Arizona weekly citizen., 1881-10-02
ANDREW JOHNSON.

VI sDT
 ANDREW JOHNSON.
 JOHN TYLER. WILLARD FILLMORE
 Former Presidential Presidents.
 Previous to the accession of General Arthur, of all the Vice Presidents of this great republic, from the days of Wash ington to the present time, but three were fortunate enough Go attaln to the high distinction of the chief maglstracy, because of the circumstance that but three Presidents only died while n of- fice-General Harrison, General Taylor and the illustrious Abraham Lincoln. Of onr Vice-PresideDtial Presidents, John Tyler vas the first. Just one month after the inauguration of General Harrison he succeeded that brave and able man, who died April ?, 1sil, Tn the seyentieth yea of his age. Mr. Tyler was bon in Charles Cify county, Elr- ginia, 1790 He entered William and Mary College at F years of age, gradu- ated at IT, and was admitGed to the bar at I9, when he began the practice of the law, soon obtaining very large patron age. At 21 he was elected to the State Legislature, and was subsequently re- elected five times. In 1Sl6 he entered Congress where he distinguishedh himself during a long career. h 1895 he was
 elected Governor of Virginia, and III 1877
 was sent a Senator to Congress, m which
 capacity he evinced an independence
 in relation to party obligations that was
 censured by some at the time. In lS4O,
 he was elected Vice President of the
 United States; and, as already stated,
 became President in lS4l. The most im-
 portaut act of his administration was the
 annexation of Texas, March 1st, 1S45.
 At the close of his term of office, he re-
 tired into private fife, and, without leay
 ing behind him any very brilliant trall
 of glory or uncomfortable traces of ln-
 justice or incapaclty, he died at hlch-
 mond, January r, lo62.
 Willard Fillmore was the next Vice
 President who succeeded to the Presl-
 dential chair-an occurrence which took
 place July g, lS5C-On the death of Gen eral Taylor. He was born at Summer
 Hill, Cayuga Co.,, \. r., in 1890; and be-
 cause of the limited means of his family, his early education was much embar- rassed. He was apprenticed to wool
 cafder; but by application, and an earn est love of knowledge, he soon attracted attention, and secured the friendship and patronage of Judge Wood, an emi- nent lawyer in his native county, who not only offered hm q desk in his office, but generously proposed to assist him while qualifying himself for the profess sion of the law Both offers were grate- | fully accepted, although Mir. Fillmore, anxious tO press as lightly as possible upon his benefactor, sought to meet part | of hls expenses by teaching i'll 6
 school where be found employment. h ! 1891, he removed to Erie county, and pufsued his legal studies as Buffalo. In | lS27, he was admitted as an attorney. | and in 1899 became a Counsellor in the | Supreme Court; entering in 1850 into partnership with m old member of the | bar. It was in 1899, however, that he
 commenced his political career as rep ! resentative of Erie county in the State | Legislature, which position was succeed | ed, in 1852, by that of member of Con Cress. In 1S47, he was elected to the | important post of Comptroller of the | State of New York: and h lSiS was car
 ried by his whig supporters into the ! Nice-Presidents clair, from which, as already observed, he stepped into that | of the President Ill 1850. The early part of his administration was embar- rassed by the slavery question and the | Lopez expedition against Cuba; but | still during his tern of office the coun- | try prospered, and was at peace at home | and abroad and California was admitted | a new State into the Union. In 1856, he
 was brought forward again by his party as candidate for the Presidency, but without success. He was travelling in | Europe at the time, the principal courts | of which received him with much dis ! tinction. Alter his retirement from pub | lie life be resided n Buffalo, where he ! died in 1874
 Our third Vice-Presidential President was Andrew Johnson, who succeeded tO | the Presidency on the assassination of
 Lincoln, on the 14th Of April, 1865. He was born at Raleigh, North Carolina,
 and seems to have had no opportunities | Of education. At ten years of age was | apprenticed to a tailor, whom he served | for seven years. At the expiration of | this term, he worked as a iOurneyman at | Laurens Court House, South Carolina, | for two years, and in lS40 was Presiden- | tial electOr, and canvassed the State for Mir. YanBuren, the Democratic candl- | date In lS41 he was elected to the Sen ! ate, and in 1913 to Congress, where for
 ten years he supported the Democratic party. In 1853 he was elected Governor ! of Tennessee, and in 1857 became Sen
 ator of the United States, and advocated | tine union policy of the Republican | party. On the occupation of Nashville ! by the Federals in 1862, he was appoint | ed Military Governor of Tennessee by
 President Lincoln, and on the re-elec- ] ton of the latter, in 1861, he was elected ! Vice-President. Although previously popular with his party, on his accession | to the Presidential chair the tide of op- | position set in against him, and difficult | ties multiplied around him until he was impeached, in 1868, for an alleged in- | fringement of the Constitution. He was acquitted, however, Chief Justice Chase presiding aC the trial. On the expiration | of his term of office he sought to be re- | elected Governor of Tennessee, and ! United States Senator, but unsuccess- | fully. He died in 1875.