American politician and U.S. President 1865-1869, succeeding President Lincoln. A noted Democrat and Methodist, Johnson never attended school and was taught by his wife. Stern and stubborn, he was a self-made man, in his later life the governor of the territory of New Mexico.
Johnson was the son of a handyman at a tavern who died when the boy was five. He apprenticed to a local tailor at 14 and opened his own tailor shop in Greeneville, TN in 1826. The following year he married schoolteacher Eliza McCardle; they had five kids. He had riveting black eyes, a powerful upper body, and a forceful, unpretentious way of speaking.
Becoming a U.S. Senator and slave-owner, he was a hero in the North – and came close to being lynched in the South. As Lincoln’s Vice-president, he became known for his drinking and for high-handed decisions. As President, he vetoed nearly 30 Republican-sponsored laws, including one that gave freed blacks the right to vote. He clashed with foes over how to deal with the vanquished Confederate states, and he fired his Secretary of War. When censure was threatened, he said, “Impeach and be damned,” and within 48 hours, the House responded to the challenge.
He was acquitted from the impeachment trial in 1868, however his political career was effectively over. Republicans accused him of abusing his power, and many detested him. On 5/16/1868, after a three-month Senate trial, it was concluded that his “high crimes and misdemeanors” did not meet the standards for expulsion set by the Constitution.
He died 7/31/1875.
Link to Wikipedia biography