Andrew Johnson was the seventeenth president of the United States of America from 1865 to 1869. He was also one of two presidents to be elected on the National Union Party ticket. He took office as vice president after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and served for the next four years.
According to existingcountries, Andrew Johnson was born in 1808 in Raleigh, North Carolina. His father was a relatively poor Jacob Johnson who died when Andrew was three years old. His mother was Mary McDonough, who raised him alone and without funds. At the age of ten, Andrew and his brother were apprenticed as tailors. After six years of tailoring lessons with a master, they decided to escape to the city of Greenville, Tennessee, and tried to establish their own workshop. At the age of nineteen, he already employed several slaves, with whom he had very good relations and took them as friends. It was while working with these people that young Johnson discovered that he was passionate about politics and was not indifferent to public affairs, as well as human rights. That’s why he decided to get involved in politics.
Johnson helped to found the labor party, in 1829 he was elected to the city council and 4 years later he is the mayor of the city. His political career continued to rise, and in 1935 he was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives. After previous unsuccessful elections, he finally becomes a member of the Tennessee Senate in 1839. From 1843, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the next 10 years as a member of the Democratic Party. After returning home, he becomes governor of Tennessee and a member of the US Senate. He then served as the 16th US Vice President for about a month, but after the death of President Abraham Lincoln, he assumed the presidency.
On April 15, 1865, he took the presidential oath and in office immediately continued Lincoln’s policy of reconciliation with the rebellious states of the South. After a four-year term, Ulysses S. Grant replaced him in the office of president. After leaving office and the White House, he returned home to Tennessee and served in the Senate. On July 31, 1875, Andrew Johnson dies of a stroke at his daughter’s home in Tennessee.
Today, Greenville, Tennessee is home to Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, managed by the National Park Service. This place was established in honor of President Andrew Johnson. These are two historic brick houses in which the president lived with his wife and children in the years 1869 – 1875. The National Cemetery from 1906 with his grave is also located nearby. The site was designated a National Monument in 1935 and renamed a National Historic Site in 1963. A statue of Johnson stands in front of the houses.
