President Andrew Johnson Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

 Johnson (1808-1875) represented Tennessee in the U.S. House (1843-1853) and Senate (1857-1862, 1875) and served twice as that State's Governor (1853-1857, 1862-1865). His second term was as a Military Governor appointed by President Lincoln. A pro-war Democrat fiercely opposed to secession but also opposed to imposition of a stringent Reconstruction regime on the defeated South, Johnson was nominated and elected in 1864 as Lincoln's second Vice President on a National Union ticket. Following Lincoln's assassination, Johnson succeeded to the highest office for a stormy term (1865-1869) in which he was increasingly at odds with the Republican majority in Congress. He was impeached by the House and acquitted by the Senate (May 26, 1868), although a switch of one vote would have secured the necessary two-thirds vote to remove him from office. When he signed this photo mount, Johnson had already suspended Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (August 28, 1867) while Congress was in recess. In accordance with the Tenure of Office Act, enacted by Congress in March 1867, the Senate had to concur in the removal of any Cabinet officer previously appointed during a President's term. The Senate refused to concur in Stanton's dismissal, Johnson dismissed him anyway by executive order (February 21, 1878), and the US House passed an impeachment resolution 3 days later.