Richard Mentor Johnson
Encyclopedia
Richard Mentor Johnson was the ninth Vice President of the United States
, serving in the administration of Martin Van Buren
(1837–1841). He was the only vice-president ever elected by the United States Senate
under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment
. Johnson also represented Kentucky
in the U.S. House of Representatives
and Senate and began and ended his political career in the Kentucky House of Representatives
.
Johnson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1806. He became allied with fellow Kentuckian Henry Clay
as a member of the War Hawks faction that favored war with Britain
in 1812. At the outset of the War of 1812
, Johnson was commissioned a colonel
in the army
. He and his brother James
served under William Henry Harrison
in Upper Canada
. Johnson participated in the Battle of the Thames
where some maintain that he personally killed the Shawnee
chief Tecumseh
, a fact he later used to his political advantage.
Following the war, Johnson returned to the House of Representatives, and was elevated to the Senate in 1819 to fill the seat vacated by John J. Crittenden
. As his constituency grew, his interracial relationship
with a mulatto
slave named Julia Chinn was more widely criticized, damaging to his political ambition. Unlike other leaders who had relationships with their slaves, Johnson was open about his relationship with Chinn, and regarded her as his common law wife. He freely claimed Chinn's two daughters as his own, much to the consternation of some in his constituency. The relationship was a major factor in the 1829 election that cost him his seat in the Senate, but his district returned him to the House the following year.
In 1836, Johnson was the Democratic
nominee for vice-president on a ticket
with Martin Van Buren
. Campaigning with the slogan "Rumpsey Dumpsey, Rumpsey Dumpsey, Colonel Johnson killed Tecumseh", Johnson fell just short of the electoral votes
needed to secure his election when Virginia
's delegation to the electoral college bucked the vote of their state and refused to cast their votes for Johnson. He was elected to the office by the Senate along sharp party lines.
Johnson proved such a liability for the Democrats in the 1836 election
that the party refused to renominate him for vice-president in 1840. Instead, Van Buren campaigned with no running mate
, and lost the election to William Henry Harrison. Johnson made several failed attempts to return to elected office, and he finally returned to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1850. He died on November 19, 1850, just two weeks into his term.
; all of Kentucky was part of Virginia until 1792. By 1782, they had moved to Bryan's Station, Kentucky in Fayette County
.
Johnson's mother was considered a heroine for her actions during Simon Girty
's raid on Bryan's Station in August 1782. The traditional story runs: As Girty's forces surrounded the fort, the occupants discovered that there was no water inside. A number of Indians concealed themselves near the spring from which the settlement drew water; however, the fort's inhabitants believed it unlikely that they would show themselves until they believed they could capture the stockade. Jemima Johnson was the first to approve of a plan to allow the women to go and draw water from the spring as usual. There was a risk that the Indians would assault the women, and many of the men disapproved of the plan, but devoid of other options, they eventually acquiesced. Less than an hour after sunrise, the women drew the water and returned safely. Soon thereafter, the raid commenced. A band of Indian warriors managed to set fire to some houses and stables, but a favorable wind prevented the fires from spreading. The fort's children used the water drawn by the women to extinguish the fires. One of the enemy's flaming arrows landed in the crib of the infant, Richard Mentor Johnson, but it was quickly doused by Johnson's sister Betsy. During the afternoon, reinforcements arrived from Lexington
and Boone Station, and the fort was saved.
By 1784, the family had moved again, this time to Great Crossing in Scott County
, on land purchased by Johnson's father from Patrick Henry
and James Madison
. Johnson's father was a surveyor, and made a moderate fortune through well-chosen land purchases.
The biographies in Johnson's lifetime say his formal education did not begin until age fifteen, and he entered Transylvania University
in Lexington, Kentucky
shortly thereafter. There is no contemporary record of his attendance, but the records before 1802 are incomplete. By 1799, he was studying law with George Nicholas
and then with James Brown
, who were Professors of Law at the University in addition to private practice; he was admitted to the Kentucky bar
in 1802, and opened his office at Great Crossing. Later, he owned a retail store and pursued a number of business ventures with his brothers. Johnson often worked pro bono
for poor people, prosecuting their cases against the rich. He also opened his home to disabled veterans, widows, and orphans.
because of his mother's contention that his bride-to-be was not worthy of the family. Johnson vowed revenge for his mother's interference, and when his father died, he began a long-term relationship with Julia Chinn, a slave left to him by his father. Chinn was a light-skinned octoroon; nevertheless, the law considered her a Negro
which prevented Johnson from marrying her. Throughout his career, Johnson treated Chinn as his common law wife. When Johnson was away from his Kentucky estate, Chinn was given free rein in his business affairs.
Julia Chinn died in an outbreak of cholera
in the summer of 1833. Following his wife's death, Johnson engaged in a relationship with another family slave. When she left him for another man, Johnson had her captured and sold at auction. He then began a relationship with her sister.
Johnson and Chinn had two daughters, Adaline Chinn Johnson and Imogene Chinn Johnson. Johnson saw to it that both girls were provided an education. Both daughters married white men, whereupon Johnson gave them large tracts of land from his own holdings. Adeline Chinn had no children, and died in 1836. Despite Johnson's treatment of Imogene as a daughter, she did not inherit his estate. Upon Johnson's death, the Fayette County Court ruled that "he left no widow, children, father, or mother living" and divided his estate between his living brothers, John and Henry.
Johnson's political service began in 1804 when he was elected to represent Scott County in the Kentucky House of Representatives. He was only twenty-three at the time of his election. Although the Kentucky Constitution
imposed an age requirement of twenty-four for members of the House of Representatives, Johnson was so popular that no one raised questions about his age, and he was allowed to take his seat. He was immediately placed on the Committee on Courts of Justice. During his tenure, he supported legislation to protect settlers from land speculators
. On January 26, 1807, he delivered an address condemning the Burr conspiracy
.
Johnson held his seat until 1806 when he was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States House of Representatives. At the time of his election in August 1806, he did not meet the U.S. Constitution
's age requirement for service in the House (25), but by the time the congressional session commenced the following March, he was of the required age. He would serve six consecutive terms. From 1807 to 1813, he represented Kentucky's Fourth District
. He secured one of Kentucky's at-large
seats in the House from 1813 to 1815, and represented Kentucky's Third District
from 1815 to 1819. He continued to represent the interests of the poor as a member of the House and first came to national attention with his opposition to rechartering the First Bank of the United States
.
Johnson served as chairman of the Committee on Claims during the Eleventh Congress
(1809–1811). The committee was charged with adjudicating financial claims made by veterans of the Revolutionary War
. In his capacity as chair, he sought to influence the committee to grant the claim of Alexander Hamilton
's widow to wages Hamilton had declined when serving under George Washington
. Although Hamilton was a champion of the rival Federalist Party
, Johnson had compassion for Hamilton's widow and, before the end of his term, secured payment of the wages.
s, a group of legislators who clamored for war with the British. Congress declared war in June 1812, and immediately following the adjournment of the session, Johnson rode back to Kentucky where he called for volunteers; so many responded that he was able to choose the ones who had horses, and raise a body of mounted rifles. Johnson at first raised 300 men, divided into three companies
, who elected him major
; they then merged with another battallion, forming a regiment
of 500 men, with Johnson as colonel
. Johnson's force was originally intended to join General William Hull
at Detroit, but Hull surrendered Detroit
on August 16 and his army was captured. Johnson reported to William Henry Harrison, Territorial Governor of Indiana, now in command of the entire Northwest frontier; he was ordered to relieve Fort Wayne
in the northeast of the Territory, which was already being attacked by the Indians. On September 18, 1812, Johnson's men reached Fort Wayne just in time to save it, after turning an Indian ambush back on the ambushers. They then returned to Kentucky and disbanded, going out of their way to burn Potawatomi
villages along the Elkhart River
.
Johnson returned to his seat in Congress in the late fall of 1812 and devised a plan, based on his experience, to defeat the guerilla warfare of the Indians. The difficulty had always been that American troops moved slowly and were dependent on a supply line; Indians would evade battle and raid supplies until the American forces were compelled to withdraw or could be overrun. Mounted riflemen could move quickly, carry their own supplies, and live off the woods. If they attacked Indian villages in winter, the Indians would be compelled to stand and fight for their own winter supplies, and could be decisively defeated. Johnson submitted this plan to President
James Madison
and Secretary of War
John Armstrong
, who approved it in principle. They referred the plan to Harrison, who found winter operations impracticable, but Johnson was permitted to try it in the summer of 1813; later Indian wars were conducted in winter.
Johnson left Washington, D.C.
just before Congress adjourned; this time he raised a thousand men, nominally part of the militia brigade
under Kentucky Governor
Isaac Shelby
, but largely operating independently. He disciplined his men, required that every man have his arms in prime condition and ready to hand, and hired gunsmith
s, blacksmith
s, and doctors
at his own expense. He devised a new tactical system: when any group of men encountered the enemy, they were to dismount, take cover, and hold the enemy in place. All groups not in contact were to ride to the sound of firing, and dismount, surrounding the enemy when they got there. Between May and September, Johnson raided throughout the Northwest, burning Indian villages, surrounding Indian units and scattering them, and killing some Indian warriors each time.
In September, Oliver Hazard Perry
destroyed most of the British fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie
, taking control of the lake. This put the British army, then at Fort Malden
(now Amherstburg, Ontario
) out of supply, and threatened to cut it off from the rest of Canada by a landing to the east. The British, under General Henry Procter, withdrew to the northeast, followed by Harrison, who had advanced through Michigan
while Johnson kept the Indians engaged. Tecumseh
covered the British retreat, but was countered by Johnson, who had been called back from a raid on Kaskaskia
that had taken the post where the British had distributed arms and money. Johnson's cavalry defeated Tecumseh's main force on September 29, took British supply trains on October 3, and was one of the factors inducing Procter to stand and fight at the Battle of the Thames
on October 5, as Tecumseh had been demanding he do.
At the battle itself, Johnson's forces were the first to attack. One battalion of five hundred men, under Johnson's elder brother, James Johnson, engaged the British force of eight hundred regulars; simultaneously, Richard Johnson, with the other, now somewhat smaller battalion, attacked the fifteen hundred Indians led by Tecumseh. There was too much tree cover for the British volleys to be effective against James Johnson; three quarters of the regulars were killed or captured.
The Indians were a harder fight; they were out of the main field of battle, skirmishing on the edge of an adjacent swamp. Richard Johnson eventually ordered a suicide squad of twenty men to ride forward and draw the Indians' fire, planning to charge with the rest as they reloaded. But the ground before the Indian position was too swampy to support many cavalry. Johnson had to order his men to dismount and hold until Shelby's infantry came up. But eventually they broke, and fled into the swamp. At some point in that fight Tecumseh was slain.
Richard Johnson was credited later with killing Tecumseh personally. Indian reports were that Tecumseh was killed by a man on horseback, and Johnson was one of the few mounted men at that side of the battle. (His own men had dismounted, and Shelby's were infantry.) Furthermore, Johnson, who had been wounded four times already, had been shot in the shoulder by an Indian chief who was advancing to tomahawk
Johnson, when he shot back and killed the Indian instantly with a single pistol shot. A nineteenth-century source asserts that Tecumseh's body was found, near Johnson's hat and scabbard
, shot from above (as from horseback), and wounded with Johnson's usual load of two buckshot and a pistol ball.
Johnson fell unconscious after this duel and was dragged from the battlefield; in addition to his five wounds, twenty other bullets had hit his horse and gear. But the war in the Northwest was over. Although there was no organized resistance to his presence in Canada, Harrison withdrew to Detroit because of supply problems. (The Canadians would not feed his men.) Johnson eventually recovered, except for a crippled hand, but he was still suffering from his wounds when he returned to the House in February 1814.
In August 1814, British forces attacked Washington, D.C. and burned the White House
. The Federalists, who had opposed the war, now proposed moving the capital to Columbia, Kentucky
, a decision which Johnson opposed. The measure was defeated, and Congress instead formed a committee to investigate the circumstances that allowed Washington to be captured. Johnson chaired this committee, and delivered its final report. Following the sacking of Washington, the tide of battle turned against the British, and the Treaty of Ghent
ended the war even as Johnson prepared to return to Kentucky to raise another military unit. With the end of the war, he turned his legislative attention to issues such as securing pension
s for widows and orphans and funding internal improvements
in the West
.
The bill passed the House and Senate quickly and was made law on March 19, 1816. However, the measure proved extremely unpopular with voters, in part because it applied to the current Congress. Many legislators who supported the bill lost their congressional seats as a result, including Johnson's colleague from Kentucky, Solomon P. Sharp
. Johnson's popularity in other matters helped him retain his seat, and two days into the next session, he recanted his support for the law. It was quickly repealed in that session, and in its place legislators passed an increase in the per diem salary.
In 1817, Congress investigated General Andrew Jackson
's execution of two British subjects during the First Seminole War. Johnson chaired the committee which conducted the inquiry. The majority of the committee favored a negative report and a censure
for Jackson. Johnson, a Jackson supporter, drafted a counter report that was more favorable to Jackson and opposed the censure. The ensuing debate pitted Johnson against fellow Kentuckian Henry Clay
. Johnson's report prevailed, and Jackson was spared censure. This disagreement between Johnson and Clay, however, marked the beginning of a political separation between the two that lasted for the duration of their careers.
President James Monroe
seriously considered Johnson for the position of Secretary of War after Henry Clay declined the office, but the post ultimately went to John C. Calhoun
. Nevertheless, Johnson wielded considerable influence over defense policy as chair of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War
during the Fifteenth Congress
. In 1818, he (Calhoun) approved an expedition
to build a military outpost near the present site of Bismarck, North Dakota
on the Yellowstone River
; he awarded the contract to his brother James. Although the Yellowstone Expedition
was an ultimate failure and cost the U.S. Treasury a large portion of money, the Johnsons escaped political ill will in their home district because the venture was seen as a peacekeeping endeavor on the frontier.
was to elect a replacement for outgoing senator Isham Talbot
. Johnson lost the election by twelve votes to William Logan
despite the fact that he never officially declared his candidacy. It was reported in the local newspapers that Johnson's friends intended to nominate him for governor in the 1820 election.
Johnson's term in the House expired March 3, 1819, but by August, he had returned to the state legislature where he helped secure passage of a law that abolished imprisonment for debtors in Kentucky. In December 1819, he resigned his post in the state legislature to fill the Senate seat vacated by the resignation of John J. Crittenden. He was re-elected to a full term in 1823, so that in total, his Senate tenure ran from December 10, 1819 to March 4, 1829. In 1821, he introduced legislation chartering Columbian College (later The George Washington University) in Washington, D.C.
There had been inflation
after the War of 1812, and the establishment of the Second Bank of the United States
. In these times, when paper currency was privatized, this took the form of wildcat banks. Johnson, like many other Kentuckians, was caught in the ensuing financial collapse, the Panic of 1819
. He therefore took a strong part in the politically popular struggle for debt relief, and some form of bankruptcy legislation, called the Relief War, which would help his own problems and those of his neighbors.
Part of Johnson's campaign for relief was the abolition of the practice of debt imprisonment nationwide. It would take him nearly ten years to see this goal accomplished. He first spoke to the issue in the Senate on December 14, 1822, introducing a bill to end the practice, and pointing to the positive effects its cessation had effected in his home state. The bill failed, but Johnson persisted in re-introducing it every year. In 1824, it passed the Senate, but was too late to be acted upon by the House. It passed the Senate a second time in 1828, but again, the House failed to act on it, and the measure died for some years, owing to Johnson's exit from the Senate the following year.
Already known for securing government contracts for himself, as well as his brothers and friends, he established the Choctaw Academy, a school devoted to the education of the Indians, on his farm in Scott County in 1825. Although he never ran afoul of the conflict of interest
standards of his day, some of his colleagues considered his actions ethically questionable.
Another pet project Johnson supported was prompted by his friendship with John Cleves Symmes, Jr.
, who proposed that the Earth was hollow
. In 1823, Johnson proposed in the Senate that the government fund an expedition to the center of the Earth
. The proposal was soundly defeated, receiving only twenty-five votes in the House and Senate combined.
Johnson served as chairman of the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads during the Nineteenth
and Twentieth
Congresses. Near the end of his term in the Senate, petitioners asked Congress to prevent the handling and delivery of mail on Sunday because it violated biblical
principles about the Sabbath. These petitions were referred to Johnson's committee, and in response, Johnson, a practicing Baptist
, drafted a report now commonly referred to as "The Sunday Mail Report". In the report, presented to Congress on January 19, 1829, Johnson argued that government was "a civil, and not a religious institution", and as such could not legislate the tenets of any particular denomination
. The report was applauded as an elegant defense of the doctrine of separation of church and state
, but again Johnson did not escape charges of conflict of interest due to his having friends who were contracted to haul mail, and who would have suffered financially from the proposal.
Johnson was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1829, owing in part to his relationship with Julia Chinn. Although members of his own district seemed little bothered by the arrangement, slaveholders elsewhere in the state were not so forgiving. In his own defense, Johnson contended "Unlike Jefferson
, Clay, Poindexter
and others, I married my wife under the eyes of God
, and apparently He has found no objections."
from 1829 to 1833, and Thirteenth District
from 1833 to 1837. During the Twenty-first
and Twenty-second
Congresses, he again served as chairman of the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads. In this capacity, he was again asked to address the question of Sunday mail delivery. He drew up a second report, largely similar in content to the first, arguing against legislation preventing mail delivery on Sunday. The report, commonly called "Col. Johnson's second Sunday mail report", was delivered to Congress in March 1830.
Some contemporaries doubted Johnson's authorship of this second report. Many claimed it was instead written by Amos Kendall
. Kendall claimed he had seen the report only after it had been drafted and said he had only altered "one or two words." Kendall speculated that the author could be Reverend O.B. Brown, but historian Leland Meyer concludes that there is no reason to doubt that Johnson authored the report himself.
Johnson chaired the Committee on Military Affairs during the Twenty-second, Twenty-third
, and Twenty-fourth
Congresses. Beginning in 1830, there arose a groundswell of public support for Johnson's "pet project" of ending debt imprisonment. The subject began to appear more frequently in President Jackson's addresses to the legislature. Johnson chaired a House committee to report on the subject, and delivered the committee's report on January 17, 1832. Later that year, a bill abolishing the practice of debt imprisonment passed both houses of Congress, and was signed into law on July 14.
Johnson's stands won him widespread popularity and endorsement by George H. Evans, Robert Dale Owen
, and Theophilus Fisk for the presidency in 1832, but Johnson abandoned his campaign when Andrew Jackson announced he would seek a second term. He then began campaigning to become Jackson's running mate, but Jackson favored Martin Van Buren instead. At the Democratic National Convention
, Johnson finished a distant third in the vice-presidential balloting, receiving only the votes of the Kentucky, Indiana
, and Illinois
delegations; William B. Lewis had to persuade him to withdraw
on March 13, 1833, nine days after Jackson and Van Buren were inaugurated. Moore praised his devotion to freedom of religion
and his opposition to imprisonment for debt.
William Emmons, the Boston
printer, published a biography
of Johnson in New York dated July 1833. Richard Emmons, from Great Crossing, Kentucky, followed this up with a play entitled Tecumseh, of the Battle of the Thames and a poem in honor of Johnson. Many of Johnson's friends and supporters – Davy Crockett
and John Bell
among them – encouraged him to run for president. Jackson, however, supported Vice-President Van Buren for the office. Johnson accepted this choice, and once again turned his sights on a nomination for vice-president.
Emmons' poem provided the line that became Johnson's campaign slogan: "Rumpsey Dumpsey, Rumpsey Dumpsey, Colonel Johnson killed Tecumseh." Jackson supported Johnson for vice-president, thinking that the war hero would balance the ticket with Van Buren, who had not served in the War of 1812. Johnson's loyalty and Jackson's anger at Johnson's primary rival, William Cabell Rives
also played into his decision.
Despite Jackson's support, the party was far from united behind Johnson. Van Buren himself preferred Rives as a running mate. In a letter to Jackson, Tennessee Supreme Court
justice John Catron
doubted that "a lucky random shot, even if it did hit Tecumseh, qualifies a man for the vice presidency". Although he was now a "widower", there was still some dissension due to Johnson's relationship with a slave. The 1835 Democratic National Convention
, in Baltimore
, in May 1835, was held under the two-thirds rule, largely to demonstrate Van Buren's wide popularity, and, although Van Buren himself was nominated unanimously, Johnson barely obtained the necessary two thirds of the vote. (A motion was made to change the rule, but it obtained only a bare majority, not two thirds.)
Tennessee's delegation did not attend the convention, so Edward Rucker, a Tennessean who happened to be in Baltimore, was picked to cast its 15 votes, so that all the states would endorse Van Buren. Senator Silas Wright
, of New York, prevailed upon Rucker to vote for Johnson, giving him just more than twice the votes cast for Rives, and the nomination.
Jackson's faith in Johnson to balance the ticket proved misplaced. In the general election, Johnson cost the Democrats votes in the South
, where his relationship with Chinn was particularly unpopular. He also failed to garner much support from the West, where he was supposed to be strong due to his reputation as an Indian fighter and war hero. He even failed to deliver his home state of Kentucky for the Democrats. Regardless, the Democrats still won the popular vote.
When the electoral vote was counted in Congress on February 8, 1837, it was revealed that while Van Buren received 170 votes for president, Johnson had received only 147 for vice-president. Although Virginia
had elected electors pledged to both Van Buren and Johnson, the state's 23 "faithless elector
s" refused to vote for Johnson, leaving him one electoral vote short of a majority. For the first time before or since, the Senate was charged with electing the Vice President under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment. The vote divided strictly along party lines, with Johnson becoming vice-president by a vote of 36 to 16 for Whig Francis Granger
, with three senators absent.
requested presentation of an abolitionist
petition to the Senate, Johnson, who was still a slaveholder, declined the request.
As presiding officer of the Senate, Johnson was called on to cast a tie-breaking vote fourteen times, more than all of his predecessors save John Adams
and John Calhoun. Despite the precedent set by some of his predecessors, Johnson never addressed the Senate on the occasion of a tie-breaking vote; he did once explain his vote via an article in the Kentucky Gazette
.
Following the financial Panic of 1837
, Johnson took a nine-month leave of absence, during which he returned home to Kentucky and opened a tavern
and spa
on his farm to offset his continued financial problems. Upon visiting the establishment, Amos Kendall
wrote to President Van Buren that he found Johnson "happy in the inglorious pursuit of tavern keeping – even giving his personal superintendence to the chicken and egg purchasing and water-melon
selling department".
In his later political career, he became known for wearing a bright red vest and tie. He adopted this dress during his term as vice-president when he and James Reeside, a mail contractor known for his drab dress, passed a tailor's shop that displayed a bright red cloth in the window. Johnson suggested that Reeside should wear a red vest because the mail coaches he owned and operated were red. Reeside agreed to do so if Johnson would also. Both men ordered red vests and neckties, and were known for donning this attire for the rest of their lives.
. President Van Buren stood for re-election, and the Whigs once again countered with William Henry Harrison. Ironically, it was now Van Buren who was reluctant to drop Johnson from the ticket, fearing that dropping the Democrats' own war hero would split the party and cost him votes to Harrison. A unique compromise ensued, with the Democratic National Convention refusing to nominate Johnson, or any other candidate, for vice-president. The idea was to allow the states to choose their own candidate, or perhaps return the question to the Senate should Van Buren be elected with no clear winner in the vice-presidential race.
Undaunted by this lack of confidence from his peers, Johnson continued to campaign to retain his office. Although his campaign was more vigorous than that of Van Buren, his behavior on the campaign trail raised concern among voters. He made rambling, incoherent speeches. During one speech in Ohio
, he raised his shirt in order to display to the crowd the wounds he received during the Battle of the Thames. Charges he leveled against Harrison in Cleveland were so poorly received that they touched off a riot
in the city.
In the end, Johnson received only forty-eight electoral votes. One elector from Virginia and all eleven from South Carolina
voted for Van Buren for president but selected someone other than Johnson for vice-president. Johnson again lost his home state of Kentucky and added to the embarrassment by losing his home district as well.
was re-interred in Frankfort Cemetery
.
Johnson never gave up on a return to public service. He ran an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate against John J. Crittenden in 1842. He briefly and futilely sought his party's nomination for president in 1844. He also ran as an independent candidate for Governor of Kentucky
in 1848, but after talking with the Democratic candidate, Lazarus W. Powell
, who had replaced Linn Boyd
on the ticket, Johnson decided to drop out and back Powell. Some speculated that the real object of this campaign was to secure another nomination to the vice-presidency, but this hope was denied.
Johnson finally returned to elected office in 1850, when he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives. By this time, however, his physical and mental health was already failing. On November 9, the Louisville Daily Journal
reported that "Col. R. M. Johnson is laboring under an attack of dementia
, which renders him totally unfit for business. It is painful to see him on the floor attempting to discharge the duties of a member. He is incapable of properly exercising his physical or mental powers." He died of a stroke
on November 19, just two weeks into his term. He was interred in the Frankfort Cemetery, in Frankfort, Kentucky
.
named for Johnson: Johnson County, Illinois, Johnson County, Iowa
, Johnson County, Kentucky
, Johnson County, Missouri
, and Johnson County, Nebraska
. His brothers James Johnson and John Telemachus Johnson
and his nephew Robert Ward Johnson
were all members of the House of Representatives, and Robert was a Senator as well.
Johnson, and more prominently his common-law wife Julia Chinn and their daughters, all play visible roles in the Eric Flint
alternate history novels 1812: The Rivers of War
and 1824: The Arkansas War
(particularly the latter).
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
, serving in the administration of Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
(1837–1841). He was the only vice-president ever elected by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment
Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides the procedure for electing the President and Vice President. It replaced Article II, Section 1, Clause 3, which provided the original procedure by which the Electoral College functioned. Problems with the original procedure arose in...
. Johnson also represented Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
in the U.S. House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
and Senate and began and ended his political career in the Kentucky House of Representatives
Kentucky House of Representatives
The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a House district, except when necessary to preserve...
.
Johnson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1806. He became allied with fellow Kentuckian Henry Clay
Henry Clay
Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...
as a member of the War Hawks faction that favored war with Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1812. At the outset of the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, Johnson was commissioned a colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in the army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. He and his brother James
James Johnson (Kentucky)
James Johnson was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky, brother of Richard Mentor Johnson and John Telemachus Johnson and uncle of Robert Ward Johnson....
served under William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...
in Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
. Johnson participated in the Battle of the Thames
Battle of the Thames
The Battle of the Thames, also known as the Battle of Moraviantown, was a decisive American victory in the War of 1812. It took place on October 5, 1813, near present-day Chatham, Ontario in Upper Canada...
where some maintain that he personally killed the Shawnee
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
chief Tecumseh
Tecumseh
Tecumseh was a Native American leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy which opposed the United States during Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812...
, a fact he later used to his political advantage.
Following the war, Johnson returned to the House of Representatives, and was elevated to the Senate in 1819 to fill the seat vacated by John J. Crittenden
John J. Crittenden
John Jordan Crittenden was a politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. He represented the state in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and twice served as United States Attorney General in the administrations of William Henry Harrison and Millard Fillmore...
. As his constituency grew, his interracial relationship
Miscegenation
Miscegenation is the mixing of different racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, sexual relations, and procreation....
with a mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
slave named Julia Chinn was more widely criticized, damaging to his political ambition. Unlike other leaders who had relationships with their slaves, Johnson was open about his relationship with Chinn, and regarded her as his common law wife. He freely claimed Chinn's two daughters as his own, much to the consternation of some in his constituency. The relationship was a major factor in the 1829 election that cost him his seat in the Senate, but his district returned him to the House the following year.
In 1836, Johnson was the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
nominee for vice-president on a ticket
Ticket (election)
A ticket refers to a single election choice which fills more than one political office or seat. For example, in the U.S., the candidates for President and Vice President run on the same "ticket", because they are elected together on a single ballot question rather than separately.A ticket can also...
with Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
. Campaigning with the slogan "Rumpsey Dumpsey, Rumpsey Dumpsey, Colonel Johnson killed Tecumseh", Johnson fell just short of the electoral votes
United States Electoral College
The Electoral College consists of the electors appointed by each state who formally elect the President and Vice President of the United States. Since 1964, there have been 538 electors in each presidential election...
needed to secure his election when Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
's delegation to the electoral college bucked the vote of their state and refused to cast their votes for Johnson. He was elected to the office by the Senate along sharp party lines.
Johnson proved such a liability for the Democrats in the 1836 election
United States presidential election, 1836
The United States presidential election of 1836 ushered Martin Van Buren into the White House. It is predominantly remembered for three reasons:...
that the party refused to renominate him for vice-president in 1840. Instead, Van Buren campaigned with no running mate
Running mate
A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position but can also properly be used when referring to both candidates, such as "Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen were...
, and lost the election to William Henry Harrison. Johnson made several failed attempts to return to elected office, and he finally returned to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1850. He died on November 19, 1850, just two weeks into his term.
Early life
Richard Mentor Johnson was born on October 17, 1780, the fifth of Robert and Jemima (Suggett) Johnson's eleven children. At the time, the family was living in the newly founded settlement of "Beargrass", near present-day Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
; all of Kentucky was part of Virginia until 1792. By 1782, they had moved to Bryan's Station, Kentucky in Fayette County
Fayette County, Kentucky
Fayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 295,083 in the 2010 Census. Its territory, population and government are coextensive with the city of Lexington, which also serves as county seat....
.
Simon Girty
Simon Girty was an American colonial of Scots-Irish ancestry who served as a liaison between the British and their Native American allies during the American Revolution...
's raid on Bryan's Station in August 1782. The traditional story runs: As Girty's forces surrounded the fort, the occupants discovered that there was no water inside. A number of Indians concealed themselves near the spring from which the settlement drew water; however, the fort's inhabitants believed it unlikely that they would show themselves until they believed they could capture the stockade. Jemima Johnson was the first to approve of a plan to allow the women to go and draw water from the spring as usual. There was a risk that the Indians would assault the women, and many of the men disapproved of the plan, but devoid of other options, they eventually acquiesced. Less than an hour after sunrise, the women drew the water and returned safely. Soon thereafter, the raid commenced. A band of Indian warriors managed to set fire to some houses and stables, but a favorable wind prevented the fires from spreading. The fort's children used the water drawn by the women to extinguish the fires. One of the enemy's flaming arrows landed in the crib of the infant, Richard Mentor Johnson, but it was quickly doused by Johnson's sister Betsy. During the afternoon, reinforcements arrived from Lexington
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
and Boone Station, and the fort was saved.
By 1784, the family had moved again, this time to Great Crossing in Scott County
Scott County, Kentucky
Scott County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 47,173 in the 2010 Census. Its county seat is Georgetown.Scott County is part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, on land purchased by Johnson's father from Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry was an orator and politician who led the movement for independence in Virginia in the 1770s. A Founding Father, he served as the first and sixth post-colonial Governor of Virginia from 1776 to 1779 and subsequently, from 1784 to 1786...
and James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
. Johnson's father was a surveyor, and made a moderate fortune through well-chosen land purchases.
The biographies in Johnson's lifetime say his formal education did not begin until age fifteen, and he entered Transylvania University
Transylvania University
Transylvania University is a private, undergraduate liberal arts college in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with the Christian Church . The school was founded in 1780. It offers 38 majors, and pre-professional degrees in engineering and accounting...
in Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
shortly thereafter. There is no contemporary record of his attendance, but the records before 1802 are incomplete. By 1799, he was studying law with George Nicholas
George Nicholas
George Nicholas was the first professor of law at Transylvania University in Kentucky. He was also briefly attorney general of Kentucky, and had been several times a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. He was the son of Robert C. Nicholas, Sr.; his brothers included Wilson Cary Nicholas...
and then with James Brown
James Brown (Senator)
James Brown was a lawyer, U.S. Senator from Louisiana and Minister to France. He was the brother of John Brown, the cousin of John Breckinridge, James Breckinridge and Francis Preston, the brother-in-law of Henry Clay, the uncle of James Brown Clay, Henry Clay, Jr., John Morrison Clay, the great...
, who were Professors of Law at the University in addition to private practice; he was admitted to the Kentucky bar
Bar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...
in 1802, and opened his office at Great Crossing. Later, he owned a retail store and pursued a number of business ventures with his brothers. Johnson often worked pro bono
Pro bono
Pro bono publico is a Latin phrase generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms...
for poor people, prosecuting their cases against the rich. He also opened his home to disabled veterans, widows, and orphans.
Relationship with Julia Chinn
Family tradition holds that Johnson broke off an early marital engagementEngagement
An engagement or betrothal is a promise to marry, and also the period of time between proposal and marriage which may be lengthy or trivial. During this period, a couple is said to be betrothed, affianced, engaged to be married, or simply engaged...
because of his mother's contention that his bride-to-be was not worthy of the family. Johnson vowed revenge for his mother's interference, and when his father died, he began a long-term relationship with Julia Chinn, a slave left to him by his father. Chinn was a light-skinned octoroon; nevertheless, the law considered her a Negro
Negro
The word Negro is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not...
which prevented Johnson from marrying her. Throughout his career, Johnson treated Chinn as his common law wife. When Johnson was away from his Kentucky estate, Chinn was given free rein in his business affairs.
Julia Chinn died in an outbreak of cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
in the summer of 1833. Following his wife's death, Johnson engaged in a relationship with another family slave. When she left him for another man, Johnson had her captured and sold at auction. He then began a relationship with her sister.
Johnson and Chinn had two daughters, Adaline Chinn Johnson and Imogene Chinn Johnson. Johnson saw to it that both girls were provided an education. Both daughters married white men, whereupon Johnson gave them large tracts of land from his own holdings. Adeline Chinn had no children, and died in 1836. Despite Johnson's treatment of Imogene as a daughter, she did not inherit his estate. Upon Johnson's death, the Fayette County Court ruled that "he left no widow, children, father, or mother living" and divided his estate between his living brothers, John and Henry.
Political career
Kentucky Constitution
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the document that governs the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It was first adopted in 1792 and has since been rewritten three times and amended many more...
imposed an age requirement of twenty-four for members of the House of Representatives, Johnson was so popular that no one raised questions about his age, and he was allowed to take his seat. He was immediately placed on the Committee on Courts of Justice. During his tenure, he supported legislation to protect settlers from land speculators
Speculation
In finance, speculation is a financial action that does not promise safety of the initial investment along with the return on the principal sum...
. On January 26, 1807, he delivered an address condemning the Burr conspiracy
Burr conspiracy
The Burr conspiracy in the beginning of the 19th century was a suspected treasonous cabal of planters, politicians, and army officers led by former U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr. According to the accusations against him, Burr’s goal was to create an independent nation in the center of North...
.
Johnson held his seat until 1806 when he was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States House of Representatives. At the time of his election in August 1806, he did not meet the U.S. Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
's age requirement for service in the House (25), but by the time the congressional session commenced the following March, he was of the required age. He would serve six consecutive terms. From 1807 to 1813, he represented Kentucky's Fourth District
Kentucky's 4th congressional district
Kentucky's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Located in Northern Kentucky, it is a long district that follows the Ohio River...
. He secured one of Kentucky's at-large
At-Large
At-large is a designation for representative members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent the whole membership of the body , rather than a subset of that membership...
seats in the House from 1813 to 1815, and represented Kentucky's Third District
Kentucky's 3rd congressional district
Kentucky's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kentucky encompassing nearly the whole city of Louisville, which, since the merger of 2003, is contiguous with Jefferson County...
from 1815 to 1819. He continued to represent the interests of the poor as a member of the House and first came to national attention with his opposition to rechartering the First Bank of the United States
First Bank of the United States
The First Bank of the United States is a National Historic Landmark located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania within Independence National Historical Park.-Banking History:...
.
Johnson served as chairman of the Committee on Claims during the Eleventh Congress
11th United States Congress
- House of Representatives :-Leadership:- Senate :* President: George Clinton * President pro tempore:** John Milledge ** Andrew Gregg , elected June 26, 1809** John Gaillard , elected February 28, 1810...
(1809–1811). The committee was charged with adjudicating financial claims made by veterans of the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. In his capacity as chair, he sought to influence the committee to grant the claim of Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
's widow to wages Hamilton had declined when serving under George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
. Although Hamilton was a champion of the rival Federalist Party
Federalist Party (United States)
The Federalist Party was the first American political party, from the early 1790s to 1816, the era of the First Party System, with remnants lasting into the 1820s. The Federalists controlled the federal government until 1801...
, Johnson had compassion for Hamilton's widow and, before the end of his term, secured payment of the wages.
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was extraordinarily popular in Kentucky; Kentuckians depended on sea trade through the port of New Orleans and feared that the British would stir up another Indian war. After the election of 1808, Johnson was one of the War HawkWar Hawk
War Hawk is a term originally used to describe members of the Twelfth Congress of the United States who advocated waging war against the British in the War of 1812...
s, a group of legislators who clamored for war with the British. Congress declared war in June 1812, and immediately following the adjournment of the session, Johnson rode back to Kentucky where he called for volunteers; so many responded that he was able to choose the ones who had horses, and raise a body of mounted rifles. Johnson at first raised 300 men, divided into three companies
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
, who elected him major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
; they then merged with another battallion, forming a regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
of 500 men, with Johnson as colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
. Johnson's force was originally intended to join General William Hull
William Hull
William Hull was an American soldier and politician. He fought in the American Revolution, was Governor of Michigan Territory, and was a general in the War of 1812, for which he is best remembered for surrendering Fort Detroit to the British.- Early life and Revolutionary War :He was born in...
at Detroit, but Hull surrendered Detroit
Siege of Detroit
The Siege of Detroit, also known as the Surrender of Detroit, or the Battle of Fort Detroit, was an early engagement in the Anglo-American War of 1812...
on August 16 and his army was captured. Johnson reported to William Henry Harrison, Territorial Governor of Indiana, now in command of the entire Northwest frontier; he was ordered to relieve Fort Wayne
Forts of Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne in modern Fort Wayne, Indiana, was established by Captain Jean François Hamtramck under orders from General "Mad" Anthony Wayne as part of the campaign against the Indians of the area. It was named after General Wayne, who was victorious at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. Wayne may have...
in the northeast of the Territory, which was already being attacked by the Indians. On September 18, 1812, Johnson's men reached Fort Wayne just in time to save it, after turning an Indian ambush back on the ambushers. They then returned to Kentucky and disbanded, going out of their way to burn Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
villages along the Elkhart River
Elkhart River
The Elkhart River is a tributary of the St. Joseph River in northern Indiana in the United States. It is almost entirely contained in Elkhart County. It begins southeast of Millersburg just across the county line in Noble County. It flows generally westward through Benton and then turns...
.
Johnson returned to his seat in Congress in the late fall of 1812 and devised a plan, based on his experience, to defeat the guerilla warfare of the Indians. The difficulty had always been that American troops moved slowly and were dependent on a supply line; Indians would evade battle and raid supplies until the American forces were compelled to withdraw or could be overrun. Mounted riflemen could move quickly, carry their own supplies, and live off the woods. If they attacked Indian villages in winter, the Indians would be compelled to stand and fight for their own winter supplies, and could be decisively defeated. Johnson submitted this plan to President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
and Secretary of War
United States Secretary of War
The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
John Armstrong
John Armstrong, Jr.
John Armstrong, Jr. was an American soldier and statesman who was a delegate to the Continental Congress, U.S. Senator from New York, and Secretary of War.-Early life and Revolutionary War:...
, who approved it in principle. They referred the plan to Harrison, who found winter operations impracticable, but Johnson was permitted to try it in the summer of 1813; later Indian wars were conducted in winter.
Johnson left Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
just before Congress adjourned; this time he raised a thousand men, nominally part of the militia brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
under Kentucky Governor
Governor of Kentucky
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of the executive branch of government in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Fifty-six men and one woman have served as Governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-election once...
Isaac Shelby
Isaac Shelby
Isaac Shelby was the first and fifth Governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky and served in the state legislatures of Virginia and North Carolina. He was also a soldier in Lord Dunmore's War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812...
, but largely operating independently. He disciplined his men, required that every man have his arms in prime condition and ready to hand, and hired gunsmith
Gunsmith
A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds firearms. This occupation is different from an armorer. The armorer primarily maintains weapons and limited repairs involving parts replacement and possibly work involving accurization...
s, blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
s, and doctors
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
at his own expense. He devised a new tactical system: when any group of men encountered the enemy, they were to dismount, take cover, and hold the enemy in place. All groups not in contact were to ride to the sound of firing, and dismount, surrounding the enemy when they got there. Between May and September, Johnson raided throughout the Northwest, burning Indian villages, surrounding Indian units and scattering them, and killing some Indian warriors each time.
In September, Oliver Hazard Perry
Oliver Hazard Perry
United States Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island , the son of USN Captain Christopher Raymond Perry and Sarah Wallace Alexander, a direct descendant of William Wallace...
destroyed most of the British fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie
Battle of Lake Erie
The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, in Lake Erie off the coast of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of Great Britain's Royal Navy...
, taking control of the lake. This put the British army, then at Fort Malden
Fort Malden
Fort Malden is a fort that stands on the remains of Fort Amherstburg in Amherstburg, Ontario. The original fort was abandoned by the British/Canadians in 1813 when Southwest Ontario fell into American hands. The Americans began building a smaller replacement fort on the same site, but this was...
(now Amherstburg, Ontario
Amherstburg, Ontario
Amherstburg is a Canadian town near the mouth of the Detroit River in Essex County, Ontario. It is approximately south of the U.S...
) out of supply, and threatened to cut it off from the rest of Canada by a landing to the east. The British, under General Henry Procter, withdrew to the northeast, followed by Harrison, who had advanced through Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
while Johnson kept the Indians engaged. Tecumseh
Tecumseh
Tecumseh was a Native American leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy which opposed the United States during Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812...
covered the British retreat, but was countered by Johnson, who had been called back from a raid on Kaskaskia
Kaskaskia
The Kaskaskia were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation or Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in the Great Lakes region...
that had taken the post where the British had distributed arms and money. Johnson's cavalry defeated Tecumseh's main force on September 29, took British supply trains on October 3, and was one of the factors inducing Procter to stand and fight at the Battle of the Thames
Battle of the Thames
The Battle of the Thames, also known as the Battle of Moraviantown, was a decisive American victory in the War of 1812. It took place on October 5, 1813, near present-day Chatham, Ontario in Upper Canada...
on October 5, as Tecumseh had been demanding he do.
The Indians were a harder fight; they were out of the main field of battle, skirmishing on the edge of an adjacent swamp. Richard Johnson eventually ordered a suicide squad of twenty men to ride forward and draw the Indians' fire, planning to charge with the rest as they reloaded. But the ground before the Indian position was too swampy to support many cavalry. Johnson had to order his men to dismount and hold until Shelby's infantry came up. But eventually they broke, and fled into the swamp. At some point in that fight Tecumseh was slain.
Richard Johnson was credited later with killing Tecumseh personally. Indian reports were that Tecumseh was killed by a man on horseback, and Johnson was one of the few mounted men at that side of the battle. (His own men had dismounted, and Shelby's were infantry.) Furthermore, Johnson, who had been wounded four times already, had been shot in the shoulder by an Indian chief who was advancing to tomahawk
Tomahawk (axe)
A tomahawk is a type of axe native to North America, traditionally resembling a hatchet with a straight shaft. The name came into the English language in the 17th century as a transliteration of the Powhatan word.Tomahawks were general purpose tools used by Native Americans and European Colonials...
Johnson, when he shot back and killed the Indian instantly with a single pistol shot. A nineteenth-century source asserts that Tecumseh's body was found, near Johnson's hat and scabbard
Scabbard
A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, knife, or other large blade. Scabbards have been made of many materials over the millennia, including leather, wood, and metals such as brass or steel.-Types of scabbards:...
, shot from above (as from horseback), and wounded with Johnson's usual load of two buckshot and a pistol ball.
Johnson fell unconscious after this duel and was dragged from the battlefield; in addition to his five wounds, twenty other bullets had hit his horse and gear. But the war in the Northwest was over. Although there was no organized resistance to his presence in Canada, Harrison withdrew to Detroit because of supply problems. (The Canadians would not feed his men.) Johnson eventually recovered, except for a crippled hand, but he was still suffering from his wounds when he returned to the House in February 1814.
In August 1814, British forces attacked Washington, D.C. and burned the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. The Federalists, who had opposed the war, now proposed moving the capital to Columbia, Kentucky
Columbia, Kentucky
Columbia is a city in Adair County, Kentucky, United States, just above Russell Creek. The area was settled around 1802 by Daniel Trabue. The post office was opened on April 1, 1806 by John Field, who also ran a local store. The population was 4,014 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of...
, a decision which Johnson opposed. The measure was defeated, and Congress instead formed a committee to investigate the circumstances that allowed Washington to be captured. Johnson chaired this committee, and delivered its final report. Following the sacking of Washington, the tide of battle turned against the British, and the Treaty of Ghent
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent , signed on 24 December 1814, in Ghent , was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
ended the war even as Johnson prepared to return to Kentucky to raise another military unit. With the end of the war, he turned his legislative attention to issues such as securing pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
s for widows and orphans and funding internal improvements
Internal improvements
Internal improvements is the term used historically in the United States for public works from the end of the American Revolution through much of the 19th century, mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure: roads, turnpikes, canals, harbors and navigation improvements...
in the West
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
.
Post-war career in the House
Johnson believed that Congressional business was too slow and tedious, and that the per diem system of compensation encouraged delays on the part of members. To remedy this, he sponsored the Compensation Act of 1816. The measure proposed paying annual salaries of $1,500 to congressmen rather than a $6 per diem for the days the body was in session. (At the time, this had the effect of increasing the total compensation from about $900 to $1500. Johnson noted that congressmen had not had a pay increase in 27 years, and that $1500 was still less than the salaries of 28 clerks employed by the government.) When a congressman was absent, Johnson's bill provided that his salary be reduced proportional to the length of the absence.The bill passed the House and Senate quickly and was made law on March 19, 1816. However, the measure proved extremely unpopular with voters, in part because it applied to the current Congress. Many legislators who supported the bill lost their congressional seats as a result, including Johnson's colleague from Kentucky, Solomon P. Sharp
Solomon P. Sharp
Solomon Porcius Sharp was attorney general of Kentucky and a member of the United States Congress and the Kentucky General Assembly. His murder at the hands of Jereboam O...
. Johnson's popularity in other matters helped him retain his seat, and two days into the next session, he recanted his support for the law. It was quickly repealed in that session, and in its place legislators passed an increase in the per diem salary.
In 1817, Congress investigated General Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
's execution of two British subjects during the First Seminole War. Johnson chaired the committee which conducted the inquiry. The majority of the committee favored a negative report and a censure
Censure
A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a spiritual penalty imposed by a church, and a negative judgment pronounced on a theological proposition.-Politics:...
for Jackson. Johnson, a Jackson supporter, drafted a counter report that was more favorable to Jackson and opposed the censure. The ensuing debate pitted Johnson against fellow Kentuckian Henry Clay
Henry Clay
Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...
. Johnson's report prevailed, and Jackson was spared censure. This disagreement between Johnson and Clay, however, marked the beginning of a political separation between the two that lasted for the duration of their careers.
President James Monroe
James Monroe
James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
seriously considered Johnson for the position of Secretary of War after Henry Clay declined the office, but the post ultimately went to John C. Calhoun
John C. Calhoun
John Caldwell Calhoun was a leading politician and political theorist from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. Calhoun eloquently spoke out on every issue of his day, but often changed positions. Calhoun began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer, and proponent...
. Nevertheless, Johnson wielded considerable influence over defense policy as chair of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
during the Fifteenth Congress
15th United States Congress
-Leadership:- Senate :* President: Daniel D. Tompkins * President pro tempore:** John Gaillard , elected March 4, 1817** James Barbour , elected February 15, 1819- House of Representatives :*Speaker: Henry Clay -Members:...
. In 1818, he (Calhoun) approved an expedition
Yellowstone Expedition
The Yellowstone Expedition was a frontier expedition authorized in 1818 by United States Secretary of War John C. Calhoun to establish a military fort or outpost near present-day Bismarck, North Dakota at the mouth of the Yellowstone River...
to build a military outpost near the present site of Bismarck, North Dakota
Bismarck, North Dakota
Bismarck is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the second most populous city in North Dakota after Fargo. The city's population was 61,272 at the 2010 census, while its metropolitan population was 108,779...
on the Yellowstone River
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, the river and its tributaries drain a wide area stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Yellowstone National...
; he awarded the contract to his brother James. Although the Yellowstone Expedition
Yellowstone Expedition
The Yellowstone Expedition was a frontier expedition authorized in 1818 by United States Secretary of War John C. Calhoun to establish a military fort or outpost near present-day Bismarck, North Dakota at the mouth of the Yellowstone River...
was an ultimate failure and cost the U.S. Treasury a large portion of money, the Johnsons escaped political ill will in their home district because the venture was seen as a peacekeeping endeavor on the frontier.
Senator
Johnson announced his intent to retire from the House in early 1818. In December 1818, the state legislatureKentucky General Assembly
The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky.The General Assembly meets annually in the state capitol building in Frankfort, Kentucky, convening on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January...
was to elect a replacement for outgoing senator Isham Talbot
Isham Talbot
Isham Talbot was a United States Senator from Kentucky.Born in Bedford County, Virginia, Isham Talbot Junior moved with his parents to Harrodsburg, Kentucky in about 1784. He was admitted to the bar, and began his legal practice in Versailles, Kentucky...
. Johnson lost the election by twelve votes to William Logan
William Logan (Kentucky)
William Logan was a United States Senator from Kentucky.Born within the fort at Harrodsburg, Kentucky, Logan spent his early childhood in St. Asaphs Fort, receiving private instruction from his parents and tutors. He moved to Shelby County, Kentucky about 1798. He studied law, was admitted to the...
despite the fact that he never officially declared his candidacy. It was reported in the local newspapers that Johnson's friends intended to nominate him for governor in the 1820 election.
Johnson's term in the House expired March 3, 1819, but by August, he had returned to the state legislature where he helped secure passage of a law that abolished imprisonment for debtors in Kentucky. In December 1819, he resigned his post in the state legislature to fill the Senate seat vacated by the resignation of John J. Crittenden. He was re-elected to a full term in 1823, so that in total, his Senate tenure ran from December 10, 1819 to March 4, 1829. In 1821, he introduced legislation chartering Columbian College (later The George Washington University) in Washington, D.C.
There had been inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
after the War of 1812, and the establishment of the Second Bank of the United States
Second Bank of the United States
The Second Bank of the United States was chartered in 1816, five years after the First Bank of the United States lost its own charter. The Second Bank of the United States was initially headquartered in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, the same as the First Bank, and had branches throughout the...
. In these times, when paper currency was privatized, this took the form of wildcat banks. Johnson, like many other Kentuckians, was caught in the ensuing financial collapse, the Panic of 1819
Panic of 1819
The Panic of 1819 was the first major financial crisis in the United States, and had occurred during the political calm of the Era of Good Feelings. The new nation previously had faced a depression following the war of independence in the late 1780s and led directly to the establishment of the...
. He therefore took a strong part in the politically popular struggle for debt relief, and some form of bankruptcy legislation, called the Relief War, which would help his own problems and those of his neighbors.
Part of Johnson's campaign for relief was the abolition of the practice of debt imprisonment nationwide. It would take him nearly ten years to see this goal accomplished. He first spoke to the issue in the Senate on December 14, 1822, introducing a bill to end the practice, and pointing to the positive effects its cessation had effected in his home state. The bill failed, but Johnson persisted in re-introducing it every year. In 1824, it passed the Senate, but was too late to be acted upon by the House. It passed the Senate a second time in 1828, but again, the House failed to act on it, and the measure died for some years, owing to Johnson's exit from the Senate the following year.
Already known for securing government contracts for himself, as well as his brothers and friends, he established the Choctaw Academy, a school devoted to the education of the Indians, on his farm in Scott County in 1825. Although he never ran afoul of the conflict of interest
Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
standards of his day, some of his colleagues considered his actions ethically questionable.
Another pet project Johnson supported was prompted by his friendship with John Cleves Symmes, Jr.
John Cleves Symmes, Jr.
John Cleves Symmes, Jr. was an American army officer whose 1818 Hollow Earth theory, expounded on the lecture circuit, gained him considerable notoriety.-Biography:...
, who proposed that the Earth was hollow
Hollow Earth
The Hollow Earth hypothesis proposes that the planet Earth is either entirely hollow or otherwise contains a substantial interior space. The hypothesis has been shown to be wrong by observational evidence, as well as by the modern understanding of planet formation; the scientific community has...
. In 1823, Johnson proposed in the Senate that the government fund an expedition to the center of the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. The proposal was soundly defeated, receiving only twenty-five votes in the House and Senate combined.
Johnson served as chairman of the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads during the Nineteenth
19th United States Congress
-House of Representatives:-Leadership:- Senate :* President: John C. Calhoun * President pro tempore: John Gaillard , until December 4, 1825** Nathaniel Macon , from May 20, 1826- House of Representatives :* Speaker: John W. Taylor -Members:...
and Twentieth
19th United States Congress
-House of Representatives:-Leadership:- Senate :* President: John C. Calhoun * President pro tempore: John Gaillard , until December 4, 1825** Nathaniel Macon , from May 20, 1826- House of Representatives :* Speaker: John W. Taylor -Members:...
Congresses. Near the end of his term in the Senate, petitioners asked Congress to prevent the handling and delivery of mail on Sunday because it violated biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
principles about the Sabbath. These petitions were referred to Johnson's committee, and in response, Johnson, a practicing Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
, drafted a report now commonly referred to as "The Sunday Mail Report". In the report, presented to Congress on January 19, 1829, Johnson argued that government was "a civil, and not a religious institution", and as such could not legislate the tenets of any particular denomination
Religious denomination
A religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name, tradition, and identity.The term describes various Christian denominations...
. The report was applauded as an elegant defense of the doctrine of separation of church and state
Separation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
, but again Johnson did not escape charges of conflict of interest due to his having friends who were contracted to haul mail, and who would have suffered financially from the proposal.
Johnson was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1829, owing in part to his relationship with Julia Chinn. Although members of his own district seemed little bothered by the arrangement, slaveholders elsewhere in the state were not so forgiving. In his own defense, Johnson contended "Unlike Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, Clay, Poindexter
George Poindexter
George Poindexter was an American politician, lawyer and judge from Mississippi.-Background:Poindexter was born in Louisa County, Virginia and was of Huguenot ancestry. He was orphaned early in life and had a sporadic education growing up...
and others, I married my wife under the eyes of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, and apparently He has found no objections."
Return to the House
Following his failed Senatorial re-election bid, Johnson returned to the House, representing Kentucky's Fifth DistrictKentucky's 5th congressional district
Kentucky's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Located in the heart of Appalachia in Southeastern Kentucky, the rural district is one of the most impoverished districts in the nation and, as of the 2010 U.S. Census, it has the largest percentage of...
from 1829 to 1833, and Thirteenth District
Kentucky's 13th congressional district
United States House of Representatives, Kentucky District 13 was a district of the United States Congress in Kentucky. It was lost to redistricting in 1843. Its last Representative was William O. Butler.-List of representatives:-References:*...
from 1833 to 1837. During the Twenty-first
21st United States Congress
-House of Representatives:-Leadership:- Senate :* President: John C. Calhoun * President pro tempore: Samuel Smith - House of Representatives :* Speaker: Andrew Stevenson -Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...
and Twenty-second
22nd United States Congress
-House of Representatives:-Leadership:- Senate :* President:** John C. Calhoun , resigned December 28, 1832, thereafter vacant.* President pro tempore:** Samuel Smith , first elected December 5, 1831** Littleton W...
Congresses, he again served as chairman of the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads. In this capacity, he was again asked to address the question of Sunday mail delivery. He drew up a second report, largely similar in content to the first, arguing against legislation preventing mail delivery on Sunday. The report, commonly called "Col. Johnson's second Sunday mail report", was delivered to Congress in March 1830.
Some contemporaries doubted Johnson's authorship of this second report. Many claimed it was instead written by Amos Kendall
Amos Kendall
Amos Kendall was an American politician who served as U.S. Postmaster General under Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. Many historians regard Kendall as the intellectual force behind Andrew Jackson's presidential administration, and an influential figure in the transformation of America from an...
. Kendall claimed he had seen the report only after it had been drafted and said he had only altered "one or two words." Kendall speculated that the author could be Reverend O.B. Brown, but historian Leland Meyer concludes that there is no reason to doubt that Johnson authored the report himself.
Johnson chaired the Committee on Military Affairs during the Twenty-second, Twenty-third
23rd United States Congress
-House of Representatives:For the beginning of this congress, the size of the House was increased from 213 seats to 240 seats, following the 1830 United States Census .- Leadership :- Senate :* President: Martin Van Buren...
, and Twenty-fourth
24th United States Congress
-House of Representatives:During this congress one House seat was added for each of the new states of Arkansas and Michigan.-Leadership:- Senate :* President: Martin Van Buren * President pro tempore: William R. King - House of Representatives :...
Congresses. Beginning in 1830, there arose a groundswell of public support for Johnson's "pet project" of ending debt imprisonment. The subject began to appear more frequently in President Jackson's addresses to the legislature. Johnson chaired a House committee to report on the subject, and delivered the committee's report on January 17, 1832. Later that year, a bill abolishing the practice of debt imprisonment passed both houses of Congress, and was signed into law on July 14.
Johnson's stands won him widespread popularity and endorsement by George H. Evans, Robert Dale Owen
Robert Dale Owen
Robert Dale Owen was a longtime exponent in his adopted United States of the socialist doctrines of his father, Robert Owen, as well as a politician in the Democratic Party.-Biography:...
, and Theophilus Fisk for the presidency in 1832, but Johnson abandoned his campaign when Andrew Jackson announced he would seek a second term. He then began campaigning to become Jackson's running mate, but Jackson favored Martin Van Buren instead. At the Democratic National Convention
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
, Johnson finished a distant third in the vice-presidential balloting, receiving only the votes of the Kentucky, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, and Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
delegations; William B. Lewis had to persuade him to withdraw
Election of 1836
Following the election of 1832, Johnson continued to campaign for the Vice Presidency which would be available in 1836; he was endorsed by the New York labor leader Ely MooreEly Moore
Ely Moore was a Jacksonian Congressman from New York.In 1833 Moore performed one of his last speeches. It was a stunning defense of Workers, Unions, and the Free Labor System...
on March 13, 1833, nine days after Jackson and Van Buren were inaugurated. Moore praised his devotion to freedom of religion
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
and his opposition to imprisonment for debt.
William Emmons, the Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
printer, published a biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of Johnson in New York dated July 1833. Richard Emmons, from Great Crossing, Kentucky, followed this up with a play entitled Tecumseh, of the Battle of the Thames and a poem in honor of Johnson. Many of Johnson's friends and supporters – Davy Crockett
Davy Crockett
David "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
and John Bell
John Bell (Tennessee politician)
John Bell was a U.S. politician, attorney, and plantation owner. A wealthy slaveholder from Tennessee, Bell served in the United States Congress in both the House of Representatives and Senate. He began his career as a Democrat, he eventually fell out with Andrew Jackson and became a Whig...
among them – encouraged him to run for president. Jackson, however, supported Vice-President Van Buren for the office. Johnson accepted this choice, and once again turned his sights on a nomination for vice-president.
Emmons' poem provided the line that became Johnson's campaign slogan: "Rumpsey Dumpsey, Rumpsey Dumpsey, Colonel Johnson killed Tecumseh." Jackson supported Johnson for vice-president, thinking that the war hero would balance the ticket with Van Buren, who had not served in the War of 1812. Johnson's loyalty and Jackson's anger at Johnson's primary rival, William Cabell Rives
William Cabell Rives
William Cabell Rives was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat from Albemarle County, Virginia. He represented Virginia as a Jackson Democrat in both the U.S. House and Senate and also served as the U.S. minister to France....
also played into his decision.
Despite Jackson's support, the party was far from united behind Johnson. Van Buren himself preferred Rives as a running mate. In a letter to Jackson, Tennessee Supreme Court
Tennessee Supreme Court
The Tennessee Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the state of Tennessee. Cornelia Clark is the current Chief Justice.Unlike other states, in which the state attorney general is directly elected or appointed by the governor or state legislature, the Tennessee Supreme Court appoints the...
justice John Catron
John Catron
John Catron was an American jurist who served as a US Supreme Court justice from 1837 to 1865.-Early life:Little is known of Catron's early life, but he served in the War of 1812 under Andrew Jackson...
doubted that "a lucky random shot, even if it did hit Tecumseh, qualifies a man for the vice presidency". Although he was now a "widower", there was still some dissension due to Johnson's relationship with a slave. The 1835 Democratic National Convention
1835 Democratic National Convention
The 1835 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from May 20 to the 22nd, in Baltimore, Maryland. This was the second national convention of the Democratic Party of the United States...
, in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, in May 1835, was held under the two-thirds rule, largely to demonstrate Van Buren's wide popularity, and, although Van Buren himself was nominated unanimously, Johnson barely obtained the necessary two thirds of the vote. (A motion was made to change the rule, but it obtained only a bare majority, not two thirds.)
Tennessee's delegation did not attend the convention, so Edward Rucker, a Tennessean who happened to be in Baltimore, was picked to cast its 15 votes, so that all the states would endorse Van Buren. Senator Silas Wright
Silas Wright
Silas Wright, Jr. was an American Democratic politician. Wright was born in Amherst, Massachusetts and moved with his father to Weybridge, Vermont in 1796. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1815 and moved to Sandy Hill, New York, the next year, where he studied law, being admitted to the bar...
, of New York, prevailed upon Rucker to vote for Johnson, giving him just more than twice the votes cast for Rives, and the nomination.
Jackson's faith in Johnson to balance the ticket proved misplaced. In the general election, Johnson cost the Democrats votes in the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, where his relationship with Chinn was particularly unpopular. He also failed to garner much support from the West, where he was supposed to be strong due to his reputation as an Indian fighter and war hero. He even failed to deliver his home state of Kentucky for the Democrats. Regardless, the Democrats still won the popular vote.
When the electoral vote was counted in Congress on February 8, 1837, it was revealed that while Van Buren received 170 votes for president, Johnson had received only 147 for vice-president. Although Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
had elected electors pledged to both Van Buren and Johnson, the state's 23 "faithless elector
Faithless elector
In United States presidential elections, a faithless elector is a member of the Electoral College who does not vote for the candidate they have pledged to vote for...
s" refused to vote for Johnson, leaving him one electoral vote short of a majority. For the first time before or since, the Senate was charged with electing the Vice President under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment. The vote divided strictly along party lines, with Johnson becoming vice-president by a vote of 36 to 16 for Whig Francis Granger
Francis Granger
Francis Granger was a Representative from New York. He was the son of Gideon Granger, another Postmaster General, and the first cousin of Amos P. Granger.-Biography:...
, with three senators absent.
Vice Presidency
Johnson served as Vice President from March 4, 1837, to March 4, 1841. His term was largely unremarkable, and he enjoyed little influence with President Van Buren. His penchant for wielding his power for his own interests did not abate. He lobbied the Senate to promote Samuel Milroy, whom he owed a favor, to the position of Indian agent. When Lewis TappanLewis Tappan
Lewis Tappan was a New York abolitionist who worked to achieve the freedom of the illegally enslaved Africans of the Amistad. Contacted by Connecticut abolitionists soon after the Amistad arrived in port, Tappan focused extensively on the captive Africans...
requested presentation of an abolitionist
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
petition to the Senate, Johnson, who was still a slaveholder, declined the request.
As presiding officer of the Senate, Johnson was called on to cast a tie-breaking vote fourteen times, more than all of his predecessors save John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
and John Calhoun. Despite the precedent set by some of his predecessors, Johnson never addressed the Senate on the occasion of a tie-breaking vote; he did once explain his vote via an article in the Kentucky Gazette
Kentucky Gazette
The Kentucky Gazette, or Kentucke Gazette, was the first newspaper published in the state of Kentucky. It was started in Lexington by Fielding and John Bradford in 1787 , and continued in 1789 with the current spelling of the state....
.
Following the financial Panic of 1837
Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis or market correction in the United States built on a speculative fever. The end of the Second Bank of the United States had produced a period of runaway inflation, but on May 10, 1837 in New York City, every bank began to accept payment only in specie ,...
, Johnson took a nine-month leave of absence, during which he returned home to Kentucky and opened a tavern
Tavern
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....
and spa
Spa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...
on his farm to offset his continued financial problems. Upon visiting the establishment, Amos Kendall
Amos Kendall
Amos Kendall was an American politician who served as U.S. Postmaster General under Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. Many historians regard Kendall as the intellectual force behind Andrew Jackson's presidential administration, and an influential figure in the transformation of America from an...
wrote to President Van Buren that he found Johnson "happy in the inglorious pursuit of tavern keeping – even giving his personal superintendence to the chicken and egg purchasing and water-melon
Watermelon
Watermelon is a vine-like flowering plant originally from southern Africa. Its fruit, which is also called watermelon, is a special kind referred to by botanists as a pepo, a berry which has a thick rind and fleshy center...
selling department".
In his later political career, he became known for wearing a bright red vest and tie. He adopted this dress during his term as vice-president when he and James Reeside, a mail contractor known for his drab dress, passed a tailor's shop that displayed a bright red cloth in the window. Johnson suggested that Reeside should wear a red vest because the mail coaches he owned and operated were red. Reeside agreed to do so if Johnson would also. Both men ordered red vests and neckties, and were known for donning this attire for the rest of their lives.
Election of 1840
By 1840, it had become clear that Johnson was a liability to the Democratic ticket. Even former president Jackson conceded that Johnson was "dead weight", and threw his support to James K. PolkJames K. Polk
James Knox Polk was the 11th President of the United States . Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 17th Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 12th Governor of Tennessee...
. President Van Buren stood for re-election, and the Whigs once again countered with William Henry Harrison. Ironically, it was now Van Buren who was reluctant to drop Johnson from the ticket, fearing that dropping the Democrats' own war hero would split the party and cost him votes to Harrison. A unique compromise ensued, with the Democratic National Convention refusing to nominate Johnson, or any other candidate, for vice-president. The idea was to allow the states to choose their own candidate, or perhaps return the question to the Senate should Van Buren be elected with no clear winner in the vice-presidential race.
Undaunted by this lack of confidence from his peers, Johnson continued to campaign to retain his office. Although his campaign was more vigorous than that of Van Buren, his behavior on the campaign trail raised concern among voters. He made rambling, incoherent speeches. During one speech in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, he raised his shirt in order to display to the crowd the wounds he received during the Battle of the Thames. Charges he leveled against Harrison in Cleveland were so poorly received that they touched off a riot
Riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
in the city.
In the end, Johnson received only forty-eight electoral votes. One elector from Virginia and all eleven from South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
voted for Van Buren for president but selected someone other than Johnson for vice-president. Johnson again lost his home state of Kentucky and added to the embarrassment by losing his home district as well.
Later life and death
Following his term as vice-president, Johnson returned to Kentucky to tend to his farm and oversee his tavern. He again represented Scott County in the Kentucky House from 1841 to 1843. In 1845, he served as a pallbearer when Daniel BooneDaniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
was re-interred in Frankfort Cemetery
Frankfort Cemetery
The Frankfort Cemetery is located on East Main Street in Frankfort, Kentucky. The cemetery is the burial site of Daniel Boone and contains the graves of other famous Americans including seventeen Kentucky governors.-History:...
.
Governor of Kentucky
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of the executive branch of government in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Fifty-six men and one woman have served as Governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-election once...
in 1848, but after talking with the Democratic candidate, Lazarus W. Powell
Lazarus W. Powell
Lazarus Whitehead Powell was the 19th Governor of Kentucky, serving from 1851 to 1855. He was later elected to represent Kentucky in the U.S. Senate from 1859 to 1865....
, who had replaced Linn Boyd
Linn Boyd
Linn Boyd was a prominent U.S. politician of the 1840s and 1850s, and served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1851 to 1855. Boyd was elected to the House as a Democrat from Kentucky from 1835 to 1837 and again from 1839 to 1855, serving seven terms in the House...
on the ticket, Johnson decided to drop out and back Powell. Some speculated that the real object of this campaign was to secure another nomination to the vice-presidency, but this hope was denied.
Johnson finally returned to elected office in 1850, when he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives. By this time, however, his physical and mental health was already failing. On November 9, the Louisville Daily Journal
The Courier-Journal
The Courier-Journal, locally called "The C-J", is the main newspaper for the city of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. According to the 1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, the paper is the 48th largest daily paper in the United States and the single largest in Kentucky.- Origins :The...
reported that "Col. R. M. Johnson is laboring under an attack of dementia
Dementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
, which renders him totally unfit for business. It is painful to see him on the floor attempting to discharge the duties of a member. He is incapable of properly exercising his physical or mental powers." He died of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
on November 19, just two weeks into his term. He was interred in the Frankfort Cemetery, in Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort is a city in Kentucky that serves as the state capital and the county seat of Franklin County. The population was 27,741 at the 2000 census; by population it is the 5th smallest state capital in the United States...
.
Legacy
There are five countiesCounty (United States)
In the United States, a county is a geographic subdivision of a state , usually assigned some governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 of the 50 states; Louisiana is divided into parishes and Alaska into boroughs. Parishes and boroughs are called "county-equivalents" by the U.S...
named for Johnson: Johnson County, Illinois, Johnson County, Iowa
Johnson County, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 130,882 in the county, with a population density of . There were 55,967 housing units, of which 52,715 were occupied.-2000 census:...
, Johnson County, Kentucky
Johnson County, Kentucky
Johnson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1843. As of 2000, the population was 23,445. Its county seat is Paintsville...
, Johnson County, Missouri
Johnson County, Missouri
Johnson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2010, the population was 52,595. Its county seat is Warrensburg. The county was formed 13 December 1834 from Lafayette County and was named for Vice President Richard M...
, and Johnson County, Nebraska
Johnson County, Nebraska
-History:Johnson County was formed in 1855. It was named after Vice President Richard M. Johnson.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 4,488 people, 1,887 households, and 1,254 families residing in the county. The population density was 12 people per square mile . There were 2,116...
. His brothers James Johnson and John Telemachus Johnson
John Telemachus Johnson
John Telemachus Johnson was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky, brother of James Johnson and Richard M. Johnson and uncle of Robert Ward Johnson.Born at Great Crossings, Kentucky, Johnson pursued preparatory studies....
and his nephew Robert Ward Johnson
Robert Ward Johnson
Robert Ward Johnson was a Democratic United States Senator and Confederate States Senator from the State of Arkansas....
were all members of the House of Representatives, and Robert was a Senator as well.
Johnson, and more prominently his common-law wife Julia Chinn and their daughters, all play visible roles in the Eric Flint
Eric Flint
Eric Flint is an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works are alternate history science fiction, but he also writes humorous fantasy adventures.- Career :...
alternate history novels 1812: The Rivers of War
1812: The Rivers of War
1812: The Rivers of War is a 2005 alternate history novel by American writer Eric Flint. The book was originally published in hardcover as simply The Rivers of War. In 2006, the text was made available at the Baen Free Library....
and 1824: The Arkansas War
1824: The Arkansas War
1824: The Arkansas War is a 2006 alternate history novel by American writer Eric Flint.-Plot summary :The story, takes place in 1824–25, ten years after 1812: The Rivers of War...
(particularly the latter).
Further reading
- Carolyn Jean Powell, "What's love got to do with it?" The dynamics of desire, race and murder in the slave South. Doctoral thesis, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
- Richard Shenkman, Kurt Reiger (2003). "The Vice-President Who Sold His Mistress At Auction", One-Night Stands with American History: Odd, Amusing, and Little-Known Incidents. HarperCollins, pp. 71–72. ISBN 0060538201. Retrieved on 2008-01-05. citing
- George Stimpson, A Book about American Politics New York; Harper 1952, p. 133.
- William Hobart Turner, Edward J. Cabbell Blacks in Appalachia. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1985. pp. 75–80. ISBN 081310162X. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
- Which Vice President of the United States Was the Father Of...?. Black Voices News. Posted January 20, 2005; retrieved January 6, 2008.
External links
- Find-A-Grave profile for Richard Mentor Johnson
- The Sunday Mail Report authored and delivered by Johnson to the Senate on January 19, 1829
- "An Affecting Scene in Kentucky", a political print attacking Johnson for his relationship with Julia Chinn
- "Carrying the War into Africa", a political print attacking Johnson for his relationship with Julia Chinn