Andrew Johnson (The American Presidents, #17)

by Annette Gordon-Reed

All the caveats that should be offered about the “great man” theory of history apply almost equally to the situation when a “less than great man” is the subject of study. No single person should be given credit for all the good things that happened during a given period of history, and no one person can be held accountable for all the bad things. In many ways, Johnson’s weaknesses mirrored those of his era.

He crushed his rivals in their first public debate, employing the take-no-prisoners style that would become his trademark. His talent for invective and savage ridicule apparently disoriented his opponents. They simply did not know how to respond to him. It is also possible that his early audiences had never seen anything like this, or simply were not expecting to see such a display of bravado from a semi-educated tailor confronting his social “betters.” But a little bit of the “bully boy” style goes a long way, and in later years this “talent” became something of a liability because Johnson did not always know when to bring his inner attack dog to heel.

This sounds a little too familiar in 2019.