President Andrew Johnson was the seventeenth president of the United States of America. He took office after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. President Johnson was born December 12, 1808, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Johnson grew up poor, his family was too poor to send him to school. When Johnson was older, he found work as a tailor but later ran away. When he was older, he opened a tailoring shop in Tennessee. He got his start in politics by debating at a local academy. He married Eliza McCartney and had six children. He was a senator and member of the House of Representatives. During the Civil War he remained a senator, many Northerners thought he was great but Southerners didn't like him. He later was appointed military governor of Tennessee by President Lincoln. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In 1864, he was elected vice president to Abraham Lincoln. Andrew Johnson was elected vice president, not president. After President Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theater, he became president. He was also supposed to be assassinated by George Azterodt. But Azterodt did not ultimately carry out the assassination out of fear. Even though he did not carry out the assassination, Azterodt was still hanged. What qualified him to be vice president was that, because he was a senator from Tennessee, he was loyal to the Union during the Civil War. He was also appointed military governor of Tennessee by President Lincoln. Andrew Johnson had some controversies when he was president and here are some of them. When Johnson became president, some "radicals" in the House, Senate, and Congress wanted to pass a bill regarding former slaves. President Johnson later vetoed it because he loved slavery and owned slaves. The “radicals” got enough votes to crush the president. It was the first time in American history that Congress overruled the president on a major bill. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which allowed former slaves to be American citizens and there could be no discrimination against them. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized paper now from our expert writers. Get a custom essay Andrew Johnson was the first president to be impeached, some even call him the worst president in American history. The Senate drafted 11 articles for Johnson's impeachment. The main reason he was impeached was because he removed Stanton from office and violated a law. He replaced Stanton with Thomas without going to the Senate first, which violates the Constitution. Johnson escaped impeachment by just one vote.