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Andrew Johnson. President of the United Sates.

Date1865

MediumSteel cut engraving on paper.

Dimensions11.5 × 9 in. (29.2 × 22.9 cm)

MarkingsPHOTOph by MORSE, Nashville Tenn. ___ Entered according to act of Congress AD 1865 by J.C. Buttre, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York. ___ Engraved by J.C. BUTTRE / PUBLISHED BY J.C. BUTTRE 48 FRANKLIN ST. NEW YORK"

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineGift of Miss Louise Hartshorne, 1938

Object number2016.513

DescriptionPortrait, in black ink, of President Andrew Johnson, engraved from a photograph. Johnson is shown in 3/4 turned profile, from just above the elbow and up. He wearing a high-collared white shirt, under a dark waistcoat and jacket. Johnson faces towards his proper right. The bottom of the engraving appears to have been cut off, and then glued to the back of the sheet. On it, there is a signature, handwritten in ink, "Andrew Johnson," underlined with a flourish, and then the title is printed below.
NotesAndrew Johnson's political career was as complex and conflicted as the Civil War itself. Born into profound poverty in 1808 in Raleigh, North Carolina, Johnson never attended school. His father died when Johnson was three. His mother worked as a laundress to support the family. Johnson apprenticed to a local tailor, where he learned his trade. One of the tailors in the shop taught Andrew to read, and he learned to appreciate books and literature when locals would visit the shop regularly to read to the tailors while they sewed. After five years, Johnson ran away, eventually settling in Greenville, Tennessee. In 1827 he married Eliza McCardle and the couple had five children. Johnson did well in his tailoring business and purchased real estate. He also entered politics. In 1843 Johnson purchased his first slave, eventually owning ten men, women, and children. In 1863 he freed all his slaves, who continued to work for him as paid employees. On the eve of the Civil War, Johnson was a strong Southern Unionist. He did not support a federal or even a state mandate on freeing the enslaved. He did favore and work towards the Homestead Act, which he felt would offer poor people the opportunity to improve their situations by working towards land ownership. Johnson was appointed military governor of Tennessee by Abraham LIncoln. For his second term, Lincoln chose Johnson as his Vice President. During the Inauguration on March 4, 1864, Johnson was hung over and delivered a rambling address. Lincoln followed with his own Second Inaugural Address. Afterwards, Lincoln acknowledged Johnson's misstep, assuring people that they "need not be scared, Andy ain't a drunkard." After assuming the presidency after Lincoln's assassination, Johnson focused on three main goals: the rapid reunification of the south; the setting aside of suffrage for former enslaved, believing it to be a distraction; and the shift of power in the South from the former large plantation owners to the smaller landowners and businessmen. Johnson vetoed the Freedmen's Bureau bill, which would establish formal assistance to and protection of the country's formerly enslaved persons. Many Republicans felt Johnson too lenient with the former Confederacy. That, combined with Johnson's obvious lack of enthusiasm for Reconstruction, led to his impeachment. Johnson avoided being removed from office by one vote. After finishing his presidency, Johnson returned to private life and to his home in Tennessee. He ran for political office, and in 1875 was elected to the Senate, becoming the only President to serve in the Senate after his term. Johnson died after a stroke on July 31, 1875, at the age of 66.

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