THE FAILED PROMISE

An excellent, opinionated, and discouraging dual biography of a dreadful president and a determined fighter for human rights.

Levine writes that Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), a fiercely ambitious populist who became “the absolutely wrong president for his times,” despised the South’s aristocracy but was otherwise a garden-variety Southern Democrat with no objection to slavery. It was only after Lincoln’s election that he achieved fame as the only Southern senator opposing secession. Lincoln appointed him military governor of Tennessee, where his anti-slavery rhetoric made him popular among Tennessee Blacks as well as abolitionists, who preferred him to Lincoln. Making “War Democrat” Johnson vice-presidential candidate was a gesture to win votes in the 1864 elections, which observers considered a toss-up. Although horrified at Lincoln’s murder, the new president was an improvement according to Radical Republicans. Sharing their delusion was Frederick Douglass (1817-1895), the charismatic Black speaker and writer who had been fighting slavery for two decades. Historians dutifully explain why Johnson discarded his hatred of slave owners in favor of White supremacy. Levine contributes an unobjectionable, intriguing theory, but mostly he recounts the dismal events that followed. Soon after assuming office, Johnson began pardoning Rebels in exchange for a mild loyalty oath and recognizing all-White Southern state governments. He vetoed legislation securing rights for ex-slaves, made violently racist speeches and statements, and blamed horrific White atrocities on Northern agitators. Talk of impeachment began, but Congress was reluctant to indict him for racist behavior, aware that most White voters had little objection. Taking advantage of his effort to fire the secretary of war in February 1868, the House charged him with violating the Tenure of Office Act, which forbade dismissing anyone approved by the Senate. The two-month impeachment trial bored the sellout audience, but readers will appreciate Levine’s many significant insights. Douglass, who did not attend, put aside his disappointment at the acquittal, continuing to speak and write as Reconstruction failed and conditions for Blacks steadily deteriorated.

Outstanding as both a biography and a work of Reconstruction-era history.