There's been a recurring theme on this show.

Of the 11 presidents we've covered so far, three of them were not actually elected into

office.

They were vice presidents who stepped in when the original president died.

It's not surprising that these guys tend to be controversial.

I mean, it's a tough job inheriting all the nation's problems at the drop of a hat.

But no one felt this more severely than Andrew Johnson.

He had to fill Abe Lincoln's shoes in the final weeks of the Civil War no less.

He had to glue the broken country back together, craft a vision of a more equal society, restore

faith and trust in the federal government.

Johnson took a long look at all of these life or death expectations and said,

Nath, I'm going to do the opposite of that.

Welcome to very presidential, a podcast original.

I'm your host Ashley Flowers.

You can find all episodes of very presidential and all other podcast originals for free on

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Andrew Johnson was known by many names, none of them kind, the grim presence, servito, the

presidential demagogue, the best hater I ever knew.

He was the first president to ever be impeached.

And as of this recording, the only president to rack up 13 fatalities at a single speaking

...