This position made him so prominent, that on March
4, 1862, Lincoln appointed him military-governor of Tennessee--a
position which was exactly to Johnson's taste and which he filled well.
In this position, he seemed the embodiment of the Union element of the
South, and at their national convention in 1864, the Republicans decided
that the President's policy of reconstruction for the South would be
greatly aided by the presence of a southern man on the ticket, and
Johnson was thereupon chosen for the office of Vice-President. On the
same day that Lincoln was inaugurated for the second time, Johnson took
the oath of office in the Senate chamber, and delivered a speech which
created a sensation. He declared, in effect, that Tennessee had never
been out of the Union, that she was electing representatives who would
soon mingle with their brothers from the North at Washington, and that
she was entitled to every privilege which the northern states enjoyed.
Three hours after the death of the President, Andrew Johnson took the
oath of office as his successor, but he was regarded with suspicion at
both North and South--at the North, because he was believed to be at
heart pro-slavery; at the South because of his well-known animosity
toward the aristocratic and ruling class. He was also known to be
stubborn, high-tempered and intemperate, and he and Congress were soon
at sword's point.
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