PRESIDENTS DAY
Born: December 29, 1808 at Raleigh, North Carolina.
Education: Never attended school, his future wife taught him to read and write when he was seventeen years old.
Occupation: Tailor, politician.
Religion: No formal affiliation.
Family life: Married Eliza McCardle on May 17, 1827 . They had three sons and two daughters. She died six months after her husband in 1876.
Political career: Served in United States House of Representatives, 1843-53. United States senator, 1857-62. Nominated as vice-president in 1864 and succeeded after Lincoln's assassination, 1865. The first president to face impeachment trial, he was elected to the Senate in 1875. He was tried by the Senate in the spring of 1868 and acquitted by one vote.
Highlights of his presidency: Tried to move toward peace. Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments passed. Opposed by radicals in Congress who ultimately tried to impeach him.
Appearance: Stocky with brown hair worn long.
Died: July 31, 1875 at Carter's Station, Tennessee.
Buried: Andrew Johnson National Cemetery in Greeneville, Tennessee, where the cemetery's namesake is interred beneath an impressive eagle-topped monument.
