Andrew Johnson 1808-1875

Andrew Johnson, the nation’s seventeenth president, was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, on December 29, 1808. He began his career as a tailor with no formal schooling, but he acquired a reputation as a forceful and effective orator, thanks in large part to his wife, who taught him reading, writing, and arithmetic. After moving to Greeneville, Tennessee, he was elected alderman in 1828, mayor in 1830, member of the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1835 and again in 1839, state senator in 1841, congressman in 1843, governor in 1853, and U.S. senator in 1857. When the Civil War broke out, Johnson was the only southern senator to remain loyal to the Union. He attracted the attention of Abraham Lincoln, who appointed him military governor of Tennessee in 1862 and selected him as his running mate in the 1864 presidential election. Johnson rose to the presidency on April 15, 1865, the day after Lincoln’s assassination. After leaving the White House in 1869, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1875 and was the only former president ever to serve in the Senate. His tenure, though, was short-lived, for he died on July 31 that same year.