Eliza McCardle Johnson was the wife of Andrew Johnson, 17th president of the United States. She served as First Lady from 1865 to 1869.
Early Life
Eliza McCardle Johnson was born on October 4, 1810, in Greeneville, Tennessee. She was the only child of John McCardle, a shoemaker, and Sarah Phillips. They educated her at home, and she also attended Rhea Academy in Greenville, Tennessee.
In 1826, Eliza met Andrew Johnson. They were married on May 17, 1827. Eliza was 16, while Andrew was 17. They went on to have five children and open a successful tailoring business. Eliza, who was more educated than Andrew, helped him improve his math, writing, and oratory skills. All of those skills would prove valuable when Andrew Johnson’s political career took off. He served as governor, as well as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.
First Lady
Andrew Johnson became president following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in April 1865. While she supported her husband, she did not enjoy the limelight.
The Johnson’s brought their large family to Washington, D.C. Their two sons, their widowed daughter Mary Stover and her children, their older daughter Martha with her husband, Senator David T. Patterson, and their children. Eliza Johnson described her family as “plain people from the mountains of Tennessee, brought here through a national calamity.”
Due to Eliza’s poor health, she assigned her White House hostess duties to her daughter Martha. Eliza appeared publicly as First Lady justice twice during her husband’s four-year tenure, at a reception for Queen Emma of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 2, 1866, and at the President’s 59th birthday party on December 29, 1867.
Nonetheless, Eliza was one of her husband’s biggest advocates in the White House, supporting him through the challenges of the office. When the Senate voted not to impeach him, she declared, “I knew he’d be acquitted; I knew it.”
Later Life
Upon leaving the White House, the Johnsons returned to Greenville. Andrew Johnson died. His wife died six months later on January 15, 1876, at the age of 65. They are both buried at the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery in Greeneville.
