Kylee Redmond Honors Civics and Economics Mrs. Love 2 October 2014 Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson was our 17th President succeeding Abraham Lincoln. He was the Vice President for Lincoln; however, after Lincoln’s assassination Johnson became President. Johnson came into office in 1865 and served till 1869 (Andrew). For the most part people found Andrew Johnson to be the worst possible person to become President at the end of the American Civil War. In present day people still consider him to have been an unfortunate President. Johnson was branded with the status of being a horrible president for many reasons; one of these reasons was his failure to fulfill the seven roles of the president (The). The seven roles of the president are Chief of …show more content…
He is supposed to be an inspiring example for the people (Seven). President Johnson was neither of these things. President Johnson was not supported by the public. In fact the public viewed the president as a dictatorial racist. They disagreed with both his policies and actions. The same actions the public disagreed with were what brought the opposing republicans together. The Radical Republicans and Liberal Republicans banned together against Johnson’s conflict with the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and the Fourteenth Amendment. To say the public disliked him would be an understatement. President Johnson definitely did not succeed in his role as Chief of State (The). The next role is Chief Executive. As Chief Executive the President decides how the laws of the United States are to be enforced and chooses officials and advisers to help run the Executive Branch (Seven). Johnson didn’t do so great in this role either. His lack of political skills allowed congressional activists to succeed in imposing presidential restraint upon him as chief executive. This gave Congress the power to set national policy for the next thirty-five years. This also showed how Johnson was a terrible Chief Executive …show more content…
The Commander-In-Chief is in charge of the U.S. armed forces; however he does not have the power to declare war (Seven). When President Johnson came into office the defeated south was under military occupation. Johnson had the authority to take command and used his powers as Commander-In-Chief to sabotage Congress’s efforts. Instead of trying to cooperate with Congress to form a plan for reconstruction he used his power poorly. This resulted in Congress stripping Johnson of his power as Commander-In-Chief. Congress required Johnson to issue all his orders through General Ulysses S. Grant. They also made it where he couldn’t fire anyone unless approved by the Senate. Johnson’s abuse of his power as Commander-In-Chief provoked his later impeachment