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CIVIL WAR VETS IN THE WHITE HOUSE, PART I

© John S. Cooper

In an earlier series of articles, we examined the military records of the Presidents. But one group deserves a closer look. From the end of the Civil War until Teddy Roosevelt took the oath of office, every President save one served in the army during the war. Most of them compiled a very impressive war record, several distinguishing themselves for ability and bravery. Since the Civil War continued to play a part in every campaign for the rest of the century, we should take a closer look at these men and their records.

Andrew Johnson (President from 1865-1869) was a political general. He never took the field or commanded troops in action. Andrew Johnson had settled in a non-slave holding area of Tennessee, and worked his way up the political ladder eventually becoming Governor of Tennessee and then U.S. Senator from Tennessee. When Tennessee voted to leave the Union, Johnson returned home at the very real risk of his own life to try to persuade them to remain. On at least one occasion, he narrowly escaped a lynch mob by ducking out the back door of the train station as the mob entered the front door. He returned to Washington, and refused to leave the Senate when his state seceded, the only southern member of Congress to remain loyal. On March 4, 1862, President Lincoln appointed Andrew Johnson a brigadier general of volunteers and military governor of Tennessee, which had been mostly recaptured.

General Johnson re-established a loyal civilian government. He accomplished this in much less time than expected, and was justly proud of his work in Tennessee. He resigned his commission on March 3, 1865. The next day, he was sworn in as Vice President of the United States, having been elected with Lincoln on a wartime coalition ticket under the banner of the National Union Party. He very much wanted to be present on the same day at the inauguration of the new civilian government in his home state of Tennessee in order to turn over power from the military government to the civilian government. He had worked for this moment for two years, and thought his presence important. He went so far as to ask Lincoln if he could be sworn in as Vice President in Tennessee and miss the inauguration in Washington. Lincoln, rightly feeling the presence of both halves of the coalition ticket important to the appearance of a unified spirit of nationalism, refused Johnson’s request and called him to Washington. Thus ended Johnson’s brief but important military career. Although not a combat officer, his work did much to help the war effort by providing a secure and stable Unionist government in the strategically located state of Tennessee. Andrew Johnson became the 17th President of the United States after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

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