51. Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, Tennessee

               Welcome back to our blog on the National Park Service.  In this post we are traveling to eastern Tennessee to visit the home of the first man elevated to the Presidency in the wake of an assassination, the first President to be impeached, and the man who had the unenviable job of piecing the Union back together in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Entrance Sign

BACKGROUND:

               Andrew Johnson moved into the small town of Greenville, Tennessee as a young man hoping to make a better life.  He set up a tailor shop in town and worked for several years in the trade before entering into politics, getting his first break when he was elected as a town alderman.  Over the years, Johnson’s profile rose steadily, eventually becoming a Senator from Tennessee.

               The outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 put Johnson into a difficult position.  Tennessee had seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy.  Johnson, despite being both a southerner and a slaveowner, remained loyal to the Union, being the only southern Senator to do so.  In 1864, Abraham Lincoln, wishing to run from reelection on a symbolic unity ticket, chose Johnson as his running mate.  The reelection campaign was successful, and in March of 1865 Johnson ascended to the Vice Presidency.  In this capacity he was not expected to be not much more than a symbolic figurehead given the duties of the Vice President, but Johnson suddenly found himself in the hot seat when Lincoln was assassinated the next month.  Coming at the end of the Civil War, with the south economically destroyed, the north seething with a desire for vengeance, and the uncertainty posed by the abolition of slavery, the elevation of the southerner Johnson to the Presidency could not have come at a worse time.

               From almost the moment he entered the Presidency, Johnson clashed with Congress.  The Republican majority felt the southerner and former Democrat was being far too soft when it came to punishing the south in the aftermath of the war.  The antipathy became so intense that Congress impeached Johnson on frivolous grounds regarding Johnson’s attempt to fire Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.  Johnson narrowly avoided a conviction in the Senate by a single vote but the affair destroyed any remaining political clout Johnson had as President.  Johnson was not successful in gaining the nomination for reelection from either party and retired to his home of Greenville.  Johnson attempted a political comeback several times before finally succeeding by returning to the Senate briefly in 1875 before passing away later that year.

The Johnson Homestead in Greenville, Tennessee.

THE SITE:

               Andrew Johnson National Historic Site is located in the heart of the center of the town of Greenville, Tennessee in the state’s eastern corner.  The site consists of three main areas.  The first is located at the corner of Depot and College Streets.  On the west side of College Street is the site’s visitor center.  Inside the visitor center is Johnson’s tailor shop, protected from the elements by the modern building.  Across the street is the first of two homes owned in Greenville by Andrew Johnson.  This house has only undergone minimal restoration and contains only exhibits.  Three blocks to the south and one street over on Main Street is the second Johnson homestead, purchased after Johnson had risen to wealth and prominence and has been fully restored.  The third area of the site is Andrew Johnson National Cemetery.  Located south of the homestead atop a hill, at the center of the cemetery is an enclosure with the gravesite of Andrew Johnson and his family.

The first home of Andrew Johnson.  The visitor center is across the street to the left.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               Andrew Johnson National Historic Site is located at the center of Greenville, Tennessee, about an hour’s drive from Knoxville and an hour and a half from Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The site is open year-round, with major holiday exceptions, from 9am to 5pm.  The early Johnson home is open for self-guided tours, while tours of the Johnson Homestead are conducted each hour on the half hour.  There is a fee for tickets to the homestead tours.  The site is handicapped accessible and passport stamps can be found at the visitor center.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

The grave of Andrew Johnson.

A statue to Andrew Johnson across the street from the visitor center and his early home in Greenville.

Andrew Johnson's tailor shop now preserved inside the visitor center.

The bible on which Andrew Johnson took the oath of office and the mourning ribbon he wore following the assassination of President Lincoln, on display in the visitor center.