Andrew Johnson was born in Raleigh, North Carolina on December 29, 1808 to Jacob and Mary ("Polly") Johnson. In 1811 his father saved some acquaintances from drowning in a river, but the effort weakened him irrevocably. He died in January 1812. Andrew was three years old.

Jacob Johnson had been a respected man, but one of meager means. With his death, his wife and two sons were left destitute. Polly Johnson apprenticed her sons, William and Andrew, to a local tailor. They ran away in 1824.

Andrew came to Greeneville in 1826 with his mother and stepfather and found an opportunity to begin his own tailoring business. In 1827 he married Eliza McCardle. At that time he had only a scant education, but he studied diligently under his wife's tutelage, and he paid people to read to him while he worked. He was soon proven to be a capable tailor, and his flourishing shop became a gathering place for political discussion and debate. By 1829 Johnson was elected alderman of the town of Greeneville. He had embarked on his political career and would hold nearly every elective office between alderman and president.

On April 15, 1865, at the death of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson became the 17th president of the United States. A constant champion of the common man and defender of the Constitution, he faced opposition and impeachment undaunted and came to be remembered as the "Constitutional President."

Andrew Johnson died in 1875 after becoming the only president to return to the Senate. He was buried in Greeneville, TN with the Constitution resting under his head and with his body wrapped in the American flag.