A little bit of history

I love history. So anytime I get near something significant I have to stop. And Andrew Johnson’s hometown of Greeneville TN did not disappoint. He was the Democratic VP chosen by Lincoln, a Republican. Lincoln chose him because he thought he was a good man. The party philosophies back then were not what they are today, so let’s just say they had different ideologies but saw eye to eye on slavery. Even though he was from Tennessee, Johnson did not vote to leave the Union with his state.

After Lincoln was shot, Johnson became president and was totally at odds with Congress over the Reconstruction. He was a strict Constitutionalist, believing in preserving states rights. His politics got him impeached by the House, but he was not removed from office by the Senate. One Republican vote saved him. All this you can learn in a 14 minute film, or by reading the displays at the National Park Service site.

I have respect for a man who was so poor that his mother apprenticed him as a tailor when he was but a child, who taught himself to read and rose to the highest office in the land. He never gave up his ideals.

Greeneville is historic as one of the oldest towns in Tennessee, and it is clean and manicured. Not far east of the town is the birthplace of Davy Crockett. Now that’s something, eh?