Andrew Johnson, Accidental President

Hour 2

[REBROADCAST] Andrew Johnson wasn’t supposed to be president of the United States. Less than two months after he was sworn in as vice-president, he was President Lincoln’s successor after his running mate’s assassination. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and law professor ANNETTE GORDON-REED came in last winter to talk to Marty about one of the nation’s most failed presidencies. Johnson was to lead the broken country right at the end of its Civil War as the South needed to reconstruct its post-slave economy and Johnson, a man who was opposed to the South’s secession, didn’t see African Americans enjoying the same civil rights as their former white owners. Gordon-Reed discussed the almost-impeached 17^th president’s missed opportunities as a president and the alleged stories of Johnson’s role in the plot to kill Lincoln and of impregnating his female slave. Gordon-Reed’s latest book, Andrew Johnson, is part of Times Books’ The American Presidents Series.

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[audio: 020811_110630.mp3]