First published 2011
Andrew Johnson assumed he would remain a minor political figure. Six weeks into his vice presidency, Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theatre catapulted him into the White House. Johnson inherited an impossible situation: following America's most revered president while healing a nation torn by civil war. Pulitzer Prize winner Annette Gordon-Reed reveals how spectacularly Johnson failed this test. His approach to Reconstruction abandoned millions of newly freed slaves, whom he openly despised. Congressional Radical Republicans fought his policies at every turn. The conflict escalated until Congress impeached Johnson and put him on trial in the Senate. Gordon-Reed recreates the dramatic proceedings that nearly removed him from office, decided by just one vote. Johnson survived politically but destroyed his chance to unite the country when it needed leadership most.
Genres: biography, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-fiction, political-drama
Setting: Ford's Theatre, United States
Period: 1860s, 1860s-1870s
192 pages · Kindle Edition · Times Books