American History Series: Andrew Johnson Faces a Fight Over Aiding South
The nation was at peace. But the new president's move to pardon Confederates made enemies of the radical Republicans who wanted to punish the South. Transcript of radio broadcast:
20 January 2010
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.
In the spring of eighteen sixty-five, the American Civil War was over. And the president who had led the Union during that war was dead. Abraham Lincoln had been murdered before the final surrender of Confederate forces.
Andrew Johnson, left, at President Abraham Lincoln's deathbed in April 1865
Now, the re-united nation had a new president, Andrew Johnson. He had been Lincoln's vice president.
The chief justice of the United States swore Johnson into office a few hours after Lincoln's death. Most of Lincoln's cabinet was there, together with leading members of Congress. They looked to the new president with a mixture of shock and hope.
This week in our series, Shep O'Neal and Tony Riggs begin the story of America's seventeenth president.
VOICE ONE:
Andrew Johnson was -- like Abraham Lincoln -- a man of the people. He was born in North Carolina. His family was poor. There was no money, or time, for young Andrew to go to school.
When he was fourteen years old, his mother sent him to work for a tailor to learn to make clothes. Andrew worked hard. He opened his own tailoring business in the eastern part of the state of Tennessee. When he was eighteen, he married. His wife, Eliza, taught him to read and write.
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