Andrew Johnson: A Biography

If you are used to reading well researched books, written by historians like David McCullough or Doris Kearns Goodwin, then you will be disappointed with this book. This book provides a summary and very little detail. The author barely slims the surface of the political history of the time and gives no background or details into relevant policies or events surrounding these moments in history. There are so many well written books about Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War ,Reconstruction, U.S. Grant and others of that era. This book doesn't really do Andrew Johnson justice in documenting his life and his role in this volatile time in history.

I read this book in my ongoing project to read a biography of each President. The best part of this book in my opinion was the length. A lot of biographers lengthen their book to a point where it becomes too detailed and hard to read. That was not the case here. Johnson was not a great president, nor was he a great person. And, other than the Civil War and Reconstruction he didn't have a key stake in American History. Why go overboard? And the author didn't. I've read many very wonderful presidential biographies. Truman was fantastic and was 900 pages because it shouldn've been. The 3-part bio on Nixon was 1800 pages and should've been because a lot went on during Nixon's life in politics. This bio, much like the Andrew Jackson bio I read, was between 300 and 400 pages.... detailed enough to tell the story but not detailed to the point where I got lost or just flat lost interest. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to read about Andrew Johnson but if you are looking to make a life out of studying the man it is probably not the book for you because it is not overly detailed. It was exactly what I was looking for though, well-written, well-researched and gave me a good overview of a President that I have always wanted to know more about. He definitely was not of high moral character and definitely played to his southern base with his actions surrounding reconstruction. That said, I did find it interesting that he was demonized at times by both his colleagues and the press. Sounds like aside from his thinking in regards to blacks and slavery he was a good and honest man that tried to do what was right most of the time. That was something the author did a very good job detailing and I appreciated it.

Treffousse's look at the 17th President of the United States is a fair and well-balanced look at this driven politician. The reader will be left with little doubt that Johnson's racism was his biggest flaw in both his political and personal life. The impeachment is featured but does not dominate the book as it should not.

While the "personal" Johnson is given adequate attention, this book works so well because it concentrates on the political realm, a rarity in these days of social history and psychoanalytical treatises. Of course, the impeachment trial is of primary interest, but the focus on Johnson's overwhelming ambition was appreciated as well. Despite his stubborn attitude, inflexibility, and undeniable racism, Johnson was a committed Jacksonian and sought throughout his political life to promote policies friendly to his agrarian philosophy. Because his presidency represented a key transition in American history (a definite weakening of the Executive until TR as well as a regrettable loss of Reconstruction opportunities), Johnson is, with Polk, Lincoln, and Jackson, one of the key figures of the 19th century. Overall, a solid book worthy of a wide readership.

I found this book was fair to Johnson, despite the author's reputation as friendly to the Radical Republicans. I found myself believing that the failure of the Senate to impeach Johnson was a good thing, since he obviously was not guilty of an impeachable offense--even as our current president was not. Johnson was actually an able politician and a good President, but his bias against blacks caused him to err grievously in regard to them.

Hans Louis Trefousse's biography of Andrew Johnson paints a balanced portrait of this unique political figure. After completing the work I walked away with a feeling that Trefousse was neither a cheerleader for the president nor out to condemn Andrew Johnson. The book gives good detail on his rise to power and his continual fight for the homestead act and against government intervention. It also shows that Johnson was far from a perfect figure and never could overcome his own prejudices against the former slaves. The book also has good detail on the impeachment of Andrew Johnson but does not make it the sole focus of the book. In general it is a good read, but at times becomes cumbersome in its detail. Overall, I would recommend the book to anyone looking for a more complete picture of the country's first impeached president.