Matt+V.





President Andrew Johnson
Birth: December 29, 1808 Death: July 31, 1875 Democrat Served from April 15, 1865 - March 3, 1869 Vice President: Almost all sources say none; However **Schuyler Colfax** held the office of **Speaker of the H.o.R** during this time

When President Lincoln ran for re-election in 1864, he chose Johnson as his Vice President. This was done to help balance the ticket with a southerner who also happened to be pro-Union. Johnson became president upon Abraham Lincoln's death on April 15, 1865. Upon succeeding to the presidency, President Johnson attempted to continue with Lincoln's vision of reconstruction. Lincoln and Johnson both felt it important to be lenient and forgiving to those who seceded from the Union. Johnson's reconstruction plan would have allowed southerners who swore an oath of allegiance to the federal government to regain citizenship. This, along with a relatively quick return of power to the states themselves, was never really given a chance, since the South did not want to extend the right to vote to blacks and Republicans wanted to punish the South When the Republicans passed the Civil Rights Act in 1866, Johnson tried to veto the bill, which was his first major mistake. He did not believe that the north should force its views on the south but instead allow the south determine its own course. His veto on this and a handful of other bills was overridden by Congress. Most while southerners opposed reconstruction, and set up the Black Codes in the South, which Johnson did NOTHING about directly. However, when the 13th and 14th amendments were passed, the “Black Codes” walked away quietly, only to return bigger and uglier in the 1960’s In 1867, Alaska was purchased in what was called //"Seward's Folly."// The United States purchased the land from Russia for $7.2 million upon Secretary of State William Seward's advice. Even though many saw it as folly at the time, it was truly an amazing investment in that it provided America with gold and oil while increasing the size of the United States drastically and removing Russian influence from the North American continent. This certainly helped the United States out in the long run; not to mention Mr. Johnson’s presidency. However, all of Andrew Johnson’s problems came in 1868, when the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Andrew Johnson for dismissing his Secretary of War Stanton against the order of the Tenure of Office Act which had passed in 1867. He became the first president to be impeached while in office. (The second being Bill Clinton) Upon impeachment, the Senate is required to vote to decide if a president should be removed from office. The Senate voted against removing Johnson by only a single vote. After his short term, Johnson was not nominated to run for presidency. He retired to Greeneville, Tennessee. He attempted to reenter the U.S. House and Senate but lost on both accounts until 1875 when he was elected to the Senate. He died soon after taking office. Some could call him a traitor or a savior, but Andrew Johnson is a great example of a roller coaster. He was by far the biggest, fastest roller coaster of a president. He comes nothing close to what “the Great Bear” is today, in comparison, he is “the Great Bear” of presidents. (So far) His presidency was short and mostly a downhill journey (with a few ups), and no matter how much it jerked you around and gave you whiplash, it was still a //somewhat// successful ride. Overall, a true C- president.