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Andrew Johnson was born on December 29, 1808 in Raleigh, North
Carolina. His father was Jacob Johnson and his mother was Mary
McDonough Johnson. He received no formal education, but was
trained as a tailor. Upon the death of Abraham Lincoln,
Vice-President Johnson was sworn into office and served as our
17th President from April 15, 1865 to March 3,
1869.
Andrew Johnson started life as a tailor, but, early on, he got
involved in public service. He became an Alderman and then
Mayor of Greenville, Tennessee. He later served in the
Tennessee Legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives.
He became Governor of Tennessee and was elected to the U.S.
Senate. During
the Civil War, he was Military Governor of Tennessee.
Mr. Johnson married Eliza McCardle in 1827. They had five
children: Martha, Charles, Mary, Robert and Andrew. President
Johnson was an honorable man who tried to reconstruct the
South after the Civil War, but he did so while Congress was
not in session. When Congress reconvened, there were many
radical members who were vehemently opposed to what Johnson
had done. They passed many laws that restricted the
President’s powers. When Johnson violated one of these laws,
he was impeached, but he escaped conviction in the Senate by
one vote.
President Andrew Johnson died on July 31, 1875 in Carter’s
Station, Tennessee. He
was a U.S. Senator at the time. |
