Well he was a copperhead[1] which didn't make him popular with a lot of folks in the north.
And the CSA was almost defeated. The USA had been waging total war. Sherman had already marched to the ocean. Lee's army was small, damaged, and shedding deserters. So Johnson would likely be the VP who defeated the CSA, which meant the enmity of everyone else, north or south.
But if he didn't do the job, maybe someone who'd be harsher on the confederacy might end up with it, so he couldn't step down.
I'm not saying I particularly like Andrew Johnson but I think he had damned good reasons to self-medicate.
Johnson is generally considered a "War Democrat,"[1] not a copperhead (i.e. "Peace Democrat"). That's why he was selected for the ticket: Lincoln knew he had no chance of winning the copperhead vote, be he could win the War Democrat vote with Johnson next to him.
I agree that he had plenty of good reasons to drink, however :-)
Funding is not the problem with American public schools. Baltimore, for instance, has some of the highest funding levels in the country and simultaneously some of the worst test scores.
>Like... what the fuck was wrong with the USA during the slave time?
It's worth noting that this was not an aberration historically but the norm within the colonies and slave states that formed the original "Democratic Republic" during the American Revolution period
People forget that anything west of the Mississippi wasn't even part of the United States at the signing of the constitution. It wasn't until literally 35 years later that the Louisiana Purchase happened and almost 80 years after the Constitution, in 1854 with the Gadsden purchase just prior to the Civil War.
Prior to the Civil War the western "territories" were only such in name only and were indigenous lands that were being run over at high pace up until we got involved in WWII
Arguably America as we know it is only about 80 years old, after the Great Society project ran into WWII and never picked up afterwards, as the US pushed industrialization from 1947-1971 and then financialization ever since.
So, making sweeping statements about "America" especially compared to the founding days is pretty non-sensical
FDR had to know he was going to die, and he did not want Henry Wallace to succeed him. True, he didn't prepare Truman for the job, but then, VP's were treated as a spare tire back then.
Lincoln, on the other hand, had no certainty about what was going to happen.
20 comments
[ 4.6 ms ] story [ 57.2 ms ] threadAnd the CSA was almost defeated. The USA had been waging total war. Sherman had already marched to the ocean. Lee's army was small, damaged, and shedding deserters. So Johnson would likely be the VP who defeated the CSA, which meant the enmity of everyone else, north or south.
But if he didn't do the job, maybe someone who'd be harsher on the confederacy might end up with it, so he couldn't step down.
I'm not saying I particularly like Andrew Johnson but I think he had damned good reasons to self-medicate.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copperhead_(politics)
I agree that he had plenty of good reasons to drink, however :-)
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Andrew_Johnson
It's worth noting that this was not an aberration historically but the norm within the colonies and slave states that formed the original "Democratic Republic" during the American Revolution period
People forget that anything west of the Mississippi wasn't even part of the United States at the signing of the constitution. It wasn't until literally 35 years later that the Louisiana Purchase happened and almost 80 years after the Constitution, in 1854 with the Gadsden purchase just prior to the Civil War.
Prior to the Civil War the western "territories" were only such in name only and were indigenous lands that were being run over at high pace up until we got involved in WWII
Arguably America as we know it is only about 80 years old, after the Great Society project ran into WWII and never picked up afterwards, as the US pushed industrialization from 1947-1971 and then financialization ever since.
So, making sweeping statements about "America" especially compared to the founding days is pretty non-sensical
It's been war and conquest since day 1
FDR had to know he was going to die, and he did not want Henry Wallace to succeed him. True, he didn't prepare Truman for the job, but then, VP's were treated as a spare tire back then.
Lincoln, on the other hand, had no certainty about what was going to happen.