President Johnson Remembered

It is a ceremony that has been going on since 1967. U.S. presidents always send wreaths to honor their predecessors' birthdays.

WVLT-TV Correspondent Jay Siltzer reports that the ceremony held at a Greeneville, Tennessee, gravesite took on a bit more meaning on December 29, 1998.

A wreath from President Clinton was placed on Andrew Johnson's grave in honor of his birth 190 years ago. Clinton and Johnson are the only two presidents impeached by the House of Representatives.

The wreath, decorated with red, white and blue flowers, carried a note that simply said it was from "The President."

The wreath was laid at the grave by a Tennessee National Guard unit. The unit also played Taps and fired a 21-gun salute.

More reporters than spectators were on hand at the historic site, which is maintained by the National Parks Service.

Recently, the plaque that identified Johnson as the "first and only president to be impeached" was altered, with the words "and only" covered with tape.

Andrew Johnson was born in Raleigh, N.C., in 1808. Johnson, a Democrat, served as vice president under Abraham Lincoln, succeeding to the presidency upon Lincoln's death.

The House impeached Johnson in 1868 after he fired his secretary of war in defiance of Congress' wishes. A deeper issue at the time was Republican opposition to Johnson's efforts to ease the South back into the Union after the Civil War. The Senate fell one vote short of convicting him.

The House impeached Mr. Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for trying to cover up his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The Senate could begin a trial in January.