Andrew Johnson President's Message
This double-sided broadside presents the President's Message to the Senate and House of Representatives on December 13, 1866. Johnson opened by reviewing the progress of restoration since December 4, 1865, then asked Congress to accept the credentials of the representatives from the states that had engaged in the rebillion (sic). He presented many reasons, both constitutional and practical, then moved on to topics of domestic and foreign affairs. Following the President's Message is an editorial from the New York Evening Post about the proposition to extend amnesty to the residents of Confederate states in exchange for universal suffrage. The remaining column space is filled by six short items.
Dates
- 1866 December 13
Conditions Governing Access
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Extent
2.5 Linear Feet
Abstract
This double-sided broadside presents the President's Message to the Senate and House of Representatives on December 13, 1866. Johnson opened by reviewing the progress of restoration since December 4, 1865, then asked Congress to accept the credentials of the representatives from the states that had engaged in the rebillion (sic). Following the President's Message is an editorial from the New York Evening Post about the proposition to extend amnesty to the residents of Confederate states in exchange for universal suffrage.
Biographical/Historical Note
Born December 29, 1808, Andrew Johnson began his political career in Greeneville, Tenn. After serving as both alderman and mayor of Greeneville, 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 United States 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 United States Senator.
In 1861, Johnson returned to East Tennessee to fight the surging secessionist movement, joining former political opponents such as William G. Brownlow, Thomas A. R. Nelson, Horace Maynard, and others in his support of the Union. After a June 8 referendum in which Tennesseeans voted for secession, Johnson returned to Washington to escape physical harm.
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. In 1864, the Republicans nominated Johnson as Lincoln's running mate because of his staunch Unionism as a War Democrat. After Lincoln's assassination on April 14, 1865, Johnson was sworn in as the seventeenth President of the United States.
Johnson faced the difficult task of reconstructing the nation in the wake of the Civil War as he assumed the presidency. Johnson and Congress clashed over control of Reconstruction, and in 1868, the House Republicans in Congress impeached Johnson, the first president to face impeachment. Johnson's presidency was spared by a single vote in the Senate.
Following his tumultuous presidency, Johnson returned to Greeneville, eager for vindication. In 1874, he became the first former President of the United States to win a seat in the United States Senate. However, four months after taking his seat in the Senate, Johnson suffered a stroke and died on July 31, 1875. He was buried wrapped in a American flag with his head resting on a copy of the Constitution.
Arrangement
This manuscript consists of a single oversize folder.
Acquisition Note
This broadside is the property of Special Collections.
Repository Details
Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository