DemocratVice President · Tennessee
Andrew Johnson"The Tailor President"
1865 first electedLeft office 1865Born 1808 in Raleigh, North CarolinaDied 1875
Biography
Andrew Johnson (1808–1875) was the 17th President of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, having served only about six weeks as Vice President. A Democrat from Tennessee who remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War (the only sitting senator from a seceding state to do so), he was added to Lincoln's 1864 ticket to promote national unity. As president during the difficult Reconstruction era, he clashed repeatedly with the Republican-controlled Congress over how to rebuild the South and treat former Confederates, favoring lenient policies that alarmed many Republicans. His conflicts with Congress culminated in his impeachment by the House in 1868 over his attempt to remove Secretary of War Edwin Stanton — he was acquitted in the Senate by a single vote, narrowly avoiding removal from office.
Additional Info
Spouse
Eliza McCardle (m. 1827)
Prior Offices
United States Senator from Tennessee, Military Governor of Tennessee, 15th Governor of Tennessee, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 1st district,
Fun Fact
Johnson never attended school and was entirely self-taught in reading and writing — he was apprenticed as a tailor as a boy and taught himself literacy with help from his wife, Eliza, after they married. He remains the only president to have had no formal schooling whatsoever.
Election History
No election records found in the database yet.