Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808 –  July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Democrat who ran with Lincoln on the National Union ticket, coming to office as the Civil War concluded. His main accomplishment as president was the Alaska purchase. In 1835, Johnson made a bid for election to the 'floater' seat which Greene County shared with neighboring Washington County in the Tennessee House of Representatives. According to his biographer, Hans L. Trefousse, Johnson 'demolished' the opposition in debate and won the election with almost a two to one margin. By 1867, the Russian government saw its North American colony (today Alaska) as a financial liability, and feared losing control as American settlement reached there.
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