Andrew Johnson was going to do it his way, the consequences be damned. He believed African Americans to be inferior, and as president he was determined not to give them the vote. Mind you, Johnson was picked by Abraham Lincoln in the 1864 election to be his vice president. But when the Great Emancipator was assassinated and Johnson became president, he was far from inclined to carry out Lincoln’s Reconstruction policies, at least not as Lincoln or Congress envisioned them, which included enfranchising former slaves with the vote. No, Johnson wasn’t having any of it. He dug in his heels and spent nearly all four years of his presidency fighting back against the Republicans in Congress, who in turn impeached him for “high Crimes and misdemeanors.” Johnson was acquitted by a single vote and finished his term bitter but unbowed.
I don’t envy anyone writing a biography of Andrew Johnson’s train-wreak of a presidency. There is little about the man that is sympathetic. Historian Albert Castel, however, has done an admirable job in trying. He looks past Johnson’s flawed character to reveal a complex flesh-and-blood individual who overcame social disadvantages and through force of will rose to the top of American politics. Like Lincoln, Johnson had very little formal education. Unlike Lincoln, he was not a man of letters. He seldom corresponded nor kept a journal. As a result he left very little in the way of a paper trail and therefore not much to go on as to understanding his innermost thoughts. Johnson’s means of expression was in public speaking, especially in debating, at which he had few peers. Writes the author: “In debates he ‘cut and slashed right and left . . . running his opponents through and through with a rusty jagged weapon; chopping to mincemeat and grinding to powder his luckless adversary.’” This served him well at the state level, but would undermine his effectiveness as president. Johnson served one term in the Tennessee state legislature, five consecutive terms in the House of Representative, and as governor pushed through a law establishing Tennessee’s first public school system. He was a member of the U.S. Senate when the South seceded in 1861. He returned home in a vain attempt to stop Tennessee from doing likewise. Johnson’s valiant struggle won him the acclaim of the North. In early 1862, when Ulysses S. Grant drove the Confederates out of Tennessee, and at Lincoln’s behest, Johnson went to Nashville as military governor. His conduct so favorably impressed Lincoln that he made him his running mate in the 1864 election. Several months later, after Lincoln was assassinated, Andrew Johnson was sworn in as the 17th president of the United States.
The war had settled the question of Southern independence and had emancipated the slaves. But when, and under what terms would the Confederate states rejoin the Union? The Republicans controlled Congress but were divided over what the policy of Reconstruction should be. At first, everyone welcomed Johnson’s accession to the presidency, Republicans and Northern democrats alike. That changed, however, once Johnson’s Reconstruction policy became clear. He wanted to punish the South and hang “traitors” like of Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, but backed off thanks to Grant’s intervention. Ultimately, he wanted to restore the Southern states and transfer the political power from the aristocracy of landed wealth to the democracy of “plebians and mechanics.” Where Johnson got in trouble was his failure to read the sentiments of most Northerners who favored basic civil rights for African Americans, including the right to vote. Historians agree that Johnson’s greatest political blunder was his rejection of the Civil Rights Bill of 1865, which destroyed public support in the North and in congress united moderates and radicals against him.
Whatever remained of Johnson’s credibility was ruined by an ill-advised speaking tour of Northern states in the summer of 1866. Known as the “Swing Around the Circle,” it was meant to establish a coalition of voters who would support Johnson in the upcoming midterm congressional elections. Whatever hope he had of creating public support was destroyed by his vitriolic and inflammatory speeches (“oratorical self-intoxication” the author calls it) and repeated confrontations with hecklers. As a result, the midterm elections led to veto-proof Republican majorities in both houses of Congress. The last straw was Johnson’s clumsy attempt to fire Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, who had been a thorn in his side since day one. Stanton had been a voice a reason in the Johnson Administration, a man Congress counted on for support of Reconstruction legislation. When word reached congress of Johnson’s repeated attempts to have Stanton replaced, the legislature responded with articles of impeachment.
As a summing of Johnson’s ill-fated presidency, the author quotes Civil War historian David Donald’s take on Johnson as a man who suffered from a “chronic lack of discretion,” who “lacked political sagacity,” whose “mind was immovably closed,” and who “played into his enemies hands” by his crude pugnacious conduct. At the root of that conduct was a blatant disregard for the civil rights of African Americans. As president, it poisoned nearly everything he did. Unfortunately for America, Johnson threw away a magnificent opportunity to achieve a reconstruction that would have been fair to North and South, black and white.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle Cloud Reader.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Flip to back Flip to front
Follow the Author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Frequently bought together
- +
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Products related to this item
Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Products related to this item
Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1
