President Andrew Johnson

When I was a child, I had a coloring book on the presidents of the United States. One of the details that stayed with me was that of Andrew Johnson being buried with a copy of the U.S. Constitution placed beneath his head.

So, thirty-odd years later, I drove to what is now the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery to pay my respects. I parked at Monument Hill, spent some time with the graves there, and then walked around. There was much to ponder among the hundreds of other headstones there.

( Photos under the cut; click on them to enlarge )

Earlier that day, I'd walked around the museum buildings on the national historic site. I was especially taken with the depiction of Johnson as a Greeneville tailor (and budding politician), listening to the locals as he worked:



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