Pity poor Andrew Johnson

Johnson's tailor office in the Park Service visitor center.

The visit to the Greeneville, Tennessee, homes of the 17th U.S. president Andrew Johnson was a fascinating one, in that visitors almost feel pity for the poor man who became president after Abraham Lincoln's assassination.

The Civil War had just ended, and northern politicians wanted the South punished. And Johnson? Well, he was no Abraham Lincoln. He faced a myriad of problems, and he made some of his own.

Johnson was the first U.S. president to be impeached, his accusers arguing that he unlawfully dismissed a cabinet member. Congress also generally disliked the fact that President Veto, as he was known, kept shooting down their proposed laws.  He was acquitted by one vote.

It is interesting how the National Park Service is able to keep a proper perspective on his term. He joins Lancaster's James Buchanon (who preceded Lincoln) on lists of the 10 worst U.S. presidents in history according to a recent U.S. News and World Report ranking.  But that's not mentioned.

The Park Service tells Johnson's story clearly and by the time visitors leave the visitor center, one can't help but think Johnson did what he thought was right, and according to what Lincoln would have wanted.

Johnson's office has mostly original pieces.

Johnson grew up as an apprentice tailor, but somehow found himself in politics, quickly rising to where Lincoln appointed Johnson the war-time governor of Tennessee, and then as vice president during Lincoln's second term. In 1863, Johnson let the few slaves he owned choose whether to leave or stay on as paid workers. They all stayed with Johnson.

Johnson's family life was anything but normal, with half his family, including his wife Eliza, dying of tuberculosis. One son died after being thrown from a horse, and another died of a drug overdose. Eliza suffered as an invalid for more than 25 years with TB, and one of Johnson's daughters took over political and social duties as 'first lady' during the White House  years.

Johnson was a Democrat, while Lincoln was a Republican, but was needed on the ticket for the border states vote. When Lincoln died, Johnson relied heavily on his states rights  beliefs, and vetoed many bills because of his feeling that these bills were better left to the states and not the federal government.

Congress wanted to step in and clean up the problems the Civil War had left behind, but Johnson insisted upon leaving most of that to the states.

After leaving the White House, Johnson was reelected senator in 1875. He is the only president to return to public life as a senator. Before his return to Washington D.C., however, he suffered a stroke and died. Eliza died six months later.

Unlike many historic sites, Johnson's is nearly all original pieces, not reproductions or period pieces. Johnson's hat sits on his old dresser, his lap desk is in a far corner and his office is nearly intact. 

The two homes, the visitors center and cemetery are interesting places to visit, about a man who was thrown into a lions den of hungry and eager politicians looking for retribution.