Andrew Johnson

NAME Andrew Johnson

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Andrew Johnson was the seventeenth President of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He is famous for presiding over the chaotic initial years of the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War, and for becoming the first U.S. president to be impeached by the House of Representatives. (1)

BIRTH He was born in a log cabin in Raleigh, North Carolina, on December 29, 1808. 

FAMILY BACKGROUND His father, Jacob Johnson, worked as a town constable, sexton, and porter. 

His mother was Mary "Polly" McDonough, who worked as a weaver and washerwoman. 

In January 1812, when Andrew was three years old, Jacob rescued three men from drowning in a frozen pond, but the physical exertion severely damaged his health; he suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after while ringing the town bell. Polly Johnson was left as a penniless widow and became the sole support of the family. (2)

CHILDHOOD Following his father's death, Andrew grew up in extreme poverty. Unable to afford school, his mother bound Andrew and his brother William as indentured apprentices to a local tailor, James Selby, when Andrew was around ten years old. Unhappy with his harsh treatment and lacking personal freedom, Andrew ran away after a few years. Selby published a newspaper advertisement offering a $10 reward for the return of the runaway boys, but they were never caught. (3)

EDUCATION Andrew Johnson was the only U.S. president who never attended school for even a single day. He was largely self-taught, learning the basics of the alphabet from fellow workers in the tailor shop. He was later taught to write and perform basic arithmetic by his wife, Eliza McCardle, after they married. (4)

CAREER RECORD 1826 Moved to Greeneville, Tennessee, and opened his own tailor shop, which became a hub for local political debate.

1829 Elected alderman of Greeneville, beginning a steady political rise.

1835 Elected to the Tennessee state legislature.

1843 Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving five consecutive terms.

1853 Elected Governor of Tennessee, serving two terms.

1857 Elected to the U.S. Senate.

1862 Appointed Military Governor of Tennessee by President Lincoln.

1865 Became Vice President, then succeeded to the presidency on April 15 following Lincoln's assassination.

1865–1869 Served as the 17th President of the United States.

APPEARANCE Johnson was of medium height, standing at 5 feet 10 inches, with a sturdy, broad-shouldered build. He possessed dark, deep-set eyes, a prominent jaw, a severe expression, and thick, dark hair that grayed as he aged. His stern countenance often gave him an intimidating, unyielding appearance. (5) 

FASHION As the only professional tailor ever to become president, Johnson was highly meticulous about his wardrobe. He wore only suits that he had cut and hand-stitched himself. Even while serving in high public office, he frequently visited local tailor shops during his travels to socialize and inspect the quality of the craftsmanship. (5)

CHARACTER Johnson was a man of immense physical courage, intense stubbornness, and fierce pride. Born into poverty, he harbored a lifelong resentment toward the wealthy Southern planter aristocracy, positioning himself as a champion of the "common white man." His unyielding, combative nature made him highly resistant to compromise, a trait that ultimately fueled his political downfalls. (5)

SPEAKING VOICE Johnson possessed a powerful, booming speaking voice that was well-suited for outdoor stump speaking. While he was a forceful and highly persuasive orator on the campaign trail, his speeches could become excessively passionate, repetitive, and combative when he was challenged by a crowd. (5)

His most infamous public speech—a slurred, rambling address at his vice-presidential inauguration—became a lasting embarrassment. (6)

SENSE OF HUMOUR Johnson was notoriously humorless, grim, and intensely serious. Observers frequently remarked that he rarely smiled or laughed, viewing political life as a constant battleground that required unrelenting vigilance rather than levity. 

RELATIONSHIPS On May 17, 1827, Johnson married sixteen-year-old Eliza McCardle in Greeneville, Tennessee. Eliza proved to be his most valuable supporter, tutoring him in writing and mathematics while quietly managing their household. 

The couple had five children: Martha, Charles, Mary, Robert, and Andrew Jr. 

Eliza suffered from tuberculosis, which left her an invalid during her husband's presidency, forcing their eldest daughter, Martha, to act as the official White House hostess. (7)

MONEY AND FAME Through his diligent work as a tailor and savvy investments in real estate and municipal bonds in Greeneville, Johnson overcame his impoverished origins to become a wealthy landowner. By the time he reached the presidency, he had secured substantial financial independence, though he always maintained the frugal habits of his youth. (2)

FOOD AND DRINK Johnson's favorite dish was reportedly Hoppin' John, a hearty Southern staple of black-eyed peas, rice, onions, and bacon or salt pork, traditionally eaten for good luck on New Year's Day. He was known for preferring plain, hearty fare over the elaborate French-style dining favored by some of his predecessors and successors. (8)

While not a chronic alcoholic, he was known to drink whiskey, which he occasionally used for medicinal purposes. His reliance on alcohol famously backfired at his vice-presidential inauguration in March 1865. Weakened by a recent bout of typhoid fever, he drank a large quantity of whiskey to bolster his strength, resulting in a highly slurred, incoherent, and publicly embarrassing inaugural address. (2)

MUSIC AND ARTS Johnson showed very little personal interest in the fine arts, classical music, or theater. He viewed such pursuits as frivolous indulgences of the wealthy class that he so deeply distrusted. (5)

LITERATURE His reading habits were highly utilitarian. Rather than reading fiction or poetry, he focused almost exclusively on historical biographies, political essays, and constitutional law, using books primarily as tools to sharpen his political arguments. (4)

NATURE Having lived most of his life in the mountainous region of East Tennessee, Johnson appreciated rugged outdoor landscapes. However, he viewed nature primarily through the lens of agriculture and small-scale farming, advocating for policies that allowed poor settlers to claim and cultivate wild land. (4)

PETS Johnson kept no official presidential pets, but during the isolating months of his 1868 impeachment trial, he befriended a family of white mice living in his White House bedroom, feeding them flour and grain from his own mill business and leaving out water for them each night. He affectionately called them "the little fellows," even as his daughter Martha, the White House hostess, tried to exterminate them with cats, traps, and poison. (9)

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Johnson had virtually no interest in sports or recreational hobbies. His primary escape from political stress was returning to his tailor bench, where he found great therapeutic value in the quiet, precise work of cutting and sewing fabric. (5)

SCIENCE AND MATHS While Johnson lacked formal training in the sciences, he was highly competent in practical mathematics, a skill he developed through tailoring measurements and managing his personal business accounts. (2)

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Johnson was one of only three U.S. presidents, along with Jefferson and Lincoln, to have no formal religious affiliation. He occasionally attended Methodist services with his wife Eliza and admired the Baptist faith for its democratic structure, while also respecting Catholic services for their egalitarian treatment of worshippers regardless of wealth. Johnson held an almost sacred reverence for the U.S. Constitution, once declaring he intended to "stand by the Constitution, as the chief ark of our safety, as the palladium of our civil and religious liberty." (10) (11) 

PRESIDENCY Andrew Johnson’s presidency was less a period of government than a prolonged family argument conducted with the volume turned all the way up. The Civil War had ended, the nation was exhausted, and Congress wanted to rebuild the South on new terms. Johnson, however, believed the Southern states had never truly left the Union and therefore deserved a remarkably forgiving welcome home. Former Confederates were soon regaining political rights, while the newly freed slaves received precious little in the way of federal protection—a bit like rebuilding a house and forgetting to install the doors.

Congress, particularly the Radical Republicans, regarded this as a spectacularly bad idea and set about opposing him with the enthusiasm of men trying to stop someone backing a carriage into a lake. Johnson responded by wielding the veto pen as though it were a personal hobby. He rejected 29 bills, more than any president before him. Congress, unimpressed, overrode 15 of those vetoes, which remains the American record. In effect, Johnson and Congress spent four years engaged in a constitutional tug-of-war in which neither side trusted the other with so much as a wheelbarrow.

One lasting success did emerge from the turmoil. In 1867, Johnson's administration completed the purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million, a deal negotiated by his Secretary of State, William H. Seward. Critics at the time mocked the acquisition as "Seward's Folly" and "Seward's Icebox," convinced the United States had spent a small fortune on an enormous freezer inhabited chiefly by snow, bears, and the occasional puzzled seal. As it turned out, Alaska contained vast reserves of gold, oil, timber, and other natural resources, making it one of the most profitable real estate bargains in history—a useful reminder that yesterday's folly has an irritating habit of becoming tomorrow's masterstroke.

The result was a presidency defined not by grand achievements but by relentless conflict. Johnson insisted he was preserving the Union; his opponents insisted he was surrendering the fruits of victory. History has generally concluded that if Reconstruction was a difficult and delicate operation, Andrew Johnson approached it with the bedside manner of a man attempting surgery with a coal shovel.

POLITICS Politically, Johnson was a strict Jeffersonian Democrat who strongly championed states' rights, the interests of small farmers, and a literal interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. His deep-seated racism guided his policy decisions, as he consistently argued that the United States was meant to be a government "for white men" and actively opposed granting voting rights or federal protection to African Americans. (5)

When Tennessee and ten other Southern states seceded, Johnson was the only sitting senator from a seceding state to remain in the U.S. Congress, a stance that made him a Union hero and led to his selection as Lincoln's 1864 running mate as a War Democrat. (3)

SCANDAL Johnson was at the center of the greatest constitutional crisis of his era. On February 24, 1868, he became the first U.S. President to be impeached by the House of Representatives. The primary charge stemmed from his attempt to dismiss Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in defiance of the Tenure of Office Act, a law Congress had passed over his veto specifically to protect cabinet members. During his subsequent trial in the Senate, Johnson avoided removal from office by a margin of just one vote, as the final tally fell one short of the required two-thirds majority. Later that year, he failed to secure the Democratic nomination for the 1868 presidential election. (4)

MILITARY RECORD While he never served as a combat soldier, Lincoln appointed him as a Brigadier General of Volunteers in 1862 so he could serve as the Military Governor of occupied Tennessee. In this high-stakes role, he successfully maintained Union control of Nashville, suppressed confederate sympathizers, and began rebuilding the state's infrastructure. (4)

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Johnson possessed a remarkably tough constitution, but the extreme stress of his political career took a heavy physical toll. He survived a severe case of cholera in 1873, and suffered from kidney stones and chronic muscular pain throughout his later years. (5)

HOMES Johnson's primary residence was a two-story brick home on Main Street in Greeneville, Tennessee, known as the Homestead, which he purchased in 1851. During the Civil War, Union soldiers occupied the house as a headquarters and hospital, leaving it damaged, and Johnson and his family renovated it after returning from Washington in 1869. Today, the Homestead, his earlier home, his original tailor shop, and his grave site are preserved together as the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site. (12)

TRAVEL Unlike many of his wealthy political contemporaries, Johnson never traveled to Europe. His travel was entirely domestic, largely consisting of political trips between Tennessee and Washington, D.C. 

His most famous trip was his disastrous "Swing Around the Circle" speaking tour in 1866, where his highly combative, ad-libbed speeches to hostile crowds severely damaged his political standing. (5), 

DEATH While visiting his daughter near Elizabethton, Tennessee, Johnson suffered a severe stroke. He died on July 31, 1875, at the age of 66. In accordance with his explicit final wishes, his body was wrapped in an American flag, and his personal copy of the U.S. Constitution was placed beneath his head as a pillow. (3)

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Johnson has been portrayed in various historical films and television dramas focusing on the Civil War and Reconstruction. Notably, he was portrayed by Van Heflin in the 1942 biographical film Tennessee Johnson, which presented a highly sympathetic view of his presidency. 

ACHIEVEMENTS His most significant achievement as president was the acquisition of Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867. Negotiated by his Secretary of State, William H. Seward, for $7.2 million, the purchase added over 580,000 square miles of resource-rich territory to the United States. 

In addition, when Southern states seceded in 1861, Johnson achieved lasting historical distinction as the only sitting U.S. Senator from a seceding state to remain fiercely loyal to the Union. 

Sources: (1) Wikipedia – Andrew Johnson (2) National Park Service – Andrew Johnson (3) Encyclopedia of Trivia (4) Britannica (5) White House Historical Association (6) History.com (7) National Park Service – Eliza Johnson (8) The Talbot Spy (9) (Presidential Pet Museum (10) Miller Center (11) God and Country (12) National Park Service - Homestead