Andrew Johnson Quote Page

Ambition I have reached the summit of my ambition" - Andrew Johnson when he heard the news of his election into the Senate - an opinion he held the rest of his life. Assassination "I have been informed that part of the business to be transacted on the present occasion is the assassination of the individual who now has the honor of addressing you . . . Therefore, if any man has come here tonight for the purpose indicated, I do not say to him let him speak, but let him shoot." Andrew Johnson (1855, when campaigning for governor of Tennessee in an area that was a stronghold for his opponents) "If I am shot at, I want no man to be in the way of the bullet." Andrew Johnson (Comment issued after an assassination threat) Constitution Let peace and prosperity be restored to the land. May God bless this people: may God save the Constitution. Andrew Johnson in the U.S. Senate March 22, 1875 We have no legal authority more than private citizens, and within it we have only so much as that instrument gives us. This broad principle limits all our functions and applies to all subjects. Andrew Johnson "Honest conviction is my courage; the Constitution is my guide." Andrew Johnson Democracy "There are some who lack confidence in the integrity and capacity of the people to govern themselves. To all who entertain such fears I will most respectfully say that I entertain none . . . If man is not capable, and is not to be trusted with the government of himself, is he to be trusted with the government of others . . . Who, then, will govern? The answer must be, Man for we have no angels in the shape of men, as yet, who are willing to take charge of our political affairs." Andrew Johnson (1853) Duty "Notwithstanding a mendacious press; notwithstanding a subsidized gang of hirelings who have not ceased to traduce me, I have discharged all my official duties and fulfilled my pledges. And I say here tonight that if my predecessor [Lincoln] had lived, the vials of wrath would have been poured out upon him." Andrew Johnson "I hold it the duty of the executive to insist upon frugality in the expenditure, and a sparing economy is itself a great national source." "I have performed my duty to my God, my country, and my family. I have nothing to fear in approaching death. To me it is the mere shadow of God's protecting wing . . . Here I will rest in quiet and peace beyond the reach of calumny's poisoned shaft, the influence of envy and jealous enemies, where treason and traitors or State backsliders and hypocrites in church can have no peace." (Written just before his death in July 1875) Goal in Government "The goal to strive for is a poor government but a rich people." Andrew Johnson God "I do believe in Almighty God! And I believe also in the Bible...Let us look forward to the time when we can take the flag of our country and nail it below the Cross, and there let it wave as it waved in the olden times, and let us gather around it and inscribed for our motto: "Liberty and Union, one and inseparable, now and forever, and exclaim, Christ first, our country next!" Andrew Johnson Source:John Savage, "The Life and Public Services of Andrew Johnson" pp. 247, 274 Good Laws "There are no good laws but such as repeal other laws." Andrew Johnson (1835) Ideal Country "If the rabble were lopped off at one end and the aristocrat at the other, all would be well with the country." Andrew Johnson Legislation "Legislation can neither be wise nor just which seeks the welfare of a single interest at the expense and to the injury of many and varied interests." Andrew Johnson (February 22, 1869) Source:http://www.wheretodoresearch.com/Presidents /Quotes.htm#Johnson,%20A. Lincoln's Assassination "I have been almost overwhelmed by the announcement of the sad event [Lincoln's assassination] which has so recently occurred. I feel incompetent to perform duties so important and responsible as those which have been so unexpectedly thrown upon me." Oath I am sworn to uphold the Constitution as Andy Johnson understands it and interprets it. Andrew Johnson Source:http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/andrew_johnson/ One Tyranny and despotism can be exercised by many, more rigourously, more vigourously, and more severely, than by one. Andrew Johnson Source:http://www.worldofquotes.com/author /Andrew-Johnson/1/ Reconstrution We are swinging round the circle. Andrew Johnson - on the Presidential "Reconstruction" Source:http://www.giga-usa.com/quotes/authors /andrew_johnson_a001.htm It is plain that an indefinite or permanent exclusion of any part of the country from representation must be attended by a spirit of disquite and complaint. It is unwise and dangerous to pursue a course of measures which will unite a very large section of the country against another section of the country, however much the latter may perponderate. Andrew Johnson Secession "The times we live in are not without instruction. The American people must be taught -- if they do not already feel -- that treason is a crime and must be punished; that the Government will not always bear with its enemies; that it is strong not only to protect but to punish." Slavery "Slavery exists. It is black in the South, and white in the North." Andrew Johnson Tailor [Inresponse to a heckler who shouted 'From a tailor up!':] Some gentleman says I have been a tailor. That does not disconcert me in the least; for when I was a tailor I had the reputation of being a good one, and making close fits; I was always punctual with my customers, and always did good work. Andrew Johnson Source:Smiles, Self-Help Washington DC and REALITY Washington, DC is 12 square miles bordered by reality." --President Johnson (Andrew, not Lyndon, Johnson) in 1865 View Andrews Johnson's Obit Mail Howie

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