Overview
Vice President Andrew Johnson of Tennessee was suddenly thrust into the presidency by the death of Abraham Lincoln. He was a Democrat, not a Republican like Lincoln and the majority of Congress. He was the only high-ranking Southerner in a government where only Northern states were represented. Soon he was at war with Congress. He hoped to readmit Southern states to the Union quickly, but Congress passed a harsher plan for military occupation of the South Refusing to compromise. Johnson vetoed bill after bill. Congress overrode his vetoes and restricted his power. When Johnson dismissed his secretary of war without Senate approval. Congress impeached him. After the frial, the Senate fell just one vote short of the required two-thirds majority to convict Johnson and remove him from office. He served out his term, but had lost the power and popular support to govern.A biography of the man who became the seventeenth president of the United States following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, providing information on his childhood, education, family, political career, time as president, and legacy.
Synopsis
Vice President Andrew Johnson of Tennessee was suddenly thrust into the presidency by the death of Abraham Lincoln. He was a Democrat, not a Republican like Lincoln and the majority of Congress. He was the only high-ranking Southerner in a government where only Northern states were represented. Soon he was at war with Congress. He hoped to readmit Southern states to the Union quickly, but Congress passed a harsher plan for military occupation of the South Refusing to compromise. Johnson vetoed bill after bill. Congress overrode his vetoes and restricted his power. When Johnson dismissed his secretary of war without Senate approval. Congress impeached him. After the frial, the Senate fell just one vote short of the required two-thirds majority to convict Johnson and remove him from office. He served out his term, but had lost the power and popular support to govern.