I have to say I am quite biased in regards to Andrew Johnson. Johnson, as you probably are aware of was sold into a contract of apprenticeship. learning the trade of tailoring and escaped and became somewhat well-to-do as a tailor. No matter the issue of union, I greatly admire Johnson's stand which took a great deal of personal courage in his home state.
I think he continued to show the same courage as president. I'm not taking a stand here on the issues but Johnson's courage, in my mind, should put him at the top of any list of Profiles in Courage. Few political leaders in America have ever exhibited such personal strength in facing what he though was right, no matter the personal danger or the political consequences.
For me he stands tall for that and deserves to be more highly regarded, not thrown to the dung-heap as the worst,or one of the worst presidents.
I don't know about his politics and whether he was right or not right in his perspectives, that can be a mixed bag because it was such a temporary aberration of the American political consequence. There was at the time a desire to punish the south, even by those who would ina few years have no more desire to do so. Punishing the south therefore accomplished little and nothing whatsoever was done about the WageMasters in the north and reconstructing the entirety of the economic systems of oppression. Since the future was only delayed by a decade it was all futile.
In that sense Johnson was possibly historically correct but the south generally didn't respect his stand with the Union and the north wrote the history of his {sic} bigotry.
P.S. I have completed my own reflections on freedom and in part IV I praise your work.
My little articles are from a psychological perspective; and thus I referred to this column as a prime example of the psychological torture that the south endured as a result of the war---even many who did not participate in slavery and despised the Slaveowners--as Johnson did--who nevertheless never were able to feel they had been given a choice in their own future.
Another great one. I just read The Impeachers a few months ago. It wasn't the most "readable" but it had a lot of great information.
I have to say I am quite biased in regards to Andrew Johnson. Johnson, as you probably are aware of was sold into a contract of apprenticeship. learning the trade of tailoring and escaped and became somewhat well-to-do as a tailor. No matter the issue of union, I greatly admire Johnson's stand which took a great deal of personal courage in his home state.
I think he continued to show the same courage as president. I'm not taking a stand here on the issues but Johnson's courage, in my mind, should put him at the top of any list of Profiles in Courage. Few political leaders in America have ever exhibited such personal strength in facing what he though was right, no matter the personal danger or the political consequences.
For me he stands tall for that and deserves to be more highly regarded, not thrown to the dung-heap as the worst,or one of the worst presidents.
I don't know about his politics and whether he was right or not right in his perspectives, that can be a mixed bag because it was such a temporary aberration of the American political consequence. There was at the time a desire to punish the south, even by those who would ina few years have no more desire to do so. Punishing the south therefore accomplished little and nothing whatsoever was done about the WageMasters in the north and reconstructing the entirety of the economic systems of oppression. Since the future was only delayed by a decade it was all futile.
In that sense Johnson was possibly historically correct but the south generally didn't respect his stand with the Union and the north wrote the history of his {sic} bigotry.
P.S. I have completed my own reflections on freedom and in part IV I praise your work.
My little articles are from a psychological perspective; and thus I referred to this column as a prime example of the psychological torture that the south endured as a result of the war---even many who did not participate in slavery and despised the Slaveowners--as Johnson did--who nevertheless never were able to feel they had been given a choice in their own future.