Our Underrated President
lie was Andrew Johnson, who never has re¬
ceived full credit for his great achievement.
Few' people know anything about his real
outstanding ability.
By EDWARD L. MARSHALL
Yon nr." President, ’’ said Chief
Justice Chase, as Andrew John¬
son took the oath and handed
hack 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 lialeigh know that Andrew
Johnson was horn 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 thut 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 u
schoolroom ns a student?
How many of our candidates for
public office can believe that this
native of North Carolina became
Alderman, Mayor, Elector. Legislator,
Congressman, Governor of Tennessee,
United States Senator, Military Gov¬
ernor, Vice President and President
of the United States and United
States Senator again; and yet. held
no academic degree and never even
entered a law school' He never had
access to a library until he became a
member of Congress.
The only profession he bad was
that of merchant tailor, and his little
wooden frame shop served as a forum
for local debates in bis earlier years.
But time has seen tit to bestow upon
Andrew Johnson alone the title, '‘De¬
fender of the Constitution."
How many poor children and young
men and women who would enter pub¬
lic life realize that President John¬
son could not even read or write until
he reached adult manhood? And then
his seventeen-year-old bride was bis
only teacher.
Not Ashamed of Poverty
Johnson, despite his handicaps, had
courage and an inherent love for hie
fellow man, 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 bis 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 load the States
which had been re-united only six-
days before. That was April 15, 1805.
Lincoln 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 thut could Ik* termed critical,
there it was.
A hostile cabinet awaited, and a
furious Congress was ready to destroy
this Southern bom President and his
proposals. Hut time and thought have
placed Andrew Johnson among the
Presidents who were great. In an ad¬
dress in Raleigh on March 31 of
this year. Senator Bennett Champ
Clark, of Missouri praised him as:
“The most underrated, and one of
the very greatest Presidents."
Having gone through years with
little food and without a home, it was
only natural that Johnson in Con¬
gress single handed, was sponsor for,
and had passed the Homestead Act.
This granted free, a hundred anil
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 lie a moving force
in the development of the vast states
of the West and Southwest.
Played Lone 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
conflict between the executive and
legislative branches. The veto was
his main support, and the Constitu¬
tion, which he so often defended, be¬
came a barrier against those wlm
would have removed him from office.
Democratic leaders in the South ap-
Kudod him for his stand against
ngress.
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 times he opened its
doors to all who would enter.
All candidates for Congress who
lost out in the recent Democratic
primary in North Carolina, regard¬
less ”f their records in public life,
may have new courage and hope when
they reflect that Andrew Johnson,
after his service as President of the
l nited States, the very highest honor
in the land, ran for the House of
Representatives 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 broko and lie only lived four
months after taking the oath.
All true stories should euJ well,
and the best political observers now
agree that had Johnson lived, he
would have been the nominee of the
Democratic Party in 1S78 and would
have been returned to the Presidency.
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