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Andrew Johnson
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The traditional story of Andrew Johnson's birth is held firmly in place by the preservation of a small historic structure located in Mordecai Park in Raleigh, North Carolina. That small building, probably built in the late 1700s, was part of a complex of buildings known as Casso's Inn, a well known hotel of that period located in Raleigh. This Inn was where Andrew Johnson's father worked as a stable keeper and his mother worked as a weaver. According to tradition, Andrew Johnson was born in the loft of the kitchen at the Inn. The story goes that on December 29, 1808 a wedding party was in progress at the tavern when the festivities were interrupted by news of the birth of a baby to the Johnsons. According to the same tradition, the bride went to the cabin at the back of the Inn to visit with the baby and his mother.
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Andrew Johnson's presidency was a tragic one for him and the nation. Possibly the problems of Reconstruction were too difficult for any statesman to solve, but Johnson's truculence, insensitivity to the plight of black Americans, and unimaginative adherence to constitutional doctrines at variance with practical realities all made matters worse. He had entered the presidency with the nation's goodwill at a time when both Northerners and Southerners wished to return to peaceful relations. Instead of making clear to white Southerners that amnesty for rebellion could be granted only in exchange for justice to black Southerners, he encouraged them to believe they had a right to restoration with no strings attached beyond simple abolition of slavery. The ensuing Southern resistance to Reconstruction exacerbated a heritage of bitterness between sections and between races. Americans still bear that legacy.
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Born in a log cabin on December 29, 1808, in Raleigh, North Carolina, Andrew Johnson knew abject poverty and personal tragedy almost from the very beginning of his life. Jacob Johnson, Andrew's father, a landless and illiterate worker in Raleigh, died unexpectedly a few days after Andrew's third birthday. At ten years of age, Johnson was apprenticed to work for James J. Selby, a tailor. In that shop, he learned two valuable lessons: how to perform the tailor's craft and how to read. After five years in Selby's shop, Johnson ran away from Raleigh, but he returned some two years later in an unsuccessful attempt to make peace with Selby. In 1825 or early 1826 Johnson again left, heading west to seek a better fortune.
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Andrew Johnson became politically active shortly after his move to Tennessee. From 1828-1830, he served as an Alderman in Greenville, and, in 1834 and 1838, mayor. From 1835-1837 and 1839-1841, he served in the Tennessee House of Representatives. In 1841, he was elected to the Tennessee Senate. Johnson’s first venture into national politics came in 1843 when he was elected to Congress, where he served from 1843-1853. In 1853, Johnson was elected to the chief executive position in Tennessee, serving as governor from 1853-1857.
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Andrew Johnson was born in a log cabin to nearly illiterate parents, on December 29, 1808, in Raleigh, North Carolina. His father, Jacob Johnson, had scratched out a living as a hotel porter and bank janitor in Raleigh. Tragically, Jacob died while trying to save two of his wealthy employers from drowning when Andrew was three years old. His widowed mother worked as a weaver and a spinner to feed Andrew and his older brother William. She married Turner Daugherty when Andrew was still a boy, though the addition to the family did not much improve family finances. At age fourteen, his parents apprenticed Andrew and William to a local tailor, with whom the two boys worked for several years before running away.
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Andrew Johnson was born at Raleigh, N.C., on Dec. 29, 1808. Self-educated, he became a tailor in Greeneville, Tenn., but soon went into politics, where he rose steadily. He served in the House of Representatives (1843–54), as governor of Tennessee (1853–57), and as a senator (1857–62). Politically he was a Jacksonian Democrat and his specialty was the fight for a more equitable land policy. Alone among the Southern Senators, he stood by the Union during the Civil War. In 1862, he became war governor of Tennessee and carried out a thankless and difficult job with great courage.
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