Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), became the 17th president of the United States after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865). Johnson served as president from 1865 to 1869. Before he entered politics, he was a tailor. He grew up in poverty and lacked formal education.
Swing Around the Circle is a catastrophic campaign run by Andrew Johnson between August 27 and September 15, 1866, in which he tried to get support for his mild reconstruction and for his desired candidates (mainly democrats) in the upcoming midterm Congressional election. The tour got its nickname because of the route the campaign led: "Washington, DC, New York, west of Chicago, south to St. Louis and east through the Ohio Valley back to the capital city."
Johnson started this tour because of the growing opposition in the North and Washington in the light of his gentle reform in the south, which led to the return of southern states to a social system that was before the civil war. Although he was convinced he could regain the confidence of the moderate Northern Republicans using tensions between them and their radical colleagues on the tour, Johnson only drove them away.
Johnson's stop in Cleveland on September 3 was a turning point on the tour. The number of people was mostly at the previous stops, however, the crowd included mafia hackers, many of them radical Republicans. Johnson engaged them in the middle of speech; when one of them yelled "Hang Jeff Davis!", Johnson replied: "Why do not you hang Thad Stevens and Vendell Phillips?" The supporters paid attention to him that he should take care of his dignity. His answer: "I do not care about my dignity" was in all newspapers.
However, the campaign was successful at the begining, it turned into a catastrophe
