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| "Andy and his prime minister": Painted lantern slide shows Andrew Johnson drinking with the devil (Liljenquist Collection) |
On March 4th, 1865, Andrew Johnson, soon to be pronounced the vice-president of the United States for his second term, gave one of the most infamous speeches in the history of inaugural addresses in American history.
Why?
Because right before his speech, he purported had – not one, not two, but three tumblerfuls of whiskey, un-watered and un-iced.
Weeks before that fateful day, it seems that Johnson had been struck by an unknown illness. There were repots that said the illness was typhoid, though other reports claim that it was a cold. Whatever the case, Johnson was undeterred, and pressed on towards the capital.
Later, during his brief stop at Cincinnati, it was said that Johnson actually gave a speech, which, though its contents are lost, we have a pretty good sense of the overall impression the speech gave. As the Manitowoc Pilot stated, "At Cincinnati, when Mr. Johnson was passing through on his way to Washington, he was called out for a speech but was too intoxicated to respond. He seems literally to have continued in that state until the time he was installed in his present office."
Unfortunately, this would be nothing compared to the much greater embarrassment that was to follow.
Upon arriving in Washington and settling in at the Metropolitan Hotel, The Pittsburgh Commercial reported that Johnson was “in fine spirits and ready to assume his important public duties,”, this being further buttressed by the fact that, the day before his inaugural address, Johnson attended a party held by John W. Forney, where it was said that “the wine flowed as freely as the oratory”, and he was to have “indulged somewhat freely”.
On the day of the inauguration speech, he would come to down two more glasses of whiskey in the morning, hours before he was to take the stage, after which, as Johnson and his companions prepared to leave, Johnson would supposedly state:
“‘Mr. Hamlin, I have been feeling very ill. Can you give me some good brandy?’”
As a result, Johnson was fed another full cup of whiskey before heading off to begin his inaugural speech. Some sources state that the alcohol was prescribed to him as a way of managing his illness, though this cannot be confirmed. More likely than not, I think that Johnson was simply trying to calm his nerves, though he may have gone a little overboard.
Upon entering the senate chamber, Johnson’s face was noted to be “extraordinarily red”. Supposedly, “[he] had not uttered two sentences when everyone saw something was wrong.”
Johnson was then recorded to have begun what could be described best as meaninglessly rambling, managing to insult the foreign ambassadors present when he said:
“And you, gentlemen of the Diplomatic Corps, with all your fine feathers and geegaws.”
He also was described has having said:
“I announce here to-day.”
A total of 20 times.
In total, it was reported that Johnson supposedly spent 20 minutes pre-speech in an unintelligible discussion whose volume varied greatly, going from shout to whisper in a matter of a few words.
Out-going vice-president Hannibal Hamlin attempted to resolve the situation, calling out to Johnson quietly in an attempt to end his incoherency, though he was unsuccessful, as Johnson had already committed himself to his presentation.
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| Knight of the Goose and Shears - Andrew Johnson 1868 |
Then came his speech, which I have directly transcribed below:
“Fel' cizzens, this 's mos (hic) 'spicious mom't v' my zistence 'ni may (hic) say v' my l (hic) ife; ni' mere t' swear (hic) leshens t' ol Dabe 'nt' sport consushun, n' tseet consushun (hic) sported 'tall azurs. D'u (hic) know y am' [with emphasis] my name's And' Johnson' v Tensee n' im a pul a (hic) pul-le-an 'n ol Dabe's a pal-le-an n' im a plean (hic) an th' constushue d'rives 'ts (hic) cons't from pleeans. The consushun 's (hic) a stri (hic) ing sturment 'n I f'l'ere b'fore the Sen't that 'fi know (hic) my-sel I'm a man n'a (hic) broth'n Amekin cizzen, and [with distinctness] I'm a proud listration' v th' fac that a (hic) pleean'n a man from the (hic) ranks can be elv (hic) ated t' th' secon, t' th' secon [with marked emphasis] gif'in the place o' the Amekin people. Fel' cizzens, I'm a pleian 'n (hic) 'n two minitsnaf'n that point, f'r'i'm a pleean (hic) an 'twon time was a tailrs boy n'i teller wir rail (hic) pleeans 'n, Old Dabe 'n the (hic) n' spreme Court d'rive [with statesmanlike dignity] d'rive'r cons't' d'rive power from th' (hic) Amekin pleeans. But twom (hic) inits'naf on that point. Tensee's allers been loy'l'ni (hic) glore'n dressing my fel' twom inits'naf on that (hic) point.”
At the end of his speech, he picked up a copy of the bible, and in Sen. Benjamin Butler’s words, Johnson “slobbered the Holy Book with a drunken kiss.”
Needless to say, people were not happy with how it turned out.
The aftermath of the event was a complete bloodbath for Johnson’s reputation, as the press relentlessly attacked Johnson’s impropriety, the New York Times wrote, “And to think that only one frail human stands between this insolent clownish drunkard and the Presidency! May God bless and spare Abraham Lincoln! Should this Andrew Johnson become his successor, the decline and fall of the American republic would smell as rank in history as that of atrocious monsters in human shape as Nero and Caligula.”
So, yeah. Not great.
Sources
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