Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson (1808–1875) was the seventeenth President of the United States (1865-69), succeeding to the Presidency upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He was one of only two U.S. Presidents to be impeached.

Johnson served as a United States Senator from Tennessee at the time of the at the begining of the American Civil War. He was the only Southern Senator not to quit his post upon secession, and became the most prominent War Democrat from the South. In 1862 President Lincoln appointed Johnson military governor of Tennessee, where he proved energetic and effective in fighting the rebellion. Johnson was nominated for the Vice President slot in 1864 on the National Union Party ticket, displacing incumbent Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, with Lincoln running for re-election.

Andrew Johnson in "Must and Shall"
When Abraham Lincoln was killed by a sniper on July 12, 1864 while inspecting the ramparts at Fort Stevens north of Washington, DC, Hannibal Hamlin became president, and Andrew Johnson was sidelined. Shortly after Lincoln's death, Johnson could do nothing but glare up at Hamlin from the audience as Hamlin was inaugurated.

Andrew Johnson in The Guns of the South
Tennessee politician Andrew Johnson became the vice-presidential candidate of the breakaway "Radical Republicans" in 1864, running with John C. Frémont. The ticket was not elected.