Passed Presidents - # 17 – Andrew Johnson

Let’s face it.  Abe was a tough act to follow...Savior of the Union and our first martyred president, after all.  In some respects, Andrew Johnson has a great story.  His obituary in the New York Times said, 

“His career was remarkable, even in this country;

It would have been impossible in any other”.

This will be a special posting.  Johnson’s grave was the first one visited on my first post-retirement road trip.  With the posting schedule that I adapted this year based on death dates, this becomes the final grave site presented.  Thirty nine graves and life stories that reflect the history of this country.  Until the next one kicks, the Quest is done.

Finally, it also happens that # 17 died 139 years ago today and it is my birthday.  Good thing I was born 71 years later so I could not be accused of channeling his reincarnated soul.  He might have had the best ‘rise-from-nothing’ career but he was still a racist incompetent who is firmly lodged in the Bottom Three of every presidential ranking.  We remember Johnson today because we have to but my personal celebration is more about having survived another 365 days without dying -- and the end of the Dead Presidents Quest.  

Andrew Johnson Grave, Greenville, TN (12 June 2005)

Johnson came from the poorest part of Raleigh, North Carolina society.  Only black folk were lower on the social strata.  He had no formal education and was apprenticed to a tailor as a boy.  When he ran off, a published bounty was offered for his capture and return.  In those days, indentured servitude and slavery had that much in common. 

Eventually, he settled into his craft and opened a tailor shop in Greenville, Tennessee.  He married at age 18 and Eliza (age 16 when they married) taught him to read and write.  His budding interest in local politics spurred an amazing trajectory.  He was elected alderman and then mayor of Greenville.  He served in the state legislature and was elected governor.  He served in the U.S. House and Senate before Lincoln dumped his first term VP Hannibal Hamlin for Johnson.  Johnson was the only southern senator to vote against secession.  In the North, he was a hero.  In the South, he was a traitor whose family had to leave Tennessee.  Who better to balance the ticket than a Southern, Pro-Union Democrat?  Besides, he’ll be the useless, uninvolved, forgotten Vice President.  What could go wrong with that?

Two of Jonson’s sons are buried with their parents (12 June 2005)

The North won the war, Lincoln died and Johnson is now the president.  There were many Republicans who wanted Reconstruction to include more punishment for the rebel leaders.  The South did not help its cause by re-electing the same hard-boiled Confederates to their old positions.  These racists made things worse by implementing new “black codes,” laws that continued to make life miserable for the freed slaves.  Johnson seemed to have little problem with any of that.

Congress passed a number of Reconstruction and civil rights bills which Johnson vetoed.  He thought they were too punitive or unconstitutional.  Congress overrode the vetoes.  To say they didn’t get along was an understatement. 

The end of the Civil War marked the beginning of a 20-year period when Congress tried to overpower the Executive branch of our government.  When you pass enough laws that the president cannot or will not enforce, something has to give.  This culminated in the first presidential impeachment in our history.

Andrew Johnson Grave, Greenville, TN (12 June 2005)

The inscription on the left says,

“Andrew Johnson, Seventeenth President of the United States.

Born Dec. 29, 1808. Died July 31, 1875.

His faith in the people never wavered.”

On the right, the inscriptions are,

“Eliza Johnson, Born Oct. 4, 1810. Died Jan. 15, 1876.

Below that, “In memory of our father and mother.”

Eleven articles of impeachment were drawn up by the House.  The Senate trial lasted three months.  When it came time for a vote, the senators fell one vote short of the two-thirds number required for conviction.  Johnson was acquitted and finished his term.  He wanted to run for re-election but became one of five incumbents who were not re-nominated by his party.

To his credit, we acquired the Alaska Territory on his watch, although ‘Seward’s Folly’ was not appreciated until much later.  Also, Johnson is the only former president to return and serve in the U.S. Senate.  John Quincy Adams completes this short list of presidents who returned to Congress after leaving the White House. 

The president’s statue is on the grounds of the state capitol in Nashville (13 June 2005)

He died only months after returning to the Senate and Eliza passed six months later.  Along with two sons, they are buried on a hill top in a National Cemetery that bears his name.  A few blocks away, in the old quarter of Greenville, is the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, where you can find an interpretive visitor center along with his old homes and tailor shop.  Before I read more about the guy, I came away from that visit with a more sympathetic view of his life and trying times.  His southern leanings were not emphasized and his racist view of blacks as inferior beings was certainly left off the agenda.  I guess that makes sense in one respect.  One is less likely to be drawn to an attraction that says,

Visit the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site

He was a bigot and a failed president

But come see it anyway

Since he’s the only president we have around here.

 

 Andrew Johnson

17th President; Served 1865-1869

Born: December 29, 1808, Raleigh, NC

Died: July 31, 1875, Carter County, TN

Grave Location: Andrew Johnson National Cemetery, Greenville, TN

Date Visited: 6/12/2005