Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1865-05-17
PRESIDENT JOHNSON.
A GRAPHIC ACCOUNT OF HIS POLL
TICAL CAREER AND HIS CHAR
ACTER AS A MAN.

who seems to be we'll posted, furnishes the
following very readable account of President
Johnson
There seems to be a general desire to
know the character of the man who, by the
act of an assassin, now wields more power,
for the veal or woe of the human race, than
perhaps any other single Individual on the
face of the globe. The startling fact has
presented itself to us, that, in this critical
juncture OF affairs, power almost unlimited
| to direct and control the destinies of our
country has passed to untried hands. The
people have too much at stake to be indifle-
rent-they wish TO know the man. The
questions are not so much--Is he radical p
Is he conservative as, Is he honest Is
he capable Has he wisdom to guide us p
| Is ne OF sterling integrity Is he a good
man on the purity of whose intentions We
can all rely
shall speak of his charac ter as known be-
fore the war. His early disadvantages as to
education are generally known. His wife
| taught him TO write after marriage. He was
a tailor by trade. He began his political
career at Greenville, Tennessee, by organ
izing Mechanics Club, the object Of which
was to defeat the petty Office holders OF the
town, who formed a kind of aristocratic
| clique.
He is an effective stump speaker. In his
public speeches the only prominent mistake,
showing his want Of education, is the use OF
singular verbs with plural nouns, and plu-
| raj verbs with singular nouns. His voice,
| at first, is whining, but as he warns with his
subject it seems TO entwine itself around the
hearts of his followers and holds them spell
bound.
He canvassed Tennessee twice for the Office
of Governor. The first time he was opposed
by Gustavus A. Henry, called the "Eagle
| orator" and the second time, by Meredith
z. Gentry, two of the ablest Wing orators
| Of the State. Both his opponents sickened
| aud abandoned the field without completing
the canvass; and they were both badly de-
feated at the polls. Henry had been mem
| Der of the Legislature the year preceding his
canvass, and had Gerrymandered the Con-
gressional districts johnson called it
"Henrymandered") 50 as to make johnson,
who had been a Democratic member Of Con-
gress ten years, resident of Wing district,
i and thus threw him out Of his seat. For
Henry's great services in that Legislature he
| was to be made Governor ; for his services
in that Legislature, Johnson determined to
defeat him before the people, and he did 1t
manfully, successfully.
He deals largely in facts and figures in his
speeches TO the people. He can interest a
crowd of Tennessee baclwoodsmen in an
argument on the causes and consequences
of the public debts of England, France and
Austria; and he will cause every man to feel
that he thoroughly comprehends the ques-
ton. He has 10 perfection that happy, that
inimitable faculty of raising the people up in
their own estimation to the height of his
great argument
| He has good political foresight. After he
takes what he believes TO be the popular side
| OF any question he does not daily with the
opposite party; he goes boldly to the work,
announces his position, and begins to fight
| for it Immediately. Gou have no doubt
where he stands. In the beginning Of his
canvass with Gentry, the temperance organ
ization determined, as they were not strong
enough to run an Independent candidate, to
address certain interrogatories to the Two
candidates, and to vote for him whose an.
swer best suited them. johnson, who was
certainly q temperate man at that time,
treated the committee roughly, would not
deicn to give them polite answer, and al
most threw the interrogatories back into
/ their faces. Gentry, on the other hand, who
was inclined to be cOnyivial, answered the
committee very politely, and quite to their
satisfaction.
Johnson's party friends thought he was
iniudlcious in insulting the temperance H.
terest, but the sequel proved his grea er pc
litical wisdom, for he made point Of it in
| all his speeches, told of his interviews with
the committee, and his responses, and then
he openly struck for the whisky interest
and won.
He has always been State Rights Demo
crat. He believes in a strict construction Of
the Constitution. His Democracy is { 1 a pecu-
liar sort, however. He worships it. 1t is
his only religion In his first inaugural, as
Governor of Tennessee, he said that Demo-
| cracv and religion were landmarks of each
other; that they were cOnvergDg lines, like
Jacobs ladder, extending from earth TO
heaven, gradually approaching each other,
until, reaching heaven, they unite in theo-
crazy.
The popularity OF the address caused it
| 10 be copied in the Partisan papers. He
proclaims himself the champion of the peo-
ple's rights. He is opposed to penitentiary
convicts working at the mechanic arts, be-
| cause the products of their labor come into
| competition with the honest mechanics. He
| made point Of this when he ran for Gov
II
better system. He did not know what
other plans might be adopted--he said he
knew that the present system was wrong
| While be was Governor he made a coat,
perhaps a suit, for Judge Pepper, then
Judge of a Circuit Court in Middle Tennes-
see. Pepper had been blacksmith, and, as
| one good turn deserved another, he made q
| shovel and a pair of tongs for Johnson
Letters were written by each and duly pub
lished.
he will acknowledge to no error in his
| political career. He is at all times ready 10
defend his course from beginning to ending.
| Ii is thought that he introduces resolutions
and bills, not so much to secure their passage
| as to make a record. He is scrupulously
careful to say nothing in his speeches that
be cannot prove or, if he does say any
thing of doubtful truth, he gives his authori-
ty. 1t would, perhaps, be nearer correct to
say that he makes no statement in his
| speeches that can be proven untrue. To il
lustrate: Henry, to get the Irish vote OF
Memphis, referred to Johnson's vote in Con
gress against the appropriation for "starving
| Ireland" The Irish we're wild in their APP
| plause for him. johnson, in reply said he
believed in strict construction of tho Con-
| stitution; that he had no right to vote away
the peoples money for such an object
"But, fellow-citizens, +" he continued, "when
that resolution was defeated, knowing that
| we had full power over our per diem, in
troduced a resolution that we should appro-
rate that for a certain time, which would
nave amounted to many thousand dollars
and, when that was defeated, knowing that
mad tull power over my own money, con.
tributed fifty dollars"
Turning to Henry, {" Did you contribute
fifty dollars P' johnson "paused for re-
| nly. >, The Irish cried ont. 90 Answor- An