Andrew Johnson was the 17th president of the United States. He was never elected to that office in his own right, he became the president when the 16th president Abraham Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865, and then died the next day. This was not a very auspicious start to a presidency. While Andrew Johnson was not the first president to gain the office through the death of the president, he was the first who did so after an assassination.
Lincoln had chosen Johnson as a running mate to balance the ticket. Johnson was a southerner and a Democrat. He was also the only senator from a southern state who kept his seat during the Civil War. His election as Vice President was a reward for his loyalty.
Actually, his thinking on reconstruction was not very different from that of President Lincoln. The difference was the fact that he was a southerner and had a very intractable attitude. He never did learn to compromise. He butted heads with the Congress to such an extent that they had him impeached. He wasn't forced out of office but he also did not run again for the Presidency. He did, however, run for and was reelected to the Senate where he got to face down many of his sworn enemies.
He was a man of firm convictions who had worked as a tailor in his earlier life. He understood the working man and was a champion they could count on. His legacy has been tarnished to some extent by the impeachment proceedings but he is a fascinating man and visiting Greenville, Tenn. will help any history buff to get to know the man.
Head to the Andrew Johnson Historic Site Visitor Center to begin your trip through history. It is located at the corner of College and Depot St. A parking lot is available where you can leave your car for free. At this site, there is the first home that the Johnson's owned in Greenville. It is small and the tour is self-guided. Cross the street and enter the visitor center. Go to the desk first thing and sign up for a tour of the Andrew Johnson Home Site. These are guided tours and must be done with a guide, numbers are limited so do that first.
You can then tour the museum where his original tailor shop is located as well as view a video about Andrew Johnson and his life in Greenville as well as in Washington.
You can drive or walk to the home site it is only a few blocks away. The house tour is fascinating and depending on who your guide is you will learn a lot of personal information about the family. There is a lot of sadness in this story but I don't want to ruin it for you. Allow at least a couple of hours to do all of these things.
The next stop should be the cemetery to see the graves of Andrew and his family. It is a very impressive monument. You need to be able to climb stairs to get up onto the deck of the monument itself, it is, however, visible even from your car. The views of Greenville are quite spectacular from atop this hill.
One more stop is outside of the city to complete a presidential trip. The Andrew Johnson Museum and Library is located on the campus of Tusculum University. He was a benefactor of the University so it is fitting that this is where his library ended up. This is not a large museum, it only has three rooms but it has a nice collection of Johnson memorabilia from both his private and public life. His library of books is also housed here.
You can visit all the Johnson sites in one day but Greenville has some other very interesting places to visit around town so allow yourself at least one other day. Greenville is located in the Smokey Mountains and is easily driven to from both Knoxville and Asheville, N.C.
I never knew very much about Andrew Johnson and what I learned here made me realize that he was a good man who history has treated quite badly. He became president under nearly impossible conditions and the fact that he was not a success was more an indication of the times than of the man.
No comments:
Post a Comment