Andrew Johnson - Mistress

[L Verge]

(11-17-2017 04:08 PM)JMadonna Wrote:  

(11-17-2017 09:13 AM)L Verge Wrote:  Just a thought from me regarding why Johnson was not out celebrating on the night of the assassination: Wasn't the VP sort of a pariah after his "performance" at the Second Inaugural? Who were his friends in DC that he might party with? Wasn't Stanton at home and unoccupied with partying that night also?

Johnson may have been a man who craved sexual attention at times, but for some reason I just don't see it happening in a public hotel once he became VP. I am more inclined to see him staying home and brooding over drinks after being rebuffed by so many colleagues after his inauguration.

1. Johnson was in deed a political albatross but he had many drinking friends. John W. Forney was probably the most prominent. (or was that a test question from you?)

2, Remember there was no official residence for the VP at that time which is why he was in the hotel. Where else was he going to it? They didn't have Air Force 1 or even sleazy motels either.

3. He was not rebuffed in private ( there but for the grace of God...) Stringfellow stayed in the room near him to listen about what was said from his visitors.

I'm sorry that you don't believe Washington wasn't a cesspool in the 1860s. It hasn't changed much

1.Johnson may have had many drinking friends, but how public were they when imbibing? Especially after his fiasco at the inauguration, I would think the VP would avoid any public drinking displays - more reason to stay home.

2. It has been in my lifetime that the VP actually acquired an official residence. I well remember the Secret Service details around various VPs private homes. As far as Johnson having soiled doves come to him, I believe that the accepted standard of the day in such matters was to go to brothels, away from the public eye and where the "inmates" (as they were called) knew to keep their mouths shut.

3. I forget from your book - do you think Stringfellow worked with Johnson to undermine the government?

I have no idea where you picked up the idea that I thought Washington was prim and proper (i.e. not a cesspool in 1865). I know the history of my nearby city quite well, and you can't bring hordes of soldiers and hundreds of politicians and their followers together in one place during a civil war and expect moonlight and roses. As far as Washington today, I still consider it a beautiful and scenic city. Politically, however, it may likely be a worse cesspool in 2017 than it was in 1865.