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Andrew Johnson Impeachment Tickets

 Collection
Identifier: MS-3558

  • Staff Only

These two tickets would have admitted the bearer to the gallery of the US Senate in order to watch the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. The ticket for March 24 is bright yellow pasteboard and has No. 921 on its stub. The ticket for April 27 is bright green pasteboard and has No. 283 on its stub. Included in this collection is the envelope they arrived in. It is addressed to Hon. Andrew Johnson, United States Senator, Greeneville, Tennessee, and is postmarked Dec 16 from Fayetteville. It has been noted as Attended to on its left edge.

Dates

  • 1868 March 24, April 27

Conditions Governing Access

Collections are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. See www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Conditions Governing Use

The UT Libraries claims only physical ownership of most material in the collections. Persons wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants on www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Extent

0.1 Linear Feet

Abstract

These two tickets would have admitted the bearer to the gallery of the US Senate in order to watch the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. The ticket for March 24 is bright yellow pasteboard and has No. 921 on its stub. The ticket for April 27 is bright green pasteboard and has No. 283 on its stub. Included in this collection is the envelope they arrived in. It is addressed to Hon. Andrew Johnson, United States Senator, Greeneville, Tennessee, and is postmarked Dec 16 from Fayetteville.

Biographical/Historical Note

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 Tennesseeans 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.

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 collection consists of a single folder.

Acquisition Note

This collection is the property of Special Collections.

Repository Details

Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository

Contact:
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville TN 37996 USA
865-974-4480