Here’s another thing all humans have in common. We all have a birthday. Yes, we are born unto this world. Spawned.
Even the crusty people. You know. The ones with a hard exterior shell, who seem incapable of acting with humanity. I’m not saying he was one of them, but today is Andrew Johnson’s birthday. He was born unto this world on December 29, 1808.
We know him best as the 17th President of the United States. A Unionist. Former Vice-President to Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated in office.
Once Johnson took over things, most historians, looking back, agree. He didn’t do a very good job. He is ranked at the bottom of the barrel, around 43rd.
He was notable, though. That is for sure. As mentioned, his presidency arrived as the result of that tragedy that shook the nation. The murder of Abraham Lincoln. But he had other milestones.
The biggest, perhaps, no pun intended, was the purchase of Alaska. A large physical portion of our United States, although it isn’t physically united with the rest. The other biggie in his career? He became the first American president to be impeached.
There are some other things to know about him.
His father died when he was just four years old, so he worked instead of attending school. Needle in hand, he apprenticed as a tailor. Johnson taught himself the fundamentals of reading. It seems he didn’t receive a formal education until he married Eliza McCardle in Tennessee in 1827. His good wife taught him the basics of math and writing skills.
It was her teaching that would eventually lead to his political career. First, he started using his math skills to acquire real estate. And it wasn’t long before he became quite prosperous. From there, he rose in the ranks of Tennessee politics. He became mayor of Greeneville before entering the U.S. House of Representatives in 1843. Sounds a little familiar to some of today’s ropey-dopes. Eventually, he became Governor of Tennessee in 1853 and a Senator in 1857.
In his politics, Andrew Johnson straddled the line during the Civil War. Johnson was on the wrong side of history when it came to slavery. At least as far as I’m concerned. While serving in the Senate, he was one of the big advocates for a territory’s right to decide whether slavery was allowed. But then, when Lincoln was elected president in 1860, things shifted. Namely, seceding confederate states began breaking off from the Union.
When it came to this, Johnson believed secession was detrimental to the country as a whole. As such, he remained loyal to Lincoln even though his home state of Tennessee joined the Confederates. So, when Lincoln had to choose a side-man in 1864, he picked Johnson in large part to his support for the president as a “Southern Unionist.”
Later, less than three years into his term, Andrew Johnson was the first U.S. president to be impeached. A lot led up to the decision, but Johnson ignored the Tenure of Office Act of 1867. He wasn’t allowed to dismiss officials without Senate approval. But he did. He fired Radical Republican ally and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. That did the trick.
When he was waiting out his final days during the presidency, he became less engaged. He sort of withdrew from his duties a bit. But, he became very interested in a family of mice that had taken up residence in his bedroom. He left out water for them and made sure little bits of food were available in case they were hungry. He had a little mouse house in his White House. I don’t know what happened once he left.
But, it just goes to show you. We, humans, are all born into this world, with goodness inside of us. Sometimes, that good shows up when least expected. Like leaving out the cheese.
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“All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed.
For after all, he was only human. He wasn’t a dog.”
― Charles M. Schulz
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“Four legs good, two legs bad.”
― George Orwell, Animal Farm
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“For a human being, nothing comes naturally,’ said Grumman. ‘We have to learn everything we do.”
― Philip Pullman, The Subtle Knife
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The Johnson Effect. A heart for mice.
