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President Andrew Johnson (12/29/1808- 7/31/1875) Political Party: Democratic; Unionist Terms: 1 (1865-1869) Vice President: None

Even though no one could ever expect a president to do as well as Lincoln did immediately following his presidency, there could have been a much better performance than what President Andrew Johnson put on in the time immediately following the Civil War. President Andrew Johnson was a horrible president and, because of his racist views and inability to agree with Congress, had virtually no help from his administration, rightfully so. Although he had the huge task of reconstruction ahead of him, he failed miserably at accomplishing it and made almost no contribution to America. Because of his almost complete failure as a president, Johnson deserves a D- for his presidency.

Because of his lack of preparation and being unexpectedly thrust into office (because of Lincoln's assassination), Johnson never really had the chance to set goals for his presidency. This being said, Johnson really only had one goal when he became president and that was to continue Lincoln's Reconstruction of the Union. Johnson did not accomplish this goal to any extent what so ever. First of all, Johnson was a Democrat while his predecessor, Lincoln, was a Republican. This caused a major problem right from the start. This country was already in for a huge change. Secondly, Johnson was a racist. In turn, he did nothing to promote equal rights for blacks, so black suffrage continued as if slavery had not been abolished in the Confederacy at all. Equal rights for all Americans, especially freed slaves, is really what Reconstruction was all about, so failing to comply with this was already hurting Johnson's ability to successfully obtain Reconstruction. He also allowed the South to set up "black codes" which essentially maintained slavery. Any act that Congress made to try to give equal rights to blacks, for instance the renewal of the Freedman's Bureau, Johnson vetoed. Even though his overall goal was to continue Lincoln's Reconstruction of the South, his racist viewpoints took over and controlled his actions toward Reconstruction. All of this being said, Johnson did virtually nothing to help Reconstruction of the South and utterly failed at accomplishing his one and only goal.

Johnson had a treacherous relationship with Congress saying as they never agreed on anything. Entering his presidency, Johnson knew that to accomplish his goals for Reconstruction he would have to get past Congress. To do so, he took advantage of Congress during his first eight months in office, when Congress was in recess, to push through his own policies. He wanted to block efforts that forced Southern states to give equality to blacks, and therefore allowed the "black codes". This gave Congress a sour taste in their mouths to begin with. Then when Congress was back in session they tried to stop the president by renewing the Freedman's Bureau Act, to help freed slaves, as well as the Civil Rights Act. Johnson vetoed both of these acts but Congress eventually overrode the veto. On top of these Congress also passed two important amendments in the time of Reconstruction, the 13th and 14th Amendments, over the president's veto. These constant and frequent disagreements added to the horrendous relationship between the president and Congress. A final act of disagreement by Congress was when they passed the Tenure of Office Act so that Johnson could not remove federal officers on his own accord without the permission of the Senate and established a military program to give more rights to southern blacks. Johnson was quite upset and on attempt to regain his authority he tried to fire Stanton. This plan backfired and later led to his impeachment. Impeachment was the final straw that set off their relationship on a bad note. The relationship between the president and Congress was very bad and led to his eventual impeachment.

Despite all of these negative outcomes throughout Johnson's presidency there was one thing that he did right, and that was the beneficial purchase of Alaska from the Russians. This was very beneficial to our country as we were constantly seeking out more land, and this purchase added a vast amount of frigid land to our nation. Not only did it expand our nation in a physical sense, but it also added many natural resources like oil precious gold. Furs were also prevalent in the arctic expanse. Alaska turned out to be profitable investment for America and was the most positive outcome of Johnson's presidency. This was really the only action in Johnson's presidency that kept him from getting a failing grade. There were many negative outcomes of Johnson's presidency; however, the most negative outcome was his inability to agree with Congress and his racial stubbornness in accepting blacks as fellow citizens. As previously stated he and Congress did not agree on policy as he constantly vetoed acts and they constantly overrode the vetoes. This had a negative influence on the whole country, and it strictly restrained the efficiency of Reconstruction. This was also negative for Johnson because it led to his future impeachment. This major negative action in his presidency was the main cause of many of the other negative actions that followed and consequently the most negative outcome of his presidency.

President Johnson influenced posterity only with his purchase of Alaska. This purchase impacted future generations because without it we would not have about one third of the land of our current country today. Also, without it we would not have many of the natural resources that we have today that help boost our economy. The purchase of Alaska, although at first it was scorned by the people, was President Johnson's most positive outcome during his presidency and also the one that most impacted future generations.

I cannot say that the country was better off at the end of Johnson's presidency than in the beginning. At the beginning of his term this nation was fresh out the Union victory in the Civil War and under the promising hand of President Lincoln. When Johnson left office, he was simply a racist misfit that couldn't agree with either Congress or the people. The Union really regressed during the period of Johnson's presidency instead of progressing. Most people could have done a better job than him, and he should only be credited for the purchase of Alaska. Although Congress worked hard to try to stabilize the situation of blacks in the South and succeeded to some amount, it was no thanks to President Johnson. Therefore, he deserves the grade of a D-.

Bibliography

"American President: Andrew Johnson." //Miller Center of Public Affairs//. Web. 05 Nov. 2009. . "Andrew Johnson |." //The White House//. Web. 05 Nov. 2009. .

DeGregorio, William A. //The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents//. Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade Books Inc., 2009. Print.