Andrew Johnson

Facts, information and articles about Andrew Johnson, the seventeenth U.S. President

Andrew Johnson summary: Andrew Johnson was the 17th president of the United States of America. He was born in North Carolina in the year 1808. Johnson worked as a tailor, and became increasingly interested in politics as a young man. He was elected as an alderman in 1828. In 1834, he was elected to the position of mayor of Greenville, North Carolina. Johnson, an anti-abolitionist, became a member of Congress in 1843. Johnson believed that slavery was necessary to maintain a unified nation, an idea that was in contrast with the majority of southern congressmen who wished to separate from the union if slavery was abolished. Johnson served five full terms in Congress.

In 1853, Johnson became governor of Tennessee. He served two terms, and was frustrated by his inability to enact legislature as his powers were limited to making suggestions. He ran for senate in 1856 and won; during his term, the Homestead Act was introduced by him. President Abraham Lincoln asked Johnson to be his running mate in his bid for re-election in 1864, and they won. Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, and Johnson took over as president. Johnson hindered reconstruction efforts in the south, and he was impeached in 1888 for violating an act that prevented him from removing people that held federal positions from their offices without prior approval of the senate. He was acquitted and finished out his term. He was elected to the senate again in 1874, but he died from a stroke soon after in 1875.