State

Greatest President Ju«l£e him this way, anil Andrew Johnson stands without a peer. "You arc President." said Chief Justice Chase, as Andrew Johnson took the oath and handed back the Bible. "In this solemn hour may God support, guide and bless you in your arduous duties.” In all political history, no man had fought his way from so low a start in life to so high an office. How many State legislators who come to Raleigh know that Andrew Johnson was born in the shadow of the tall trees which adorn the Capitol Square? That was in ISOS, when the South was led by an aristocracy of rich planters and landowners. No person outside this small group could even aspire to hold public office. Little Andrew's parents were poor whites. When he was three years old his father died, and his boyhood and youth were spent in dire poverty and ignorance. His few playmates were also children of an oppressed and de¬ spised class, lowest of all in the social order. Small wonder that the only words that are marked on the shaft that rises over his grave are: "Andrew Johnson. Seventeenth President of the United States. His faith in the People Never Wavered." Never Went to School How many boys and girls who en¬ joy our fine State schools know that this poor Raleigh boy. who later was to occupy the White House, never in his whole life saw the inside of a schoolroom as a student? How many of our candidates for public office can believe that this native of North Carolina became al¬ derman. Mayor, F.lcctor. Legislator, Congressman. Governor of Tennessee, United States Senator. Military Gover¬ nor, Vice-President and President of 10 the United States and United States Senator again; and yet. held no aca¬ demic degree and never even entered a law school? He never had access to a library until he became a mem¬ ber of Congress. The only profession he had was that of merchant tailor, and his little wooden frame shop served as a forum for local debates in his earlier years. But time has seen fit to bestow upon Andrew Johnson alone the title, “De- fendcr of the Constitution." How many poor children and young men and women who would enter pub¬ lic life realize that President Johnson could not even read or write until he reached adult manhood? And then his scvcntcen-ycar-old bride was his only teacher. Not Ashamed of Poverty Johnson, despite his handicaps, had courage and an inherent love for his fcllowman. no matter how poor or ignorant. In times of success, he was proud to refer to his obscure youth and to recall its poverty, hardships and sufferings. All of his actions and speeches in the United States Senate and as President had the true ring of a man of the people. Such was the native son of Raleigh who was called upon to lead the States which had been re-united only six days before. That was April 15. 1S65. Lin¬ coln lay dead. The terrible war had just ended, and the nation was stricken with grief, suspicion, fear and terror. If there ever was an hour in the whole history' of the United States that could be termed critical, there it was. A hostile cabinet awaited, and a furious Congress was ready to destroy this Southern born President and his proposals. But time and thought have placed Andrew Johnson among the Presidents who were great. In an ad¬ dress in Raleigh in 1934. Senator Ben¬ nett Champ Clark, of Missouri praised him as: "The most underrated, and one of the very greatest Presidents." Having gone through years with lit¬ tle food and without a home, it was only natural that Johnson in Congress, single handed, was sponsor for, and had passed the Homestead Act. This granted free, a hundred and sixty acres of government land to the head of any poor family who would cultivate and live on it for a period of five years. In later times this measure proved to be a moving force in the development of the vast states of the West and Southwest. Played I.onc Hand As President. Johnson had to play the lone hand that he knew so well all through life. His administration was the very first to be marked by con¬ flict between the executive and legis¬ lative branches. The veto was his main support, and the Constitution, which he so often defended, became a bar¬ rier against those who would have re¬ moved him from office. Democratic leaders in the South applauded him for his stand against Congress. The personal struggles and want of the early years that were spent in and about Raleigh, were reflected when President Johnson resided in the White House, or Mansion, as it was called then. The dignity and simplicity of the occupants was never higher, yet at limes he opened its doors to all who would enter. All candidates who have lost out in recent elections in North Carolina, re¬ gardless of their records in public life, may have new courage and hope when they reflect that Andrew Johnson, after his service as President of the United States, the very highest honor in the land, ran for the House of Representa¬ tives in 1872 and was badly defeated. That should have been enough to dishearten any man. but not Old Andy. In 1875. he was returned to the United States Senate, but his health broke and he only lived four months after taking the oath. All true stories should end well, and the best political observers now agree that had Johnson lived, he would have been the nominee of the Democratic Party in 1876 and would have been returned to the Presidency. — Stan¬ ley S. Wohl. THE STATE. SCPTCMOCR 20. I95B