Andrew Johnson is a US President you might not have heard too much about. One reason could be that he wasn’t actually elected. Johnson Served as the Vice-President from March 4, 1865 to April 15, 1865 under none other than Abraham Lincoln. After Lincoln was assassinated on April 14th Johnson took up the mantle of the President of the United States. But who exactly was this man? Although he hasn’t been held up in nearly as high regard as Lincoln, Johnson still deserves some credit for standing his ground in the face of total opposition and rising from his humble beginnings to become one of the most powerful men in the world.
Andrew Johnson was born on December 29, 1808 in Raleigh, North Carolina. It’s quite possible that out of all the presidents Johnson grew up the poorest. His father was a laborer and his mother a washerwoman, this led to very little income and Johnson ended up living in poverty until the age of 14 when he apprenticed with a tailor. After two years however, Johnson ended up leaving his apprenticeship and fleeing the authorities who wanted to charge him with breaking his indentured servitude. Johnson eventually returned to his employer only to be shooed away. He then left North Carolina with his mother and siblings in favor of moving to Tennessee where Johnson met his wife Eliza McCardle and opened his very own tailoring shop.