With the Assassination of Lincoln, the Presidency fell upon an old-fashioned southern Jacksonian
Democrat of pronounced states' rights views. Although an honest and honorable man, Andrew Johnson
was one of the most unfortunate of Presidents. Arrayed against him were the Radical Republicans in
Congress, brilliantly led and ruthless in their tactics. Johnson was no match for them. 

Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1808, Johnson grew up in poverty. He was apprenticed to a
tailor as a boy, but ran away. He opened a tailor shop in Greeneville, Tennessee, married Eliza
McCardle, and participated in debates at the local academy. 

Entering politics, he became an adept stump speaker, championing the common man and vilifying the
plantation aristocracy. As a Member of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 1840's
and '50's, he advocated a homestead bill to provide a free farm for the poor man

During the secession crisis, Johnson remained in the Senate even when Tennessee seceded, which made
him a hero in the North and a traitor in the eyes of most Southerners. In 1862 President Lincoln
appointed him Military Governor of Tennessee, and Johnson used the state as a laboratory for
reconstruction. In 1864 the Republicans, contending that their National Union Party was for all
loyal men, nominated Johnson, a Southerner and a Democrat, for Vice President. 

After Lincoln's death, President Johnson proceeded to reconstruct the former Confederate States
while Congress was not in session in 1865. He pardoned all who would take an oath of allegiance,
but required leaders and men of wealth to obtain special Presidential pardons. 

By the time Congress met in December 1865, most southern states were reconstructed, slavery was
being abolished, but "black codes" to regulate the freedmen were beginning to appear. 

Radical Republicans in Congress moved vigorously to change Johnson's program. They gained the
support of northerners who were dismayed to see Southerners keeping many prewar leaders and
imposing many prewar restrictions upon Negroes. 

The Radicals' first step was to refuse to seat any Senator or Representative from the old
Confederacy. Next they passed measures dealing with the former slaves. Johnson vetoed the
legislation. The Radicals mustered enough votes in Congress to pass legislation over his veto--the
first time that Congress had overridden a President on an important bill. They passed the Civil
Rights Act of 1866, which established Negroes as American citizens and forbade discrimination
against them. 

A few months later Congress submitted to the states the Fourteenth Amendment, which specified that
no state should "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." 

All the former Confederate States except Tennessee refused to ratify the amendment; further, there
were two bloody race riots in the South. Speaking in the Middle West, Johnson faced hostile
audiences. The Radical Republicans won an overwhelming victory in Congressional elections that
fall. 

In March 1867, the Radicals effected their own plan of Reconstruction, again placing southern
states under military rule. They passed laws placing restrictions upon the President. When Johnson
allegedly violated one of these, the Tenure of Office Act, by dismissing Secretary of War Edwin M.
Stanton, the House voted eleven articles of impeachment against him. He was tried by the Senate in
the spring of 1868 and acquitted by one vote. 

In 1875, Tennessee returned Johnson to the Senate. He died a few months later.