JOHNSON, 17th, 1865-69

Sturdily built, of medium height, Andrew Johnson had black hair and piercing eyes set in a face that Charles Dickens called remarkable. He was known as "The Grim Presence."

The only President who never spent a single day in a schoolroom, he was a "poor white" of lowly parentage, born in a shack. He dressed simply, always in black.

Johnson did not master the basics of reading, grammar, or math until he met his wife, Eliza, at the age of seventeen. Determined that her husband should amount to something, Eliza hired a man to read to him as he worked and she taught him writing and arithmetic at night. Johnson said, "It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word." Under Eliza's faithful tuition he acquired a fair education. She was also a soothing, calming influence on his easily ruffled feathers. He had a deep inner sense of insecurity and Eliza had a soft voice that could reach him in his darkest moments.

In his lifetime Johnson was City Councilman, Mayor, State Representative, State Senator, Governor, Representative, Senator, Vice-President, and President. He is the only person to have held all of the non-judicial positions in the American political system. He also possessed, in the words of a fellow Tennessean who knew him well, a "deep-seated, burning hatred of all men who stood in his way." He was always headstrong and sure he was right even in his errors.

Undoubtedly the greatest misfortune that ever befell Johnson was the assassination of President Lincoln, April 14, 1865. The student of history is forced to conclude that his posthumous fame would have been brighter without the high honor of being promoted to President and the consequences it entailed.

There were two attempts to remove Johnson from office. The first occurred in the fall of 1867 when the House Judiciary committee produced a bill of impeachment that was basically a vast collection of complaints against him. On February 24, 1868, however, Johnson became the first President to be impeached. The Senate declared that the President had exceeded his authority, and the House of Representatives passed a resolution — 126 yeas to 47 nays — that he be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors.

The unpopular Johnson was virtually ignored by the press when he died. His New York Times obituary states, "THE BOY WHO NEVER WENT TO SCHOOL GROWS UP TO BE PRESIDENT ... The history this man leaves is a rare one. His career was remarkable, even in this country; it would have been quite impossible in any other."

d. July 31, 1875 (in Greeneville, Tennessee) at 66 of a stroke.