Andrew Johnson

He married 16 year old Eliza McCardle, in 1827, when he was 18. They had five children, one of whom, Robert Johnson, committed suicide in his youth. Johnson died at the age of 66 after suffering a lethal stroke.

He was buried in Greeneville, Tennessee and 1906, it was declared as ‘Andrew Johnson National Cemetery’. His house and his tailor shop are maintained by the National Park Service as the ‘Andrew Johnson National Historic Site’.

Andrew was born into the poor household of Jacob Johnson, a constable and Mary McDonough, a laundrywoman. His father died when Andrew was three, leaving the family to the care of Mary, who supported her children by doing laundry.

Later, she married Turner Doughtry, who helped Mary take care of her children. William, the eldest of all the children was sent to work as an apprentice under a tailor and when Andrew was 10, he joined his brother.

However, the duo was unhappy with work and ran away; disregarding the fact they were legally bound to the firm. Andrew worked in North Carolina for some time, before going to South Carolina and finally he returned to his hometown Raleigh, hoping to get back his old job.

His old firm did not take him back and he toured to Tennessee where after some initial hitches he worked as a tailor before his mother called him back to Raleigh. Later, the family shifted to Greeneville, Tennessee and he established a tailoring business.

Johnson turned his attention to politics, advocating the cause of the working class people. In 1829, in the municipal elections of Greenville, he was elected as a representative.

In 1831, when the Tennessee government passed a new legislation to disenfranchise the African-Americans, he supported the move, thereby earning the government’s favor.

Eventually, he was elected the mayor of Greeneville on January 4, 1834. He supported the constitution which did not allow disfranchising the African-Americans. He also wanted to reevaluate the real estate tax rates and improve the infrastructure in Tennessee.

In 1835, he successfully set his foot in the Tennessee state legislature, where, he supported the Democratic principles of president, Andrew Jackson.

He was elected to the United States Congress, as a Democrat from Tennessee and in the House of Representatives he became a part of a new Democratic majority. In due course, he was elected the governor of Tennessee 1853.

As a senator he introduced the Homestead Bill which offered the applicant the possession of land, at very low or no cost.

After being elected as the vice-president, he tried to restore the civilian administration in Tennessee where the federal system had broken down after Lincoln’s election as President.