Inauguration of Andrew Johnson

The inauguration of Andrew Johnson as the 17th president of the United States happened on April 15, 1865, at Kirkwood House in Washington, D.C. It was held after Abraham Lincoln, the president of the United States, was killed. The inauguration marked the start of Andrew Johnson's only term (a partial term of 3 years, 323 days) as president.

Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase administered the presidential oath of office to Johnson.^[1] This inauguration was the third one to not be held on a scheduled date, which was normally March 4.

After being sworn in, President Johnson gave a short inaugural address that was impromptu (unprepared). In his speech, he asked Lincoln's cabinet to stay with him, and then attacked the Confederate States of America. One person who heard the speech said, "It would have been better had he been struck dumb."^[2]

Some newspaper reports said Johnson had gotten heavily drunk, in that when President Lincoln's aides came to get to Johnson, they were not able to wake him up for a short time. The reports said that when Johnson was awoken, "he had puffy eyes and his hair was caked with mud from the street," and that a barber and doctor came to clean him up for the ceremony, which most reports said went smoothly.^[3]

However, this has been disagreed on, according to other reports believed more accurate by some.^[4]

• Reconstruction era

Wikisource has original writing related to this article:

Andrew Johnson's Inaugural Address