Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808 –  July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. His main accomplishment as president was the Alaska purchase. The victors in the 1857 state legislative campaign would, once they convened in October, elect a United States Senator. Former Whig governor William B. Campbell wrote to his uncle, 'The great anxiety of the Whigs is to elect a majority in the legislature so as to defeat Andrew Johnson for senator. Should the Democrats have the majority, he will certainly be their choice, and there is no man living to whom the Americans and Whigs have as much antipathy as Johnson.' The governor spoke widely in the campaign, and his party won the gubernatorial race and control of the legislature.