I have lived among negroes, all my life, and I am for this Government with slavery under the Constitution as it is. I am for the Government of my fathers with negroes. I am for it without negroes. Before I would see this Government destroyed I would send every negro back to Africa, disintegrated and blotted out of space

Andrew Johnson

Categorized in : Father Space Government

If blacks were given the right to vote, that would place every splay-footed, bandy-shanked, hump-backed, thick-lipped, flat-nosed, woolly-headed, ebon-colored in the country upon an equality with the poor white man.

Andrew Johnson

white-man men country

If you always support the correct principles then you will never get the wrong results!

Andrew Johnson

support results principles

When I die, I desire no better winding sheet than the Stars and Stripes, and no softer pillow than the Constitution of my country.

Andrew Johnson

patriotic stars country

Outside of the Constitution we have no legal authority more than private citizens, and within it we have only so much as that instrument gives us. This broad principle limits all our functions and applies to all subjects.

Andrew Johnson

political government giving

Let us look forward to the time when we can take the flag of our country and nail it below the Cross, and there let it wave as it waved in the olden times, and let us gather around it and inscribed for our motto: 'Liberty and Union, one and inseparable, now and forever,' and exclaim, 'Christ first, our country next!'

Andrew Johnson

liberty forever country

I have been almost overwhelmed by the announcement of the sad event [Lincoln's assassination] which has so recently occurred. I feel incompetent to perform duties so important and responsible as those which have been so unexpectedly thrown upon me.

Andrew Johnson

overwhelmed events important

The life of a republic lies certainly in the energy, virtue, and intelligence of its citizens.

Andrew Johnson

democracy energy lying

Washington, DC is 12 square miles bordered by reality.

Andrew Johnson

washington-dc squares reality

It is a damn poor mind indeed which can't think of at least two ways to spell any word.

Andrew Johnson

patriotic stupidity thinking

The goal to strive for is a poor government but a rich people.

Andrew Johnson

government goal people

Honest conviction is my courage; the Constitution is my guide.

Andrew Johnson

presidential honest inspirational-life

There are some who lack confidence in the integrity and capacity of the people to govern themselves. To all who entertain such fears I will most respectfully say that I entertain none. If man is not capable, and is not to be trusted with the government of himself, is he to be trusted with the government of others? Who, then, will govern? The answer must be, Man - for we have no angels in the shape of men, as yet, who are willing to take charge of our political affairs.

Andrew Johnson

angel integrity men

If I am to be shot at, I want no man to be in the way of the bullet.

Andrew Johnson

bullets want men

Whenever you hear a man prating about the Constitution, spot him as a traitor.

Andrew Johnson

traitor constitution men

The sovereignty of the States is the language of the Confederacy and not the language of the Constitution. The latter contains the emphatic words. This Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding

Andrew Johnson

land judging law

Legislation can neither be wise nor just which seeks the welfare of a single interest at the expense and to the injury of many and varied interests.

Andrew Johnson

welfare presidential wise

I realized, there are people out there who can beat me, want to beat me. And unless I continue to innovate and evolve, I am going to learn a painful lesson from someone who has.

Andrew Johnson

lessons want people

It is our sacred duty to transmit unimpaired to our posterity the blessings of liberty which were bequeathed to us by the founders of the Republic.

Andrew Johnson

sacred liberty blessing

I feel incompetent to perform duties...which have been so unexpectedly thrown upon me.

Andrew Johnson

presidential duty feels

If the rabble were lopped off at one end and the aristocrat at the other, all would be well with the country.

Andrew Johnson

presidential would-be country