He began and ended his political career in the Kentucky House of Representatives. = [46], Although Johnson is considered one of the War Hawks, the young Southern and Western Democratic-Republicans who sought expansion and development of the nation,[47] he was cautious in the runup to the War of 1812. Indians would evade battle and raid supplies until the American forces withdrew or were overrun. [110], Johnson also sought help for debtors not in prison, such as some form of bankruptcy legislation, which would help his own problems and those of his neighbors. Some reported that he personally killed the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, a claim that he later used to his political advantage. Johnson had to order his men to dismount and hold until Shelby's infantry came up.

[72] Johnson was one of only 14 military officers to be presented a sword by an act of Congress prior to the American Civil War. Upset that Jackson failed to follow his advice about France, Secretary of State Louis McLane resigned in protest.

As Virginia's electors voted for Van Buren but refused to vote for Johnson, Johnson fell one vote short of an electoral majority, compelling a contingent election for vice president. An 1845 letter from Newton Craig, Keeper of the Penitentiary in Frankfort, Kentucky letter to Daniel Chinn, mentions another brother of Julia Chinn as Marcellus, whom Col. Johnson had taken on his first electioneering tour for Vice-Presidency. − Jackson faced sustained opposition during his second term from an opposition coalition of National Republicans, nullifiers, states' rights advocates, and eventually from disaffected Democrats who came to regard him as an overreaching despot. Even former president Jackson conceded that Johnson was "dead weight", and threw his support to James K. He lobbied the Senate to promote Samuel Milroy, whom he owed a favor, to the position of Indian agent. Johnson began a long-term relationship with Julia and treated her as his common-law wife. Content Responsibility   |   Van Buren then helped Jackson draft a reply to McLane's letter of resignation and suggested his longtime ally Senator John Forsyth of Georgia to fill the position. Some Southerners who were angered by Jackson's opposition to states' rights, including Sen. John C. Calhoun and the Nullifiers, also temporarily joined the Whig coalition. The choice was an often contentious debate that riled the passions of party leaders, and delegates were forced to vote for a nominee repeatedly until someone could capture a minimum number of delegates required. The timing criteria is based on when the state holds its primaries/caucuses, with those states scheduling their contests in May and June getting the higher bonus. The galleries erupted in a wave of laughter as Clay, speechless and humiliated, gestured helplessly at the snuff on his desk.

He had received a mere 60 electoral votes, a dismal showing compared with Harrison's 234 electoral votes, and a defeat made even more galling by his failure to carry New York.