Born December 29, 1808, Andrew Johnson began his political career in Greeneville, Tenn. After serving as alderman and mayor, Johnson successfully ran for a seat in the lower house of the state legislature in 1835. After serving three terms in the state Senate, Johnson moved to the U. S. House of Representatives, where he served for ten years, 1843-1853. He also served as Governor of Tennessee from 1853-1857. In the fall of 1857, he was chosen as a U. S. Senator.

In 1861, Johnson returned to East Tennessee to fight the surging secessionist movement, joining people such as William G. Brownlow and Horace Maynard in his support of the Union. After a June referendum in which Tennesseans voted for secession, Johnson made his way back to Washington.

After the Federal capture of Forts Henry and Donelson and the occupation of Nashville in February 1862, however, President Lincoln sent Johnson back to Tennessee to serve as military governor, a position in which he was charged to restore civil government and bring the state back to the Union. Lincoln also placed Johnson on the ticket in the 1864 election as his vice-presidential nominee. After Lincoln's assassination on April 14, 1865, Johnson was sworn in as the seventeenth president.