17.) Andrew Johnson 1865-1869

[Abridged] Presidential Histories

In the wake of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, former vice president Andrew Johnson was faced with a tremendous challenge: How do you mend relations between the north and south, two regions that had spend the past four years killing each other on the field of battle? And what do you do about the south's 3.5 million newly freed former slaves who owned no land or property and who were surrounded by 5.5 million whites who feared and resented them. And, oh yeah, all those white guys have recent military experience?
It wouldn't have been easy for any president to navigate these challenges peacefully. Unfortunately, when it came to the freedmen Johnson had no interest in that "peacefully" part.
Follow along as Johnson rises from poverty so deep, he was sold into indentured servitude, to city alderman, to the state house, to the White House. Along the way, we'll see how he put himself in a position to replace Lincoln's first-term vice president, how his influence during reconstruction helped cement a post-slavery racist society we're still haunted by today, and how he became the only president in our first 200 years to face an impeachment trial in the senate.
Bibliography
1. Andrew Johnson – Annette Gordon-Reed
2. Grant – Jean Edward Smith
3. Abraham Lincoln – David Herbert Donald
4. Rutherford B. Hayes – Hans. L. Trefousse

Support the show