Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson was the 17th president. He served from 1865 to 1869, right after the Civil War. He was a Democrat from Tennessee who had run with Lincoln in 1864 on the National Union ticket — he never became a Republican. People called him the Tennessee Tailor because he sewed clothes for a living. He never attended school. His wife, Eliza, taught him to read and write.

Johnson was vice president only about six weeks. Lincoln was shot in April 1865, and Johnson took his place at once. That is how the Constitution works: if the president dies, the vice president becomes president. Johnson had no vice president of his own. He took office in the middle of Reconstruction — the job of rebuilding the Union after the war.

Johnson’s main idea was to restore the Union quickly and bring the Southern states back. Congress wanted stricter terms. They fought hard about how to rebuild the South. The House of Representatives impeached him in 1868 — that means it charged him, like an indictment, which is not the same as kicking him out. The Senate held a trial. Removal needs two-thirds of the Senate. The vote fell short by one, so Johnson stayed president.