Andrew Johnson our 17th PresidentOn our way back north from the Henderson Reunion of 2006, we stopped to visit our good friend Jerry McDuffie. Jerry lives in Morristown Tennessee and we try to get by his place a couple of times of year and Jerry comes and visits us a couple of times a year. I have known Jerry since the mid 70s and we became really good friends when he worked with me at the San Francisco California Forecast Office. He lived with Barbara and I for over half a year before finding his own housing. Morristown Tennessee is about an hour west of Greenville Tennessee which is home to the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site. Andrew Johnson was our 17th president and has the dubious honor of being only one of two presidents that were impeached by the House of Representatives. The other was Bill Clinton. Both presidents were acquitted but Johnson was acquitted by only one vote. That vote was cast by Senator Edmund Ross of Kansas. Andrew Johnson's administration was shaped by his unwavering belief in the Constitution. He opposed the 14th amendment and vetoed the Civil Rights Act and statehood for Nebraska and Colorado--all of whose constitutionality he questioned. Amid the political turmoil Johnson managed to reopen seaports, federal courts, and post offices in the South. His most far-reaching achievement, the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, remained unappreciated until long after Johnson left office.
Jerry McDuffie in front of his home in Morristown Tennessee. Click on the image to see a larger view.
Click on this map of the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site and see some of the sights in Greenville Tennessee.
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