Andrew Johnson
Standing for the Constitution and Union
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Unionist, Seventeenth President: 1865-1869
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Andrew Johnson, the Seventeenth President of the United States, was an American patriot who stood firmly for the Union, the Constitution and for states rights. He was the only Southern Senator to remain with the Union during the Civil War.

However, in 1868 he was a Southern Democrat serving in the presidency while Congress had an overwhelming majority of Northern Republicans, equally patriotic, and determined to take advantage of the completed Civil War to right wrong and seek revenge for the deaths of 300,000 Northern soldiers. Because basic political philosophies were so different, it was inevitable that major conflicts would arise during an era of great emotional and social turbulence. Johnson was impeached by Congress, and came within one vote of being removed from office by the Senate.

It depends on which account one reads today as to whether Johnson or Congress was right. Some say that Johnson was stubborn, ignorant, and a man whose politics were long ago outdated. Others counter that Congress was blinded by political greed, revenge and for placing the Southern black man over the Southern white man. Indeed major civil rights legislation was passed during this era but, as Johnson would point out, before the country was ready for all the consequences.

Regarding the Negro, and seen from the perspective of race relations today, nearly all Americans were “racist” in 1868, and most of the issues that were being debated then, other than basic freedom from slavery, were not able to be implemented until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s.

Andrew Johnson himself had been an indentured servant in Raleigh, NC during his childhood, eventually fleeing to Greenville, TN where he opened a tailor shop. He married Eliza McCardle, who taught him to read and write. The little shop became the political gathering spot for the working men of the community, and soon Johnson was serving as city alderman, then mayor, state representative, the U.S. House of Representatives, Governor of Tennessee, U.S. Senator, and during the war, Military Governor of Tennessee.

In 1864, near the war’s end, Abraham Lincoln nominated Johnson to run for Vice President, to give backing to the contention that the Republicans were a coalition of all loyal men. Johnson was in agreement with Lincoln’s policies, and sought to follow them when he became president following Lincoln’s assassination. He was to find, however, that the “Radical Republicans” of Congress had a much different agenda.

“Though I fought against Lincoln, I love my country; I love the Constitution. Let us therefore rally around the altar of our Constitution and swear that it and the Union shall be saved as ‘Old Hickory’ Jackson did in 1832. Senators, my blood, my existence, I would give to save this Union.”
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December, 1860

“It is the highest duty of every American citizen to maintain, against all their enemies, the integrity of the Union and the paramount authority of the Constitution and the laws of the United States; and that, laying aside all differences of political opinions, we pledge ourselves, as Union men, animated by a common sentiment and aiming at a common object, to do everything in our power to aid the Government in quelling, by force of arms, the Rebellion now raging
against its authority, and to bring to the
punishment due to their crimes the rebels and traitors arrayed against it.”
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June, 1864

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Historical Portrayal Setting
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The date is Sunday, March 22, 1868. You have received an impeachment ticket from your congressman and are expected to be in the gallery of the U.S. Senate chamber at one o’clock tomorrow to witness the first Presidential impeachment trial in the nation’s history. Feelings were running high against President Johnson who had been elected on the 1864 presidential ticket with Abraham Lincoln. He had assumed the office of President upon Lincoln’s assassination. As a holder of that ticket, you have been offered and have accepted an invitation from President Andrew Johnson to hear him speak at the White House tonight. He has expressed his desire to refute publicly the impeachment charges to friend and foe alike.

Further, he wants to share his background as a person who rose from being an indentured servant as a boy, to the profession of tailor, Governor of Tennessee in both peace time and inWar, to the highest office in the nation.The President has invited his Secretary of State, the honorable William H. Seward, to introduce him to the crowd assembled. At this time, please welcome Secretary of State Seward.

Secretary of State
William H. Seward
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“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the White House. I have had the opportunity to serve two great patriot presidents of America: our beloved Abraham Lincoln and now Andrew Johnson. Both solid for the Union, I have been honored to serve them, first during war and now through reconstruction. “Tomorrow America enters into one of the saddest, yet critical periods in our history. Our US Congress has seen fit to embark upon an impeachment trial to remove our great president just at the very time that America needs healing and calm. I have sat with President Johnson throughout numerous meetings of his cabinet, and can personally assure you that no one loves the Union, the Constitution, and the concept of states rights more than he.“While I am a member of the Republican party, I stand firmly behind my President. It gives me great pride to welcome him tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the President of the United States, the honorable Andrew Johnson”

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