnson became President of the United States. He was quickly sworn-in as President and, at noon, conducted his first Cabinet meeting at which he asked all members to remain in their positions.

Upon taking office, Johnson faced two critical questions; (1) what to do with the former Confederate leaders who had attempted to break apart the United States, and (2) how best to commence re-construction and restore the eleven secessionist states into the Union.

Although almost all of the former Confederate leaders were captured and held as prisoners for various periods of time (Jefferson Davis for two years), no trials were ever held and they were eventually simply released.

As to re-construction, President Johnson had three goals and the first two seemed to mirror Lincoln’s positions. First, he sought a speedy restoration of the states, on the grounds that they had never truly left the Union. Second, he wanted political power in the Southern states to pass to the non-slaveholder business and working class of citizens and away from the planter/pro-slavery class. He was opposed to allowing former slaves to vote for many reasons, but primarily he feared that the newly freed slaves, many of whom were still economically bound to their former masters, would vote as told. Finally, Johnson's third priority was to be elected as President in his own right in 1868, (which may have been his highest priority, but certainly not on Lincoln’s agenda).

However, over the next two years, as voting returned to the Southern States (but generally not to the Black community), many of the former Confederate leaders were elected and the states passed  Black Code laws to deprive the recently freed slaves of civil liberties. Laws were passed which bound African-American laborers to farms as share-croppers, and even more devasting, allowed law enforcement to incarcerate them on flimsy cause and then rent out their labor for profit. In retaliation, U.S. Congressional Republicans refused to seat legislators from those states and advanced legislation to overrule the Southern actions.

Johnson had underestimated the determination of Northerners to ensure that the war had not been fought in vain. It was important to many in the North, that the South acknowledge its defeat, that slavery be ended, and that the lives of African-Americans be improved. The right to vote for Blacks was not an issue for most—after all, only a handful of Northern states gave African-American men the right to vote. But many Northerners were outraged at the idea of former Confederate leaders rejoining the federal government so soon after the war and Lincoln’s assassination.

Johnson, however, thought the Congressional actions were too harsh, would cause resentment throughout the South, and would delay return of the former Confederate states to the fold. So, he vetoed their Reconstruction bills, but Congressional Republicans consistently overrode his vetoes. Then the final confrontation began, when Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act over the President's veto, partly because Johnson said that he planned to fire certain Cabinet officers. The bill, required Senate approval to dismiss any Cabinet members who had been approved by the Senate. Some senators doubted that it was constitutional or that its terms applied to Johnson, who had not appointed the Cabinet officers, but had only asked Lincoln appointees to remain. On the other hand, supporters of the new law believed that, by asking Lincoln’s cabinet members to stay on, Johnson had, in effect, appointed them.

While that argument between Congress and the new President was ongoing, Johnson further alienated Congress when he vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866. He stated that he objected to the measure because it conferred citizenship on the freedmen at a time when 11 out of 36 states were unrepresented in the Congress. Congress, again, overrode his veto. And, when his home state of Tennessee ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, extending civil rights to former slaves, Congress immediately seated Tennessee’s new Representatives and Senators. Johnson had publicly objected to both the Amendment and to Tennessee’s new delegation, so it was clear that Johnson was losing control of the reconstruction process to Congress.

Johnson then initiated a final battle with Congress which would test the Constitution of the United States. With Congress out of session, Johnson decided to ignore the Tenure of Office Act, when he chose to fire Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, a favorite of the Congressional Republicans. On August 5, the President demanded Stanton's resignation; however, the secretary refused to quit with Congress out of session.  Johnson then suspended him pending the next meeting of Congress; an action permitted under the Tenure of Office Act.

Once Congress met in November, the House Judiciary Committee passed a resolution of impeachment against Johnson but the full House of Representatives was not yet ready for such dire action and the proposal was defeated with only 57 in favor to 108 opposed.

However, if Johnson assumed his victory was final, he was wrong. When he formally notified the Senate that he had suspended Stanton and intended to fire him, the Senate reinstated Stanton, contending the President had violated the Tenure of Office Act.  Johnson then again dismissed Stanton and appointed Lorenzo Thomas to replace him. Stanton refused to leave his office (literally), and on February 24, 1868, the House impeached the President for intentionally violating the Tenure of Office Act, by a vote of 128 to 47.

During the time between the articles of the impeachment and the Senate trial, there was a lot of deal-making going on which gave Johnson some hope he would not be convicted. Further, some Senate Republicans were reluctant to remove the President because there was no Vice-President and Johnson’s successor would have been a lame duck Congressman who had a “strange” social agenda that included voting rights for women, blacks, and Native Americans; ideas not popular with most American voters who were White Men.

On May 16, 1868, the Senate voted; Thirty-five "guilty" and nineteen "not guilty" falling one vote short of the two-thirds required for conviction. Stanton voluntarily "relinquished" his office on May 26, and the Senate subsequently confirmed John Schofield as the new Secretary of War.

The strange episode was finally over.

It was still Johnson’s ambition to win the 1868 election on his own. Knowing he would not get the Republican nomination; he sought the Democratic presidential nomination but lost to Horatio Seymour, the young Governor of New York.  It really didn’t matter because Civil War hero General Ulysses S. Grant was the Republican nominee and won the national election in a landslide. On March 4, 1869, Andrew Johnson was no longer President of the United States. He returned to Tennessee after his presidency and stayed involved in local and state politics. In 1875, the Tennessee legislature appointed him to the U.S. Senate, the first former President to serve in that body.

Johnson’s tenure as President is generally regarded as a failure; however, successfully following the death of a martyred President may have been nearly impossible. Perhaps he should be given more benefit of the doubt as an un-elected Chief Executive who was suddenly thrust into the position.

However, it is fair to examine his legacy with regards to slavery; which also contains contradictions. Andrew Johnson owned slaves and, for a large part of his political life, supported the institution of slavery in the United States. In 1843, as he became more prosperous, Johnson began to acquire slaves.  He purchased his first slave, Dolly, who was 14 years old at the time to serve as a house keeper and then purchased Dolly's half-brother Sam to help with livery chores. Dolly married at sixteen and had three children who also became slaves in the Johnson household. Johnson and his wife, Eliza, encouraged their slaves to read and write, participate in Christian traditions, and even conduct monetary business on his behalf; all of which were enlightened positions at that time. Further, although he bought slaves, he never sold any slaves away from their family. Finally, in 1863, all of his slaves were voluntarily freed by Johnson and he gave the families small tracts of land. Some writers erroneously attribute his decision to free the slaves to the Emancipation Proclamation which went into effect a few months earlier; however, Tennessee was exempt from that proclamation by President Lincoln, partly at the urging of Johnson.  One of his former slaves even accompanied Andrew Johnson to the White House, as an employee, after he became President.  Upon their emancipation, several of the former slaves presented Johnson with a watch which bore the inscription, “For his untiring energy in the cause of Freedom." These seemingly contradictory actions tend to make even generalizations about Johnson’s involvement with slavery more difficult.

As we look back today, this “Unexpected President” is usually either overlooked or only mentioned for his impeachment. Probably not the legacy Andrew “Andy” Johnson had hoped.