The Most Interesting Andrew Johnson Quotes

Andrew Johnson was born and raised in a low-income family without any formal education. He had a famous nickname called Tennessee Tailor, which reflected his career before he got into politics. Later on he went on to become the 17th President of the United States of America, and he served from 1865 to 1869. It was after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, that he assumed office. A fun fact about Andrew Johnson you should know about is that he was the 1st American President to ever get impeached.

Before becoming US President, he first started out as an official member of the US Congress, as the Tennessee legislature. After that, he went on to serve as the Governor of Tennessee and it’s after this that he assumed to become the US president.

He stood out as the only loyal southern senator to his Union during the entire civil war. Likewise, he fought with Radical Republicans to restore the southern states to his Union. During his time as a politician as well as the president, his functions were quite eventful. Since he was a famous politician, he was able to inspire people by sharing his thoughts and views on multiple issues and subjects. And this shouldn’t be any surprise considering Andrew Johnson had a couple of great character traits, such as humility, compassion, and politeness. If you want to learn of such inspiring quotes, you are in the right place.

Here are 31 of the most famous quotes you need to know from Andrew Johnson.

Andrew Johnson Quotes

1. “I am sworn to uphold the Constitution as Andy Johnson understands it and interprets it.” Andrew Johnson.

2. “Slavery exists. It is black in the South, and white in the North.”-Andrew Johnson.

3. “Honest conviction is my courage; the Constitution is my guide.”-Andrew Johnson.

4. “I have lived among negroes, all my life, and I am for this Government with slavery under the Constitution as it is. I am for the Government of my fathers with negroes. I am for it without negroes. Before I would see this Government destroyed, I would send every negro back to Africa, disintegrated and blotted out of space.”-Andrew Johnson.

5. “I have been almost overwhelmed by the announcement of the sad event [Lincoln’s assassination] which has so recently occurred. I feel incompetent to perform duties so important and responsible as those which have been so unexpectedly thrown upon me.”- Andrew Johnson.

6. “If you could extend the elective franchise to all persons of color who can read the Constitution of the United States in English and write their names and to all persons of color who own real estate valued at not less than two hundred and fifty dollars and pay taxes thereon, and would completely disarm the adversary. This you can do with perfect safety. And as a consequence, the radicals, who are wild upon negro franchise, will be completely foiled in their attempts to keep the Southern States from renewing their relations to the Union.”-Andrew Johnson.

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7. “The homestead policy was established only after long and earnest resistance; experience proves its wisdom. The lands in the hands of industrious settlers, whose labor creates wealth and contributes to the public resources, are worth more to the United States than if they had been reserved as a solitude for future purchasers.”- Andrew Johnson.

8. “I realized there are people out there who can beat me, want to beat me. And unless I continue to innovate and evolve, I am going to learn a painful lesson from someone who has.”-Johnson Andrew.

9. “There are some who lack confidence in the integrity and capacity of the people to govern themselves. To all who entertain such fears, I will most respectfully say that I entertain none. If a man is not capable and is not to be trusted with the Government of himself, is he to be trusted with others’ Government? Who, then, will govern? The answer must be, Man – for we have no angels in the shape of men, as yet, who are willing to take charge of our political affairs.”-Johnson Andrew.

10. “Let us look forward to the time when we can take the flag of our country and nail it below the Cross, and there let it wave as it waved in the olden times, and let us gather around it and inscribed for our motto: ‘Liberty and Union, one and inseparable, now and forever,’ and exclaim, ‘Christ first, our country next!'”-Johnson Andrew.

11. “Let them impeach and be damned.” Andrew Johnson.

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12. “The sovereignty of the States is the Confederacy’s language and not the language of the Constitution. The latter contains emphatic words. This Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the United States shall be the supreme law of the land and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.”-Andrew Johnson.

13. “Notwithstanding a mendacious press; notwithstanding a subsidized gang of hirelings who have not ceased to traduce me, I have discharged all my official duties and fulfilled my pledges. And I say here tonight that if my predecessor had lived, the vials of wrath would have poured out upon him.”-Andrew Johnson.

14. “The inauguration went off very well except that the Vice President-Elect was too drunk to perform his duties and disgraced himself and the Senate by making a drunken foolish speech. I was never so mortified in my life, had I been able to find a hole I would have dropped through it out of sight.”-Andrew Johnson.

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15. “If you could extend the elective franchise to all persons of color who can read the Constitution of the United States in English and write their names and to all persons of color who own real estate valued at not less than two hundred and fifty dollars and pay taxes thereon, and would completely disarm the adversary. This you can do with perfect safety. And as a consequence, the radicals, who are wild upon negro franchise, will be completely foiled in their attempts to keep the Southern States from renewing their relations to the Union.”-Andrew Johnson.

16. “The homestead policy was established only after long and earnest resistance; experience proves its wisdom. The lands in the hands of industrious settlers, whose labor creates wealth and contributes to the public resources, are worth more to the United States than if they had been reserved as a solitude for future purchasers.”-Andrew Johnson.

17. “Who, then, will govern? The answer must be, Man – for we have no angels in the shape of men, as yet, who are willing to take charge of our political affairs.”- Andrew Johnson.

18. “Legislation can neither be wise nor just which seeks the welfare of a single interest at the expense and to the injury of many and varied interests.”- Andrew Johnson.

19. “Outside of the Constitution, we have no legal authority more than private citizens, and within it, we have only so much as that instrument gives us. This broad principle limits all our functions and applies to all subjects.”-Andrew Johnson.

20. “Your President is now the Tribune of the people, and, thank God, I am, and intend to assert the power which the people have placed in me… Tyranny and despotism can be exercised by many, more rigorously, more vigorously, and more severely, than by one.”-Andrew Johnson.

21. “We are certainly gratified by the Board of Supervisors’ vote to accept the settlement agreement we proposed, … We have said that this represents a true win-win for Comcast and the residents of San Francisco. And we believe the deal is exactly that.”-Andrew Johnson.

22. “The enactment of the Homestead Act would create the strongest tie between the citizen and the Government-he would with cheerfulness contribute his proportionable part of the taxes to defray the expenses of the political system under which he lived.”-Andrew Johnson.

23. “I tell our sisters in the South that so far as Tennessee is concerned she will not be dragged into a Southern or any other confederacy until she has had time to consider, and then she will go when she believes it to be her interest, and not before.”-Andrew Johnson.

24. “There are some who lack confidence in the integrity and capacity of the people to govern themselves. To all who entertain such fears I will most respectfully say that I entertain none . . . If man is not capable, and is not to be trusted with the Government of himself, is he to be trusted with the Government of others . . . Who, then, will govern? The answer must be, Man, for we have no angels in the shape of men, as yet, who are willing to take charge of our political affairs.”- Andrew Johnson.

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25. “I have been almost overwhelmed by the announcement of the sad event [Lincoln’s assassination] which has so recently occurred. I feel incompetent to perform duties so important and responsible as those which have been so unexpectedly thrown upon me.”- Andrew Johnson.

26. “Tyranny and despotism can be exercised by many, more rigorously, more vigorously, and more severely, than by one.”-Andrew Johnson.

27. “Whenever you hear a man prating about the Constitution, spot him as a traitor”- Andrew Johnson.

28. “I hold it the duty of the executive to insist upon frugality in the expenditure, and a sparing economy is itself a great national source.”- Andrew Johnson.

29. “Tyranny and despotism can be exercised by many, more rigorously, more vigorously, and more severely, than by one.”- Andrew Johnson.

30. “It is our sacred duty to transmit unimpaired to our posterity the blessings of liberty which were bequeathed to us by the founders of the Republic.”-Andrew Johnson.

31. “If I am to be shot at, I want no man to be in the way of the bullet.”-Andrew Johnson.

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Video: Andrew Johnson, The Impeached President

This is a great overview from Mo Rocca about Andrew Johnson’s surprising rise to the Oval Office upon Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. President Johnson had a challenging relationship with Congress and he has the distinction of being the first U.S. President to be Impeached. And Bill Clinton was the second, and Donald Trump the most recent.

Related: James Madison’s Best Quotes

Summary

If you wanted to learn about quotes shared by Andrew Johnson, this article has taken you through a compilation of his most famous quotes. Through these quotes, you get more insight into the 17th President of the United States of America.

His wise sayings are no doubt a source of inspiration and encouragement to the current and future generations.

Image Credit: The Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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