LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Andrew Johnson: Lincolns
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After Lincoln was assassinated, Andrew Johnson took the oath of office on April 15, 1865. Two profound questions faced the nation. First, under what conditions should the Southern rebel states be readmitted into the Union? Second, what rights should the freedmen, or ex-slaves, have?
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Johnson's Presidency was dominated by the attempt to reintegrate the South into the Union. Johnson's basic policy was a continuation of Lincoln's: the South would quickly be readmitted with no retribution. Simultaneously, Johnson urged that the rights of the newly freed slaves be protected. Unfortunately, this was not to be. Many Southern States imposed laws restricting the rights of newly freed slaves. At the same time, leading Northern politicians demanded Southern retribution.
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During the secession crisis, Johnson remained in the Senate even when Tennessee seceded, which made him a hero in the North and a traitor in the eyes of most Southerners. In 1862 President Lincoln appointed him Military Governor of Tennessee, and Johnson used the state as a laboratory for reconstruction. In 1864 the Republicans, contending that their National Union Party was for all loyal men, nominated Johnson, a Southerner and a Democrat, for Vice President. He made a scene on the day of his inauguration as Vice-President by appearing to be drunk.
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One of Johnson's last significant acts was granting unconditional amnesty to all Confederates on Christmas Day, December 25, 1868. This was after the election of U.S. Grant to succeed him, but before Grant took office in March 1869. Earlier amnesties requiring signed oaths and excluding certain classes of people were issued both by Lincoln and by Johnson.
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Johnson soon turned to politics, rising to governor and U.S. senator. He became a spokesman for the Jacksonian Democrats of his state, favoring populist measures, particularly a homestead bill. In 1860-1861, he remained loyal to the Union, the only senator from a seceding state to do so, and in 1862, Abraham Lincoln appointed him military governor of Tennessee.
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The secession crisis of 1860-61 opened an entirely new chapter in Johnson's life. When Lincoln was elected president in 1860, the Southern states, including Johnson's own state of Tennessee, prepared to secede, or break away, from the Union. One of the main disputes between North and South was over slavery. Johnson, like nearly all Southerners, was loyal to the institution of slavery. But unlike most Southerners, he was even more loyal to the United States. He was ready to sacrifice everything to keep it from breaking apart.
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