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Lot description
Official appointment of John Irving White to the role of Deputy Postmaster at Jerseyville in the State of Illinois. Document on paper with paper-protected wax seal (envelope attached). Signed by Johnson, countersigned by William Hunter, Acting Secretary of State. Date: Washington, April 25, 1865. Dimensions: 290 x 455 mm. “There are no good laws but such as repeal other laws.” The seventeenth president of the United States of America filled his position between April 15, 1865, and March 4, 1869, after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. While his predecessor is considered as one of the greatest American presidents, Johnson is often ranked among the least successful presidents in American history, who was unable to compromise. During his presidency, Johnson achieved important results such as the purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million and the annexation of the Midway Islands (whereby he could increase the territory of the United States), but the failure of his plan of Reconstruction overshadowed everything. He wanted to return to the pre-Civil War social and economic system(with the exception of slavery) and substantially restricted the civil rights of the African Americans regarded as inferiors: he supported the introduction of Black Codes, proposed by the southern states in 1865-66 to limit the employment of the emancipated slaves. After Johnson vetoed two draft bills that would have protected African Americans, the Congress united against the president and, overriding the presidential veto for the first time, accepted one of the resolutions – the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Furthermore, in spite of Johnson’s opposition, the Congress also passed the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which proclaimed that all citizens of the United States are also the citizens of the Union and each state, and no state can infringe upon the rights of its citizens. Due to his unpopularity, Johnson could not influence the congressional elections of 1866, thus, the new, Republican Congress – despite Johnson’s veto – passed the first of the Reconstruction acts. In 1868, he violated one of the laws limiting the presidential powers, and as a consequence, the Senate commenced the impeachment proceedings against Johnson, but – after lengthy trials – he was acquitted of charges thanks to one vote.