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When it comes to Andrew Johnson, assuming he is remembered at all, the most memorable things about him are 1. He took office because Lincoln died, and 2. He was the first ever president to be impeached by congress. To that end, I decided to read this book in place of an actual biography on Johnson because this would save valuable time. Also, it seemed like this was the best of ANY book on Johnson, let alone his presidency. Still, I had my misgivings. A book centered on only the impeachment process was bound to be confusing and boring. Political history is filled with people who are barley worth mentioning, and this can be doubly true in times of crisis. People may last in their state seat for a long time, or for only a term or two with little impact on their states position in the national stage. (Perhaps therefore we tend to focus on the Presidents so much, and even then, only those we remember.) Couple this with the fact that Reconstruction was one of the most contentious times in US History, and I thought this book was bound to be filled with boring tales of men who opposed Johnson, being told in the driest form possible. Thankfully, I was proven wrong. Stewart writes a book that is not only readable, but also very enjoyable and is one of the best books on the Presidents I have read yet.
One of the best aspects of this text is how readable this book is. In my experience, politics, whether it is told in history or today, can be very boring if it is not written that well. Thankfully, Stewart takes a more contemporary approach to writing, and allows for a simplistic, yet enjoyable writing style to shine through. This helps to turn even the dullest conversation about impeachment politics to become interesting and, dare I say, fun to read. He has an active writing style that manages to combine making the subject approachable without talking down to the reader, which is harder to do than it sounds. He also, thank goodness, does not mention modern politics. This may have been published in 2009, but I still appreciated the fact that neither Clinton nor Nixon are mentioned here. It was just nice to stay in the time of Reconstruction. And any parallels made to modern day politics are purely made by the reader.
Another benefit to new readers is that there is plenty of context given to reconstruction. During this time period, not only was there the challenge of stitching the tattered union back together, but also the need to understand what to do with the now free African Americans. Decisions and options ranged all over the spectrum, from just making them work on the plantations, to making them full citizens with full rights and liberties. Then former Confederate soldiers in the south who did not want blacks to be free and were determined to frighten them as much as possible. Stewart spends valuable pages giving the reader some background on this time in history. This not only serves to educate the reader, but to also helps them understand why the more radical Republicans were so angry at Johnson, and, one could argue, were determined to see him out of office, no matter what he tried to do.
The only major problem with this text is how it is not a full-fledged biography of Johnson. One aspect I like of full biographies are exploring how the skills that helped the person to the presidency either did or did not help them in office. Then I like seeing how they correspondingly change or refuse to change as a result. This can make for both a cautionary tale, and interesting informational reading, given the current election cycle.
Yet, we do not have a biography here. Stewart only gives the briefest of backstories for necessary characters, and it is a shame that Johnson's life is not explored in greater detail. Still, this isn't as much a knock on the book, as it is wishful thinking. Rather my desire to see a book for what it could be, rather than what it is.
Overall, this book is an excellently done exploration of reconstruction era politics, the problems that proceeded Johnson's impeachment, and how it would shape the presidencies that came after it. This text is not only one that I enjoyed reading at the time, but now, about two weeks after reading it, am still thinking about. With that lasting impression in mind, I give this book a five out of five. Modern politics notwithstanding, you should pick up this book and read it for yourself.
