Andrew Johnson – Greeneville, TN
October 25-26, 2014
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| The First Reconstruction President |
When Lincoln was mortally wounded at the Good Friday
performance of Our American Cousin,
one of the audience members, Leonard James Farwell wove out of the mayhem, ran
four blocks through the cold, misty darkness to the five-story Kirkwood House
at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 12th Street, flew into the entrance and
hammered on the first-floor door of Andrew Johnson. In a torrent of words, the former Wisconsin
governor informed Johnson what had taken place at Ford’s Theatre.
Neither man knew that the killing plot included Andrew
Johnson himself. One of John Wilkes
Booth’s co-conspirators, 29 year-old George Atzerodt, had rented room 126
directly above the Vice President’s room but had lost his nerve and was at that
moment staggering about Washington dead drunk.
He never returned to the hotel.
In the early morning, still unaware of the plot on his own
life, Johnson marched across the damp town and waded through the anxious groups
of people milling about the front steps of the red brick Peterson House, directly
across the street from Ford’s Theatre.
He stared at the unconscious bearded figure, lying diagonally across the
bloody bed, and knew what it meant for him.
He returned to the Kirkwood.
Lincoln died at 7:22 a.m. the next morning. Three hours later at the Kirkwood, Johnson
was sworn in by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase as the 17th president of the
United States. The Bible was reportedly
open to Proverbs 20 and 21:
Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find
out those that hate thee.
Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine
anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire
shall devour them.
Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their
seed from among the children of men.
For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a
mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.
Even though Johnson was a Democrat and a Southerner, the nearly
vanquished South waited in dread.
* * *
One crisp October weekend, Cathy and I drove nearly 430 miles—more
than 300 miles of it on Interstate 81—from our little white house in
Kensington, Maryland to Andrew Johnson’s home town of Greeneville, Tennessee, the
cerulean blue sky a backdrop for the
autumn yellow and reds.
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| Nolichucky River |
We stayed in Nolichucky Bluffs Bed and Breakfast
Cabins about 10 minutes south of town. The property has five cabins as well as
a beautiful—except for the hoards of box elder bugs crawling all over it—wedding
gazebo soaring above the river. We had reserved the Dogwood Cabin, nestled in the
forest and perched high on the bank of the Nolichucky River. The
owner, Pam Sadler, said the Dogwood was her least favorite cabin, but we loved
it. A modern two-bedroom, 1 1/2 bath with a living room and fireplace, and most
importantly, a cabin-long back porch with several choices of seats, overlooking
the surprisingly clear river. So relaxing.
* * *
Andrew Johnson settled in Greeneville in 1827 when he was just
18 years old, sheparding his family across the Appalachian Mountains dragging a
two-wheel cart tottering with their belongings.
The city is homage to him.
There is Andrew Johnson High School, Andrew Johnson Bank, and our goal,
the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site run by the National Park Service.
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| Andrew Johnson Visitor Center |
We started at the large visitor center in the middle of town. We sat through the obligatory 13-minute introductory
movie. As usual, Tom took notes and
Cathy caught up on her sleep.
The largest room in the visitor center completely encloses Johnson’s
original weathered, wood plank, one-room tailor shop—a unique way to preserve a
structure. Having been apprenticed as a tailor in his teens, Johnson ran a
tailor shop. While Johnson fitted the
community’s men (he charged $1.50 for vests and pants and $4-$8 for coats), the
discussion would often turn to politics.
Johnson was elected as a city alderman at the age of 21.
And his political career took off.
Johnson quickly ascended the political hierarchy and became Greeneville’s
mayor, a state representative, a state senator, a U.S. representative, a governor,
a U.S. senator, a vice president, a president, and finally again a senator. At least to that day, holding all of these
posts was unparalleled in presidential history.
But how in the world did a Southern Democrat become Republican
Lincoln’s running mate in 1864?
Basically selecting Johnson was seen as a way of broadening
Lincoln’s base. Although a Southerner,
Johnson was from Eastern Tennessee, which aligned more with the anti-slavery portion
of Virginia — which eventually seceded from
the Confederacy and formed West Virginia—than the rest of the state.
In addition, Johnson was a staunch anti-Confederate, not so
much because he opposed slavery, but because he hated the aristocratic
plantation owners of the Antebellum South.
This was probably because of his poor, working-class roots — his father
died of pneumonia when he was three and his mother was a laundress. During the
war, he pointedly exclaimed, “Damn the negroes, I am fighting those traitorous
aristocrats, their masters.”
Johnson was also a strict Constitutionalist and was vehemently
opposed to the South leaving the union.
In a Dec. 18, 1860, speech in the well of the Senate, Senator Johnson had
proclaimed, “Though I fought against Lincoln, I love my country. I love the Constitution. Let us therefore rally around the altar of
our Constitution and I 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.” Johnson remained in the Senate even after Tennessee
seceded on June 18, 1861.
He was the only Southern senator to do so.
When the middle of Tennessee was subjugated by the Union
early in the war, Johnson once again appeared in Nashville as a governor, only
this time as Lincoln’s appointed military governor with the rank of brigadier
general. Johnson endured three years in
Nashville surrounded by Tennesseans who abhorred him. (In retaliation for Johnson’s treachery to
the South, Confederate troops, which still occupied Eastern Tennessee, evicted
his family from their Greeneville home and vandalized it.
So, for the 1864 election, Lincoln selected Andrew Johnson
as his running mate and ousted the incumbent vice president, Hannibal Hamlin of
Maine.
Just prior to Lincoln’s inauguration on the morning of March
4, 1865, Johnson was recovering from typhoid fever — and possibly still
suffering from diarrhea. Desperate for a
short-term solution, he imbibed the remedy of the day: three stout swigs of whiskey. Between the
typhoid, three shots of whiskey, a humid Senate chamber, and his formal attire (that
likely included bulky undergarments, a high-collar shirt and cravat, a vest, and
a waistcoat), he was basically a hot, miserable, incoherent mess as he rose
shakily to take his oath of office.
Against all protocol, he launched into a slurred, rambling 17-minute speech
that seemed to never end. Michigan Sen.
Zachariah Chandler wrote, "I was never so mortified in my life, had I been
able to find a hole I would have dropped through it out of sight." But later Lincoln defended Johnson, “He made
a bad slip the other day but you need not be scared; Andy ain’t no drunkard.”
Forty-two days later Andrew Johnson was president.
* * *
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| The Johnson Home |
We toured the brick house that was Johnson’s home from 1851
to his death in 1875, two stories with a sunny, roomy wrap-around porch on both
floors —located just several blocks
from the visitor center in downtown Greeneville. We were shown around by a guide, Daniel
Luther, who thankfully focused on Johnson, the man, and not on the house and
furnishings. He also didn't try to
sugarcoat the presidency. Daniel said repeatedly that Johnson was one of the
worst presidents in history and had a disastrous term.
Johnson was close to his wife,
Eliza, and his kids — he invited all his kids and grandchildren to live in the White
House. Having the grandkids with him "went a long way toward making the
experience tolerable,” Daniel told us. Eliza
suffered from tuberculosis for years — 15 years before going to White House. His
daughter Martha served as the official hostess of the White House. Eliza, who
was also intensely private, received
visitors at the White House only twice.
When the Johnsons returned from the White House, the house
had been looted, vandalized, and doors and windows had been knocked out by
Southern troops occupying the house. Graffiti was written on plaster throughout
the house. So Eliza wallpapered over the graffiti so it couldn't be seen. Her actions preserved the graffiti. Now, we
could see some that were exposed during the restoration of Eliza's room. Gems
such as "Andrew Johnson the old traitor" and an 1868 date.
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| Haunted Sick Room with Bottle of Laudanum |
The house also has a “haunted” sick room upstairs. One of
Johnson’s sons, Robert, died in this room when he was 33. Like his mother, he was
afflicted with TB that he tried to treat with laudanum, a potentially deadly combination
of alcohol and opium — 65% alcohol, 35% opium.
The closet doors open and shut by themselves. And the alarm system
always starts ringing the week of April 22, when he died.
The Johnsons enslaved eight people. When Johnson bought Dolly, 18, in 1842, she
asked him to buy her brother, Sam.
(Dolly knew that in East Tennessee, owners tended to use the enslaved
for domestic help instead of much more arduous agricultural labor.) So Johnson returned the next day and purchased
him.
In1863, Johnson freed those he had enslaved. He told them
to go to other homes to seek work and negotiate wages. Then he told them to
come back and he would pay them more.
Daniel told us that Ernie Pyle, the famed war reporter,
once interviewed the last descendant of Johnson's enslaved who said, "We
were well off then. But every man wants to be free."
Daniel shared that during one of Johnson’s three campaigns
for Senate after the presidency, he said in an interview: "I look forward to a time in our country
hopefully not in the too distant future where distinctions won't be made by the
color of a man's skin."
* * *
We were not at Nolichucky Bluffs there long enough
to truly enjoy our stay. By the time we got to our room it was already 5 p.m.
And we left at 11 the next morning. We would have loved to have stayed longer.
Cathy wanted to call work and tell them she was taking Monday off, so we could
enjoy our cabin and porch and woods. But she didn’t.
We did take a short hike among the cabins, and to
the Grist Mill (which serves as one of the cabins, though there is an outhouse
for the bathroom). It’s hilly and nestled in the woods.
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| Good Food at the Gathering Place |
For dinner, we went to the Gathering Place, at the
suggestion of Pam. Trying to navigate where to go was a little dicey since it
was pitch black and we had no idea where we were going. But once we found it,
on the end of a strip mall, we found a very homey little place, packed with
locals. It was low-key and cute. Diners sat wherever they wanted, and the
locals moved among the ten tables to chat and catch up. The nightly special was
meatloaf smeared with catsup, and two sides, which Tom found quite tasty. And
Cathy had a burger, with salad and iced tea. And cornbread — yum! Total bill:
$17.50. Amazing.
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| Scarecrows on Main |
Earlier in the day, when we had driven through
downtown (several times) we kept noticing scarecrows in front of houses and
businesses alike. Some of them doing odd things — one was looking inside a
large trash bin, for example. So we
asked our waitress why everybody had scarecrows in front. It seemed like it was
everybody’s choice of Halloween decoration. She explained that the businesses
were having a competition called “Scarecrows on Main.” That explains it.
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| The Tasty Breakfast Buffet |
For breakfast the next morning, all the guests met
in Grandma’s Cupboard, which serves as the hotel’s office and gathering place.
And it’s where Pam had cooked a buffet breakfast of French toast, fruit,
homemade applesauce, homemade bran muffins (which she said she made for Cathy,
since Pam had seen her running in the morning — and were tasty), cereals, and
potatoes. We sat a group table and met some of the other visitors, including a
couple renting out an upstairs apartment for six months while the husband
worked on a job for his company and the wife worked on her novel. The room has
a collection of dolls on a high shelf lining the walls, overseeing the guests
while we ate. And a train circled the room on a suspended track above. The kids
who were there loved it — as did the adults.
* * *
Andrew Johnson had a short honeymoon when he took office in
April 1865 since Congress was out of session until Dec. 11, 1865. On May 10, Johnson
declared the hostilities to be over. The
South, expecting Johnson to impose harsh terms, was surprised with his leniency. He offered a full amnesty to all states that
“pledged loyalty to the Union and support for emancipation” (Foner, 1990). The amnesty restored all property — with the
exception of the formerly enslaved people.
However, there were certain classes of Southerners who were required to
travel to Washington and personally request a pardon and make their declaration
of allegiance to President Johnson.
These included major ex-Confederate figures as well as owners of
property worth more than $20,000—again Johnson’s wrath on the aristocrats. Even
Robert E. Lee schlepped to Washington and served as an example for other
Confederates. (Only ex-Confederate
president Jefferson Davis was ineligible for pardon and was a prisoner at Fort
Monroe, Va.)
And those who could vote prior to the war (with the
exception of yet to be pardoned ex-Confederates) could again vote.
Why were his terms so lenient? Johnson was a strict Constitutionalist. In
his view, the Southern states had never actually left the United States because
the Constitution made no provision for it.
So they needed to be restored to the Union ASAP.
For the newly freed, Johnson
had nothing to offer. Blacks wanted to
be able to vote but Johnson made no mention of it, principally because the
Constitution made no provision for it.
To make matters worse, Johnson ordered the freedmen to return any lands that
had been given to them by General Sherman in January 1865 in parts of South
Carolina, Georgia and Florida, because Johnson believed it unconstitutional to
take land away from the original Southern owners.
Witnessing Johnson’s leniency,
Southern states began to establish so-called “Black Codes.” For example, in Mississippi “vagrancy” was
not permitted and all blacks had to demonstrate proof of employment. All work was contracted and the blacks had to
fulfill the full terms of their contracts or be arrested. In South Carolina all blacks had to pay an
annual tax for any occupation except for farmer or servant. In Florida, non-white “vagrants” could be
sentenced to one year of labor and their children could be indentured as
apprentices at no pay. The Black Codes
were intended to force blacks to continue working at menial jobs.
Once Congress returned to
session in December 1865, the fun was over.
The so-called “Radical Republicans” quickly fashioned bills to improve
the living conditions of the freedmen.
First was the Freedman’s Bureau Bill of 1866 that provided food, farm
tools, medical services, and schools for displaced blacks. But Johnson vetoed the bill, saying that it was
too costly and ought to be a state responsibility. Johnson also thought it unfair that 11 Southern
states not yet readmitted to the Union had no say in the matter. His veto was
sustained. Congress then passed a
modified bill that Johnson also vetoed, but that veto was overturned.
The next bill up was the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The bill’s purpose was to protect freedmen’s
civil rights. As expected, Johnson opposed
the bill. He said it gave too much power
to the Federal government at the expense of the states. “The distinction of race
and color is by the bill made to operate in favor for the colored and against
the white race,” he stated. However, Congress
overrode that veto.
Next proposed was the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which
stipulated that to be readmitted and recognized, states had to allow all men to
vote. (Remember that women had not yet
won the right to vote.) In addition, a new
state constitution had to be written with the same provisions. Further, each state
had to ratify the 14th Amendment, which guarantees equality and
stipulates that states must reduce their congressional representation in
proportion to males denied the vote. In addition, former members of Congress
who had left to join the Confederacy could not hold office. States would be
placed under federal military rule until they had made those provisions. Unsurprisingly, Johnson vetoed the bill
because he felt that this was a state responsibility and it was
unconstitutional for the federal government to get involved. (Johnson is starting to sound a whole lot
like Franklin Pierce, masking contemptible behavior behind the veil of the
Constitution.) This veto was also
overturned.
Under its new authority, Congress divided the former
Confederacy into five military districts, each presided over by a general. All black males were allowed to vote. And they all voted Republican. And blacks won offices. Republican governments came to power in the
formerly Democratic Southern states.
But the Radical Republicans were not finished. They were determined to advance their agenda
even further, preferably without Johnson in the way. They passed the Tenure of Office Act in 1867,
which forbade the President from removing from office anyone that Congress had
confirmed, without its prior approval. Johnson, of course, vetoed the act, but
his veto was overridden. When Johnson brazenly
fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton for his cozy alignment with the Radicals,
the fight was on. The House voted 126-47
to impeach Johnson on 11 counts for violations of the Tenure of Office Act and
other violations. Most of the charges were weak and included such
issues as uttering “loud threats and bitter menaces” against Congress.
The tickets to the six-week impeachment trial were hot. It was a social event and tickets were being
scalped. Johnson, however, was barred
from attending his trial.
On May 16, 1868, seven Republicans joined 12 Democrats and acquitted
Johnson of the first of the impeachment charges. By one vote. A 10-day recess was immediately called but
the cause was lost. (This was a brave act for the seven Republicans — all seven
lost their Senate seats during the next election and most were threatened with
harm. They believed that the Tenure of
Office Act was itself unconstitutional. And
they were right; it was repealed in
1887. There would be no more impeachment trials for more than 130 years.)
* * *
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| Andrew and Eliza Johnson Burial site |
The Republicans did not renominate Johnson in 1868, choosing
instead Horatio Seymour of New York. Johnson and his family returned to Greeneville. Johnson did have one more success in
politics. In 1875 he was elected to the
U.S. Senate but suffered a fatal stroke that year while visiting one of
daughters in Tennessee. Johnson was
buried with his head placed atop a copy of his beloved Constitution, his body
wrapped in an American flag. His family
tomb overlooks the city — and the golden Appalachian Mountains beyond.
* * *
Directions
The Andrew Johnson
National Historic Site is located in Greeneville, Tenn. From 1-81north take exit 23 to US 11E
north. From I-81 south, take exit 36 to
TN Rt. 172 south, then US 321 south.
Greeneville is also home to the Nathanael Greene Museum, for whom the
city is named.
References
Andrew Johnson’s Drunk VP Inaugural Address, March 4th,
1865. Lock, Stock and History. From http://www.peashooter85.com/post/37957538382/andrew-johnsons-drunk-vp-inaugural-address-march
Ash, S.V.
2009. Civil War Occupation. Tennessee
Encyclopedia of History and Culture. December
25, 2009. From http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1013
Bibles Used in
Inaugural Ceremonies. 2013. From http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/swearing-in/bibles
Chronology.
University of Missouri-Kansas City.
From http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/impeach/Chronology.html
Foner, E. 1990. A Short
History of Reconstruction: 1863-1877. Harper & Row. New York, New York.
Greg. 2012.
Was Andrew Johnson Drunk During Lincoln’s Inauguration? February 16, 2012. From
Ken, H. 2012. Notes
on Men’s Clothing of the 1860’s.
July 31, 2012. From
http://passionforthepast.blogspot.com/2012/07/ive-received-several-e-mails-asking-me.html
Kennedy, J.F., 1955. Profiles in Courage. Harper & Row, New York, New York.
Means, H. 2006. The
Avenger Takes his Place: Andrew Johnson
and the 45 Days that Changed the Nation. Harcourt, Inc.
New York, New York.
Moore, K. 2007. The
American President. Fall River
Press. New York, New York.
Morse, J.T. (editor).
1911. The Diary of Gideon Welles.
Norton, R.J. Abraham Lincoln's Last Day. From http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln45.html
Perry, M.B.
2010. No Pensions for Ex-Slaves. How
Federal Agencies Suppressed the Movement To Aid Freedpeople. Summer 2010, Vol. 42, No. 2.
The Death of President Lincoln, 1865. 1999. EyeWitness
to History. From www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/loncoln.htm (1999, revised,
2009).
