Andrew Johnson — 17th President (1865–1869)

**Andrew Johnson** ascended to the presidency after Lincoln's assassination and proceeded to undermine Reconstruction, veto civil rights legislation, and demonstrate what happens when succession planning puts the wrong person in charge. A War Democrat from Tennessee, Johnson was added to Lincoln's ticket for political balance, not for competence. He was impeached (and acquitted by one vote) and left office having squandered the most consequential moment for racial justice in American history until the 1960s.