Andrew Johnson: 17th U.S. President and Contested Reconstruction Policies

Rise and political background

Born into a poor family in North Carolina, Johnson learned a trade and entered public life in Tennessee, where he held several state offices and a seat in the U.S. Senate. A Southern Democrat who remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War, he was chosen to balance the national ticket in 1864 because of his appeal to pro-Union voters in the border and Southern states.

Presidency and conflict with Congress

As president, Johnson clashed with the Republican-controlled Congress over how to rebuild the South after the Civil War. He favored a rapid restoration of the seceded states with relatively few conditions and opposed strong federal protections for newly freed people. His frequent vetoes of legislation intended to secure civil rights for former enslaved people and his lenient policies toward former Confederates widened the rift between the White House and lawmakers in Congress.

Impeachment

Johnson was the first American president to be formally impeached. The House of Representatives charged him in 1868 chiefly because he removed the Secretary of War, a move that appeared to violate a law Congress had passed restricting the president's power to dismiss certain officeholders without Senate approval. The Senate held a trial but fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required to remove him from office, so he completed his term.

Later years

After leaving the White House, Johnson remained active in politics. In 1875 he won election to the U.S. Senate, becoming the only former president to return to the Senate; he died that same year while back in Washington. Historians continue to debate his legacy, particularly his approach to Reconstruction and civil rights for the formerly enslaved.