From: Clayton Slook
Date: 4/25/00
Time: 2:23:20 PM
Remote Name: 155.247.59.8
Clayton Slook History 67
Andrew Johnson started as an illiterate apprentice to a tailor and was not at all on his way to becoming illiterate. While he was an apprentice, he started his education when gentlemen came by each day to practice reading speeches by British statesmen. He learned to read with the help of this gentleman and later left the apprenticeship to work in a courthouse. He worked there for a while learning about law and the workings of government. He then moved to Tenn. and married; his wife was fully literate and taught him to write and arithmetic. In Tenn., he found himself climbing from Mayor of Greenville, to lower branch Legislature, to a place in congress for ten years. Johnson was elected governor of Tenn., following that, he was elected to the United States Senate by the legislature of 1857. President Lincoln appointed Johnson to be the military Governor for Tennessee in 1862. Finally after this last position he found himself elected to be vice president with Lincoln in 1864. Later the next year Lincoln was assassinated and that left Johnson as President. The person who wrote this source seems to be indifferent about the impeachment of the president. This person seems to give the information in a way that does not show his or her position on the whole situation. If I really had to pick a side though, I would lean to the side that says Johnson was pushed by the House and Congress to take a defensive position. Congress and the House would override all of Johnson’s decisions or vetoes. It seemed that Johnson acted defensively because the House and Congress were trying to take his power as the president. To get the full story, it would be helpful to check out some of the opinions of the people of the House and Congress that opposed Johnson and supported him. These views would give both of the opposing sides of the argument. With these two opposing sides, we would be able to take the arguments and judge for ourselves if the court ruling was or was not the right one.