LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Andrew Johnson: Civil War
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Johnson forced the French out of Mexico by sending a combat army to the border and issuing an ultimatum. The French withdrew in 1867, and their puppet government quickly collapsed. Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia on April 9, 1867 for $7.2 Million. Critics sneered at "Seward's Folly" and "Seward's Icebox." Seward ... negotiated to purchase the Danish West Indies, but the Senate refused to approve the purchase in 1867. The Senate likewise rejected Seward's arrangement with Great Britain to arbitrate the Alabama claims. The U.S. experienced tense relations with Britain and its colonial government in Canada in the aftermath of the war.
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In spite of the domestic turmoil and impeachment crisis, in foreign affairs the Johnson administration was quite successful. Most of the credit rests with Secretary of State William Seward, who had a free hand to enforce the Monroe Doctrine, warning European powers not to interfere in the Western Hemisphere. In 1863 the French emperor Napoleon III had put Maximilian on the throne as emperor of Mexico. At the end of the Civil War, U.S. pressure forced the French to pull their troops out of Mexico and abandon Maximilian, who soon fell victim to a Mexican firing squad. The Johnson administration tamped down a crisis with Great Britain by enforcing neutrality laws, which prohibited U.S. citizens from using military force against other nations, against the Irish-American Fenians who made several armed forays into Canada in an attempt to annex Canadian territory. Civil War claims against Great Britain for building Confederate naval vessels that sank Union ships were sent to arbitration.
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In foreign affairs, Johnson allowed to be guided by his secretary of state, William H. Sward. Seward’s most farsighted act of diplomacy was acquisition of Alaska for $ 7,200,000. However, in 1867, when the purchase was made, it ridiculed as "Seward’s Folly." In 1863, by force of arms, France had set up European Prince as the so-called emperor of Mexico. This was a flagrant violation of the United States policy called the Monroe Doctrine, which forbade European intervention in the western hemisphere. During the war, Seward had been unable to do more then register the disapproval of the United States. By 1867... Seward’s firm pressure on France had resulted in the withdraw of all troops from Mexico.
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The Johnson home in Greeneville was occupied by both Confederate and Union forces during the War Between the States and sustained some war-time damage, which Johnson later repaired before his death. When he passed away, Johnson did not have a Will and his estate remained unsettled. His wife was appointed executrix, but her own death six months later left matters unresolved. In fact, when Johnson’s son died in 1879, the estate was still in question. Johnson’s daughters, Mary Stover and Martha Patterson did finally reach an agreement with Andrew Johnson, Jr.’s widow and purchased most of the household effects in a sale ordered by the Greene County Chancery Court.
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As soon as he became president, Johnson faced the knottiest problem of the post–Civil War era—formulating a policy for restoring the Union. Difficult for Lincoln, this task was even harder for Johnson. Lincoln was a Northerner with an intimate knowledge of Northern attitudes toward slavery, race, and the South, as well as with the sentiments and necessities of the Union party. He shared the mixed feelings of racism and humanitarian concern for ex-slaves that characterized most Northerners, as well as their conflicting desires for a quick return to normality and for fundamental changes that would guarantee the security of the Union. Johnson, on the other hand, was a Southerner. Toward blacks he displayed alternately a sympathetic paternalism and a contemptuous hostility.
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Johnson's most important foreign policy action was the purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire. This would prove vital to national security later during the Cold War. The idea and implementation is credited to Seward as Secretary of State, but Johnson approved the plan. Gold was not discovered in Alaska until 1880, thirteen years after the purchase and five years after Johnson's death, and oil was not discovered until 1968.
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