17. Andrew JOHNSON was a Democrat who served less than one term from 1865 – 1869. As Lincoln’s second VP, he became president when Lincoln was assassinated.
Before becoming president, Johnson was a senator from Tenn. When it seceded, he remained loyal to the Union. After TN was retaken by the Union in 1862, Lincoln appointed him military governor. Then in 1864 Lincoln, wishing to send a message of national unity, chose Johnson, a War Democrat and Southern Unionist, to be his running mate.
Civil War Amendments 13, 14 & later 15 were ratified. The 13th Amendment ended slavery. The 14th Amendment established citizenship for all those born or naturalized in the US, including Blacks. It also declared that no state could make any laws which would restrict the basic rights of any citizen, nor could any state deprive any person of their basic rights without due process and equal protection of the law. The 15th Amendment gave Black men the right to vote.
Reconstruction Acts passed over his veto and put troops in the South. Five military districts were created in the South, each commanded by a general who served as the acting government for the region. Congress required that each state draft a new state constitution to be approved by Congress; that they ratify the 14th Amendment, and grant voting rights to Black men. Presidents Lincoln and Johnson both took moderate, lenient positions designed to bring the South back to normal as quickly as possible, but the Radical Republicans in Congress voted to impose harsh terms. A Republican coalition came to power in nearly all the southern states and set out to transform the society by setting up a free labor economy, using the US Army and the Freedmen’s Bureau. The Bureau protected the legal rights of freedmen, negotiated labor contracts, and set up schools and even churches for them. Thousands of Northerners came South, as missionaries, teachers, businessmen and politicians; angry Southerners called them “Carpetbaggers”.
Impeached, but acquitted which means found not guilty. Impeachment is a process by which an official may be accused by the House of Representatives of unlawful activity and may be removed from office if found guilty in a Senate trial. The Radical Republicans in the House, frustrated by Johnson’s opposition to their Reconstruction plans, filed impeachment charges, but the action failed by one vote in the Senate. He was the first president to be impeached.
Bought Alaska from Russia which saw it as a financial drain and feared losing control of it to increasing numbers of American settlers. Reactions in the US were mixed, with some opponents calling it “Seward’s Folly” (after Secretary of State William Seward who negotiated the treaty) because the US paid the modern equivalent of $122 million. Others praised the move for weakening both Britain and Russia as rivals to American commerce in the Pacific region. This was the second largest purchase in U.S. history – after the LA Purchase.
After being president Johnson was elected to the US Senate; he remains the only former president to serve in the Senate. (Wikipedia)
