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Biographical
Sidebar:
Andrew Johnson |
Andrew
Johnson (1808-1875) came from the humblest origins of any man who reached
the White House. Born
in poverty in North Carolina, he worked as a youth as a tailor's apprentice.
After moving
to Greenville, Tennessee, Johnson achieved success through politics. Beginning
as an alderman, he rose to serve two terms as governor.
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Although
the owner of five slaves before the Civil War, Johnson identified himself
as the champion of his state's "honest yeomen" and a foe of
large planters, who he described as a "bloated, corrupted aristocracy."
He strongly promoted public education, and free land for Western settlers.
A fervent
believer in states rights, Johnson was also a strong defender of the Union.
He was the only Senator from a seceding state to remain at his post in
1861, and when Union forces occupied Tennessee, Abraham Lincoln named
him military governor. In 1864, he was elected vice president.
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