View source for Richard Mentor Johnson

{{Short description|Vice President of the United States from 1837 to 1841}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Richard Mentor Johnson
| image               = John Neagle, Richard Mentor Johnson, 1843, NGA 166465.jpg
| caption             = Portrait {{circa|1843}}
| office              = 9th [[Vice President of the United States]]
| president           = [[Martin Van Buren]]
| term_start          = March 4, 1837
| term_end            = March 4, 1841
| predecessor         = Martin Van Buren
| successor           = [[John Tyler]]
| jr/sr1              = United States Senator
| state1              = [[Kentucky]]
| term_start1         = December 10, 1819
| term_end1           = March 3, 1829
| predecessor1        = [[John J. Crittenden]]
| successor1          = [[George M. Bibb]]
| office2             = Member of the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] from Kentucky
| term_start2         = March 4, 1829
| term_end2           = March 3, 1837
| predecessor2        = [[Robert L. McHatton]]
| successor2          = [[William W. Southgate]]
| constituency2       = {{ushr|KY|5|5th district}} (1829–1833)<br/>{{ushr|KY|13|13th district}} (1833–1837)
| term_start3         = March 4, 1807
| term_end3           = March 3, 1819
| predecessor3        = [[Thomas Sandford]]
| successor3          = [[William Brown (congressman)|William Brown]]
| constituency3       = {{ushr|KY|4|4th district}} (1807–1813)<br/>{{ushr|KY|3|3rd district}} (1813–1819)
| office4             = Member of the [[Kentucky House of Representatives]]
| term_start4         = November 5, 1850
| term_end4           = November 19, 1850
| term_start5         = December 30, 1841
| term_end5           = December 29, 1843
|term_start6          = August 1819
|term_end6            = c. November 1819
| term_start7         = November 6, 1804
| term_end7           = November 4, 1806
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1780|10|17}}
| birth_place         = Beargrass, [[Virginia]] (present-day [[Louisville, Kentucky]]), U.S.
| death_date          = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|1850|11|19|1780|10|17}}}}
| death_place         = [[Frankfort, Kentucky]], U.S.
| resting_place       = [[Frankfort Cemetery]]
| resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|38|11|52.2|N|84|52|01.8|W|region:US-KY_type:landmark|display=inline}}
| party               = [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]] (before 1828)<br/>[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] (after 1828)
| spouse              = [[Julia Chinn]] ([[common law marriage]])
| children            = 2
| relatives           = [[Conway-Johnson family]]
| education           = [[Transylvania University]]
| signature           = Richard Mentor Johnson Signature.svg
| signature_alt       = Cursive signature in ink
| allegiance          = United States
| branch              = <!-- EDITORS NOTE: Please do not add the Army flag adopted by the U.S. government in 1956 (106 years after Johnson's death) as it would be historically inaccurate and also violated MOS:INFOBOXFLAG. Thank you. -->[[United States Volunteers]]
| rank                = [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]]
| service_years        = 1812–1814
| battles             = {{tree list}}
* [[War of 1812]]
** [[Battle of the Thames]]{{WIA}}
{{tree list/end}}
}}
'''Richard Mentor Johnson''' (October 17, 1780{{efn|Emmons and Langworthy give 1781, and Pratt and Sobel accept this date; this has the effect of making him born in Kentucky, which would be a reason to invent it.}}&nbsp;– November 19, 1850)  was an American lawyer, military officer and politician who served as the ninth [[vice president of the United States]] from 1837 to 1841 under President [[Martin Van Buren]]. He is the only vice president elected by the [[United States Senate]] under the provisions of the [[Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twelfth Amendment]]. Johnson also represented [[Kentucky]] in the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] and Senate. He began and ended his political career in the [[Kentucky House of Representatives]].

After two years in the Kentucky House, Johnson was elected to the U.S. House in 1806. He allied with fellow Kentuckian [[Henry Clay]] as a member of the [[War Hawks]] faction that favored war with Britain in 1812. At the outset of the [[War of 1812]], Johnson was commissioned a [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] in the Kentucky Militia and commanded a regiment of mounted volunteers from 1812 to 1813. He and his brother [[James Johnson (Kentucky politician)|James]] served under [[William Henry Harrison]] in [[Upper Canada]]. Johnson led troops in the [[Battle of the Thames]]. Many reported that he personally killed the [[Shawnee]] chief [[Tecumseh]], a claim that he later used to his political advantage.

After the war, Johnson returned to the House of Representatives. The state legislature appointed him to the Senate in 1819 to fill the seat vacated by [[John J. Crittenden]]. With his increasing prominence, Johnson was criticized for his [[Miscegenation|interracial relationship]] with [[Julia Chinn]], a [[mixed-race]] [[Slavery in the United States|slave]] who was classified as [[octoroon]] (or seven-eighths white). Unlike other upper-class planters and leaders who had [[African-American]] mistresses or concubines, but never acknowledged them, Johnson treated Chinn as his [[common law wife]]. He acknowledged their two daughters as his children, giving them his surname, much to the consternation of some of his constituents. It is believed that because of this, the state legislature picked another candidate for the Senate in 1828, forcing Johnson to leave in 1829, but his Congressional district voted for him and returned him to the House the same year.

In [[1836 United States presidential election|the 1836 election]], Johnson was the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for vice-president on a [[Ticket (election)|ticket]] with [[Martin Van Buren]]. Campaigning with the slogan "Rumpsey Dumpsey, Rumpsey Dumpsey, Colonel Johnson killed Tecumseh", Johnson fell one short of the [[United States Electoral College|electoral votes]] needed to secure his election. Virginia's [[1836 United States presidential election in Virginia|delegation to the Electoral College]] refused to endorse Johnson, voting instead for [[William Smith (South Carolina senator)|William Smith]] of [[South Carolina]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-12-19 |title=The one election where Faithless Electors made a difference |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/one-election-where-faithless-electors-made-difference-100804660.html |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="SabatoErnst2014"/> The Senate elected him to the vice-presidential office. Due to his relationships with several Black or mixed-race women,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://millercenter.org/president/vanburen/essays/johnson-1837-vicepresident|title=Richard M. Johnson (1837–1841) |date=October 4, 2016|website=millercenter.org}}</ref> including his common-law wife [[Julia Chinn]], Johnson proved such a burden for the Democrats in the 1836 election that they refused to renominate him for vice president [[1840 United States presidential election|in 1840]]. Van Buren campaigned for reelection without a [[running mate]]. He lost to [[William Henry Harrison]], a Whig. Johnson then served two more years in the Kentucky House of Representatives. He tried to return to higher office but was defeated. He finally was elected to the Kentucky House in 1850, but died on November 19, 1850, just two weeks into his term.<ref name="EB">{{cite web |title=Richard M. Johnson |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-M-Johnson |website=[[Britannica.com]] |access-date=15 November 2025}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Richard Mentor Johnson was born in the settlement of Beargrass on the Kentucky frontier (present-day [[Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville]]) on October 17, 1780,<ref name="EB"/> the fifth of Robert and Jemima (Suggett) Johnson's 11 children, and the second of eight sons. His brothers John and Henry Johnson survived him.<ref name = "ANB">{{cite web|title=Johnson, Richard Mentor|doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0300246|last=McManus|first=Edgar J.|work=American National Biography online|year=2000}}</ref> His parents married in 1770. Robert Johnson purchased land in what is now Kentucky, but was then part of Virginia, from [[Patrick Henry]] and from [[James Madison]].<ref>Petriello, pp. 2–4.</ref> He had worked as a surveyor and was able to pick out good land. His wife Jemima Suggett "came from a wealthy and politically connected family."<ref name=Snyder>Christina Snyder, ''Great Crossings: Indians, Settlers & Slaves in the Age of Jackson'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), p. 42.</ref>

[[File:Lossy-page1-8870px-The women of Bryant's Station Ky. supplying the garrison with water LCCN2003656964 Crop.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|The women of Bryan's Station draw water while the enemy looks on]]
About the time of Richard's birth, the family moved to [[Bryan's Station, Kentucky|Bryan's Station]], near present-day [[Lexington, Kentucky|Lexington]] in the [[Bluegrass Region]]. This was a fortified outpost, as there was much Native American resistance to white settlement.<ref>Smith 2013, p. 31.</ref> The [[Shawnee]] and [[Cherokee]] hunted in this area. Jemima Johnson was remembered as among the community's heroic women because of what was told of her actions during [[Simon Girty]]'s raid on Bryan's Station in August 1782.<ref>Snyder, pp. 42–43</ref> According to later reports, with Indian warriors hidden in the nearby woods and the community short on water, she led the women to a nearby spring, and the attackers allowed them to return to the fort with the water. Having the water helped the settlers beat off an attack made with flaming arrows. At the time, Robert Johnson was serving in the legislature in Richmond, Virginia, as he had been elected to represent [[Fayette County, Kentucky|Fayette County]].<ref>Meyer, pp. 22–23.</ref>  (Kentucky was part of Virginia until 1792.)

Beginning in 1783, Kentucky was considered safe enough that settlers began to leave the fortified stations to establish farms. The Johnsons settled on the land Robert had purchased at [[Great Crossing, Kentucky|Great Crossing]].<ref>Meyer, p. 25.</ref> As a surveyor, he became successful through well-chosen land purchases and being in the region when he could take advantage of huge land grants.<ref name = "ANB" /><ref>Pratt, p. 82</ref>

According to Miles Smith's doctoral thesis, "Richard developed a cheery disposition and seems to have been a generally happy and content child".<ref>Smith 2013, p. 40.</ref> Richard lived on the family plantation until he was 16. In 1796, he was sent briefly to a local grammar school, and then attended [[Transylvania University]], the first college west of the Appalachian Mountains. While at the Lexington college, where his father was a trustee, he [[read law]] as a legal apprentice with [[George Nicholas (politician)|George Nicholas]] and [[James Brown (Senator)|James Brown]], later a US Senator.<ref name="petriello">Petriello, pp. 12–13.</ref>

==Career==
Johnson was admitted to the Kentucky [[Bar (law)|bar]] in 1802,<ref name="petriello"/> and opened his law office at Great Crossing.<ref name=kye>Kleber, p. 475</ref> Later, he owned a retail store as a merchant and pursued a number of business ventures with his brothers.<ref name=hatfield>Hatfield, ''Vice Presidents (1789–1993)''</ref> Johnson often worked ''[[pro bono]]'' for poor people, prosecuting their cases when they had merit.<ref name=stillman>Stillman, ''Eccentricity at the Top''</ref> He also opened his home to disabled veterans, widows, and orphans.<ref name=hatfield /> Johnson also became a prominent [[Freemasonry|Freemason]], and in the late 1830s was part of a Masonic organization, the Hunters Lodge, that unsuccessfully planned an invasion of Canada to overthrow the British government there and establish a provisional American administration.<ref>{{cite book |last=McLaughlin |first=Shaun J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNl2CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT78 |title=The Patriot War Along the Michigan-Canada Border: Raiders and Rebels |date=2013 |publisher=The History Press |isbn=978-1-6258-4511-5 |location=Charleston, SC |page=78 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

==Marriage and family==
{{See also|Anti-miscegenation laws in the United States|List of federal political sex scandals in the United States}}
[[File:An affecting scene in Kentucky LCCN2008661287 Crop.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|"An affecting scene in Kentucky," a racist cartoon by [[Henry R. Robinson]] mocking Johnson's mixed-race family and political allies, 1836]]
Family tradition holds that Johnson broke off an early [[Engagement|marital engagement]] when he was about sixteen because of his mother's disapproval.<ref name=hatfield /> Purportedly Johnson vowed revenge for his mother's interference. His former fiancée later gave birth to his daughter, named Celia, who was raised by the Johnson family. Celia Johnson later married Wesley Fancher, one of the men who served in Johnson's regiment at the Battle of the Thames.

After his father died, Richard Johnson inherited [[Julia Chinn]], an [[octoroon]] mixed-race woman (seven-eighths European and one-eighth African in ancestry), who was born into slavery around 1790. She had grown up in the Johnson household, where her mother served.<ref name=uva>''Richard M. Johnson (1837–1841)''</ref><ref>Snyder, ''Great Crossings'', pp. 51–53.</ref> Julia Chinn was the daughter of Benjamin Chinn,<ref>Great Mountain Freeman, Montpelier, VT p1 The Freeman for The Freeman Developments of the "Peculiar Institution."</ref> who was living in Malden, Upper Canada, or London, Canada, and a sister of Daniel Chinn.  An 1845 letter from Newton Craig, Keeper of the [[Kentucky State Penitentiary in Frankfort|Penitentiary in Frankfort, Kentucky]], to Daniel Chinn, mentions another brother of Julia Chinn named Marcellus, who accompanied Col. Johnson on his first electioneering tour for vice-presidency.  Marcellus left Col. Johnson in New York, whereupon Col. Johnson tried to find Marcellus' whereabouts from Arthur Tappan, Esq.<ref>''Green Mountain Freeman'', Montpelier, VT June 20, 1845 p.1 "The Freeman: for The Freeman. Developments of the 'Peculiar Institution.'" Via Library of Congress, [https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84023209/1845-06-20/ed-1/seq-1/ Chronicling America]</ref><ref>''Vermont Phoenix'', Brattleboro, VT, Vol. XV, No. 30, July 18, 1845, "The Workings of Slavery." Via [http://fair-use.org/the-liberator/1845/07/25/the-liberator-15-30.pdf Fair Use Repository]</ref>

Though Chinn was legally Johnson's concubine, he began a long-term [[Intimate relationship|relationship]] with her and treated her as his [[Common-law marriage in the United States|common-law wife]], which was legal in Kentucky at the time. They had two daughters together and she later became manager of his plantation.<ref>Snyder, ''Great Crossings'', pp. 3–4, 8–9.</ref> Both Johnson and Chinn championed the "notion of a diverse society" by their multi-racial, predominately white family. They were prohibited from marrying because she was a slave.<ref name=mills>Mills, ''The Vice-President and the Mulatto''</ref> When Johnson was away from his Kentucky plantation, he authorized Chinn to manage his business affairs.<ref name=hatfield /> She died in the [[1826–1837 cholera pandemic|widespread cholera epidemic]] that occurred in the summer of 1833. Johnson deeply grieved her loss.<ref name=bevins>Bevins, ''Richard M Johnson narrative: Personal and Family Life''</ref>

The relationship between Johnson and Chinn shows the contradictions within slavery at the time. There were certainly numerous examples that "kin could also be property". Johnson was unusual for being open about his relationship and treating Chinn as his common-law wife. He was heard to call her "my bride" on at least one occasion, and they acted like a married couple. According to oral tradition, other slaves at Great Crossings were said to work on their wedding.<ref>Snyder, ''Great Crossings'', pp. 54–56. Their social role as a married couple was recognized by neighbors.</ref>

Chinn gradually gained more responsibilities. As she spent much of her time in the "plantation's big house", a two-story brick home, she managed Johnson's estate for at least half of each year, with her purview later expanding to all of his property, even acting as "Richard's representative" and allowing her to handle money.<ref>Snyder, ''Great Crossings'', pp. 56–58.</ref> This gave, as historical scholar Christina Snyder argues, some independence, since Johnson told his white employees that Chinn's authority must be respected, and her role allowing her children's lives to be different from "others of African descent at Great Crossings", giving them levels of privileged access within the plantation. This was further complicated by the fact that Chinn was still enslaved but supervised the work of slaves, which the Chinn family never sold or mortgaged off, but she did not have the power to "challenge the institution of slavery or overturn the government that supported it", she only had the power to gain some personal autonomy, with Johnson never legally emancipating her.<ref>Snyder, ''Great Crossings'', pp. 59–60, 62–63. Despite this, Johnson did
liberated other black slaves.</ref> This may have been because, as Snyder says, liberating her from human bondage would erode "ties that bound her to him" and keeping her enslaved supported his idea of being a "benevolent patriarch".

Johnson and Chinn had two daughters, Adaline (or Adeline) Chinn Johnson and Imogene Chinn Johnson, whom he acknowledged and gave his surname to, with Johnson and Chinn preparing them "for a future as free women".<ref>Snyder, ''Great Crossings'', pp. 53, 63, 66–67.</ref> Johnson taught them morality and basic literacy, with Julia undoubtedly teaching her own skills, with both later pushing for both of them to "receive regular academic lessons" which he later educated at home to prevent the scorn of neighbors and constituents. Later Johnson would provide for Adaline and Imogene's education.<ref name=bevins /><ref name=mills /> Both daughters married white men. Johnson gave them large farms as dowries from his own holdings.<ref name=stillman /> There is confusion about whether Adeline Chinn Scott had children; a 2007 account by the Scott County History Museum said she had at least one son, Robert Johnson Scott (with husband Thomas W. Scott) who became a doctor in [[Missouri]].<ref name=Snyder/><ref name=bevins /> Meyers said that she was childless.<ref name=meyer322>Meyer, p. 322</ref> There is also disagreement about the year of her death. Bevins writes that Adeline died in the 1833 cholera epidemic.<ref name=bevins /> Meyers wrote she died in 1836.<ref name=meyer322/> The [[Library of Congress]] notes that she died in February 1836.<ref>[http://loc.harpweek.com/LCPoliticalCartoons/DisplayCartoonMedium.asp?MaxID=&UniqueID=5&Year=1836&YearMark= "An Affecting Scene in Kentucky"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619045422/http://loc.harpweek.com/LCPoliticalCartoons/DisplayCartoonMedium.asp?MaxID=&UniqueID=5&Year=1836&YearMark= |date=June 19, 2008 }}, political print (c.1836), ''Harper's Weekly'', at Library of Congress, accessed November 12, 2013</ref>

Although Johnson treated these two daughters as his own, according to Meyers, the surviving Imogene was prevented from inheriting his estate at the time of his death. The court noted she was illegitimate, and so without rights in the case. Upon Johnson's death, the Fayette County Court found that "he left no widow, children, father, or mother living." It divided his estate between his living brothers, John and Henry.<ref name=meyer322323>Meyer, pp. 322–323</ref>

Bevins's account, written for the Georgetown & Scott County Museum, says that Adeline's son Robert Johnson Scott,<ref name=Snyder/> her first cousin, Richard M. Johnson, Jr., and Imogene's family (husband Daniel Pence, first daughter Malvina and son-in-law Robert Lee, and second daughter and son-in-law Josiah Pence)<ref name=Snyder/> "acquired" Johnson's remaining land after his death.<ref name=bevins />

After Chinn's death, Johnson began an [[intimate relationship]] with another family slave.<ref name=mcqueen19>McQueen, p. 19</ref> When she left him for another man, Johnson had her picked up and sold at auction. Afterward he began a similar relationship with her sister, also a slave.<ref name=mcqueen19 /><ref name=stimpson>Stimpson, p. 133</ref>

==Political career==
===Early years===
[[File:Richard M. Johnson Portrait by Peale.png|thumb|right|Portrait by [[Anna C. Peale]], 1818]]

After passing the bar, Johnson returned to Great Crossing, where his father gave him a plantation and slaves to work it. The many lawsuits over ownership of land provided him with much legal work, and, combined with his agricultural interests, he quickly became prosperous.<ref>Petriello, pp. 13–14</ref>

Johnson ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1803, but finished third, behind the winner, [[Thomas Sandford]], and William Henry. At that time, following the inauguration of [[Thomas Jefferson]] in 1801, many young, democratically minded aspiring politicians were seeking office.<ref>Petriello, pp. 17–18.</ref> While Jefferson and Johnson agreed on the need for greater democracy, Jefferson felt that the people should be led by the elite, such as himself, while Johnson took a more populist view.<ref>Smith 2013, pp. 53–54</ref>

In 1804, Johnson ran for the [[Kentucky House of Representatives]] for [[Scott County, Kentucky|Scott County]] (where Great Crossing is) and this time was elected, the first native Kentuckian to serve in the state's legislature.<ref>Meyer, pp. 49–50</ref> Although the [[Kentucky Constitution]] imposed an age requirement of twenty-four for members of the House of Representatives, Johnson was so popular that no one raised questions about his age, and he was allowed to take his seat.<ref name=langworthy9>Langworthy, p. 9</ref><ref name="Snyder, p. 44">Snyder, p. 44.</ref> Seeking to protect his constituents, most of whom were small farmers, he introduced a proposed U.S. constitutional amendment limiting the power of the federal courts to matters involving the U.S. Constitution. Throughout his political career, Johnson sought to limit the jurisdiction of federal courts, which he deemed undemocratic.<ref>Smith 2013, pp. 56–57</ref><ref>Meyer, pp. 52–53</ref>

In 1806, Johnson was elected as a [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]] to the United States House of Representatives, serving as the first native Kentuckian to be elected to Congress.<ref name=langworthy9 /><ref name="Snyder, p. 44"/> In the three-way election, he defeated Congressman Sandford and James Moore.<ref>Petriello, p. 19</ref> At the time of his election in August 1806, he did not meet the [[United States Constitution|U.S. Constitution]]'s [[Article One of the United States Constitution#Clause 2: Qualifications of Members|age requirement]] for service in the House (25), but by the time the congressional term began the following March, he had turned 25.<ref name=langworthy9 /> He was re-elected and served six consecutive terms. During the first three terms from 1807 to 1813, he represented Kentucky's [[Kentucky's 4th congressional district|Fourth District]].<ref name=pg>''The Political Graveyard''</ref>

Johnson took his seat in the House on October 26, 1807; Congress had been called into special session by President Jefferson to consider how to react to the [[Chesapeake–Leopard affair|''Chesapeake''–''Leopard'' affair]],<ref>Meyer, pp. 58–59</ref> the forcible boarding of an American naval ship by a British vessel, with four sailors seized as deserters and one hanged. Jefferson had tried to maintain neutrality with the main combatants in the [[Napoleonic Wars]], Britain and France, and at his urging, Congress passed the [[Embargo Act of 1807]], with Johnson voting in support, finding economic warfare preferable to the use of guns: "we fear no nation, but let the time for shedding human blood be protracted, when consistent with our safety".<ref>Jones, pp. 13–15</ref>

Over the following year, Congress attempted to tighten the embargo, which was widely evaded, especially in the Northeast, with Johnson voting in favor each time.<ref>Jones, pp. 15–16</ref> Johnson generally supported Jefferson's proposals, and those of his successor [[James Madison]]: all three were [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republicans]], and Johnson saw the party's proposals as superior to any suggested by the [[Federalist Party (United States)|Federalists]], whom he saw as not acting in the best interests of the country.<ref>Smith 2013, pp. 69, 78.</ref> In 1809, Johnson supported Jefferson in adopting the administration's proposal to replace the Embargo Act with the [[Non-Intercourse Act (1809)|Non-Intercourse Act]], as the embargo had proven ineffective except in causing a serious recession in the United States.<ref>Petriello, pp. 23–25.</ref>

Although Johnson is considered one of the War Hawks, the young Southern and Western Democratic-Republicans who sought expansion and development of the nation,<ref>Petriello, p. 21</ref> he was cautious in the runup to the [[War of 1812]]. Johnson saw Britain as the major obstacle to United States control of North America, but worried about what a war might bring.<ref>Smith 2013, pp. 72–76</ref> By the time Congress met in late 1811, he had come around to war, and joined the War Hawks in electing one of their own, [[Henry Clay]] of Kentucky, as [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker]]. Like the other War Hawks, though, he was initially unwilling to support increased taxes and borrowing to finance the construction of naval vessels.<ref>Jones, pp. 23–27</ref> When Madison asked Congress for a declaration of war against Britain in June 1812, Johnson voted in favor<ref>Meyer, p. 84</ref> as the House passed the resolution, 79–49. Madison signed the declaration on June 18, 1812.<ref>Jones, p. 28</ref>

For his fourth consecutive term from 1813 to 1815, he had secured one of Kentucky's [[at-large]] seats in the House. For his fifth and sixth consecutive terms, 1815 to 1819, he represented Kentucky's [[Kentucky's 3rd congressional district|Third District]]. Johnson continued to represent the interests of the poor as a member of the House. He first came to national attention with his opposition to rechartering the [[First Bank of the United States]].<ref name=hatfield />

Johnson served as chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Claims|Committee on Claims]] during the [[11th United States Congress|Eleventh Congress]] (1809–1811).<ref name=bioguide /> The committee was charged with adjudicating financial claims made by veterans of the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]]. He sought to influence the committee to grant the claim of [[Alexander Hamilton]]'s widow to wages which Hamilton had declined when serving under [[George Washington]].<ref name=langworthy10>Langworthy, p. 10</ref> Although Hamilton was a champion of the rival [[Federalist Party (United States)|Federalist Party]], Johnson had compassion for Hamilton's widow; before the end of his term, he secured payment of the wages.<ref name=langworthy10 />

===War of 1812===
{{see also|Kentucky in the War of 1812}}

====Initial service====
Within a week of the declaration of war, Johnson urged the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] to recommend the raising of troops in the western states, lest disaster befall settlers on the frontier.<ref>Petriello, p. 32</ref> After the adjournment, Johnson returned to Kentucky to recruit volunteers. So many men responded that he chose only those with horses, and raised a body of mounted rifles.<ref>Langworthy, pp. 13–14</ref> The War of 1812 was extraordinarily popular in Kentucky; Kentuckians depended on sea trade through the port of [[New Orleans]] and feared that the British would stir up another Indian war.<ref>Carr, pp. 299–300</ref>{{efn|Carr also sees, as background motives, the British hostility to slavery, and a consequent wish to disentangle Britain from the United States.}} The land war fought in the Northern United States pitted American troops against British forces and their Indian allies.<ref>Jones, p. 28.</ref> Johnson recruited 300 men, divided into three [[company (military unit)|companies]], who elected him [[Major (rank)|major]]. They merged with another [[battalion]], forming a [[regiment]] of 500 men, with Johnson as [[colonel]], with the merged volunteer forces becoming a [[brigade]] commanded by General [[Edward W. Tupper]] of Ohio.<ref>Petriello, p. 32.</ref> The Kentucky militia was under the command of General [[William Henry Harrison]], the [[Governor of Indiana|Governor of the Indiana Territory]].<ref>Meyer, p. 90.</ref>

Johnson's force was originally intended to join General [[William Hull]] at Detroit, but Hull [[Siege of Detroit|surrendered Detroit]] on August 16 and his army was captured. Harrison by then was in command of the entire Northwest frontier and ordered Johnson to relieve [[Forts of Fort Wayne, Indiana|Fort Wayne]] in the northeast of the Territory, which was already being attacked by the Indians. On September 18, 1812, Johnson's men reached Fort Wayne in time to save it, and turned back an Indian ambush. They returned to Kentucky and disbanded, going out of their way to burn [[Potawatomi]] villages along the [[Elkhart River]] en route.<ref>Meyer, p. 92; Pratt, p. 89</ref>

Johnson returned to his seat in Congress in the late fall of 1812. Based on his experience, he proposed a plan to defeat the mobile, [[guerrilla warfare]] of the Indians. American troops moved slowly, dependent on a supply line. Indians would evade battle and raid supplies until the American forces withdrew or were overrun. Mounted riflemen could move quickly, carry their own supplies, and live off the woods. If they attacked Indian villages in winter, the Indians would be compelled to stand and fight for the supplies they used to wage war and could be decisively defeated. Johnson submitted this plan to President [[James Madison]] and [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[John Armstrong, Jr.|John Armstrong]], who approved it in principle. They referred the plan to Harrison, who found winter operations impracticable. Johnson was permitted to try the tactics in the summer of 1813; later, the US conducted Indian wars in winter with his strategy.<ref>Pratt, pp. 90–91; cf. Langworthy, p. 15, Emmons, p. 22.</ref>

Johnson left Washington, D.C., just before Congress adjourned. He raised one thousand men, nominally part of the Kentucky militia under [[Governor of Kentucky|Governor]] [[Isaac Shelby]], but largely operating independently. He disciplined his men, required that every man have arms in prime condition and ready to hand, and hired [[gunsmith]]s, [[blacksmith]]s, and [[Physician|doctors]] at his own expense. He devised a new tactical system: when any group of men encountered the enemy, they were to dismount, take cover, and hold the enemy in place. All groups not in contact were to ride to the sound of firing, and dismount, surrounding the enemy when they got there. Between May and September, Johnson raided throughout the Northwest, burning the war supply centers of Indian villages, surrounding their fighting units and scattering them, killing some  warriors each time.<ref>Pratt, pp. 92–94</ref>

====Battle of the Thames====

In September, [[Oliver Hazard Perry]] captured a British squadron at the [[Battle of Lake Erie]], taking control of the lake. This made the British army, then at [[Fort Malden]] (now [[Amherstburg, Ontario]]) vulnerable to having its supply lines cut. The British, under General [[Henry Procter (British Army officer)|Henry Procter]], withdrew to the northeast, pursued by Harrison, who had advanced through [[Michigan]] while Johnson kept the Indians engaged. The Indian chief [[Tecumseh]] and his allies covered the British retreat, but were countered by Johnson, who had been called back from a raid on [[Kaskaskia]] that had taken the post where the British had distributed arms and money to the Indians. Johnson's cavalry defeated Tecumseh's main force on September 29, took British supply trains on October 3, and was one of the factors inducing Procter to stand and fight at the [[Battle of the Thames]] on October 5, as Tecumseh had been demanding he do. One of Johnson's slaves, Daniel Chinn, accompanied Johnson to the battle.<ref>Snyder, ''Great Crossings'', p. 7. Julia Chinn, an enslaved black woman, sought more liberty for herself and children was different from Daniel, her brother.</ref>

[[File:Death of Tecumseh- Battle of the Thames Oct. 18- 1813 - lith. & pub. by N. Currier. LCCN91794824.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|[[Nathaniel Currier]]'s lithograph ({{circa}} 1846) is one of many images that portrayed Johnson as Tecumseh's killer.]]
At the battle itself, Johnson's forces were the first to attack. One battalion of five hundred men, under Johnson's elder brother, James Johnson, engaged the British force of eight hundred [[British Army#Structure|regulars]]; simultaneously, Richard Johnson, with the other, now somewhat smaller battalion, attacked the fifteen hundred Indians led by Tecumseh. There was too much tree cover for the British volleys to be effective against James Johnson; three-quarters of the regulars were killed or captured.

The Indians were a harder fight; they were out of the main field of battle, skirmishing on the edge of an adjacent swamp. Richard Johnson ordered a suicide squad of twenty men to charge with him and draw the Indians' fire, with the rest to attack as the Indians reloaded. But he was unable to push his troops through the enemy position due to the swampy ground. Johnson had to order his men to dismount and hold until Shelby's infantry came up. By then, under the pressure of Johnson's attack, the Native American force broke and fled into the swamp, during which time Tecumseh was slain.<ref>Pratt, pp. 94–96</ref><ref>Snyder, ''Great Crossings'', pp. 44–47.</ref>

The question of who shot and killed Tecumseh was highly controversial in Johnson's lifetime, as he was most often named as the shooter. Johnson himself did not publicly say that he had killed Tecumseh, stating that he had killed "a tall, good-looking Indian", but initial published accounts named him, and it was not until 1816 that another claimant, a man named David King, appeared.<ref>Sugden, pp. 136–142.</ref> John Sugden, in his book on the Battle of the Thames, found that Johnson's "claim is surely the stronger".<ref>Sugden, pp. 140–152.</ref> Jones suggested that the issue did not truly catch the public's attention until Johnson became a potential candidate for national office in the 1830s, and was promoted through such means as a campaign biography, stage play and song. In any event, he found, "Colonel Johnson truly was a war hero at the Battle of the Thames. By&nbsp;... leading the suicide mission on horseback, more lives were saved than lost. Johnson was lucky to have been only wounded, since fifteen men died instantly during the charge."<ref>Jones, pp. 45–47.</ref>

There are reports from Indians that support Johnson's account, but most were made decades after the battle, by which time the question of whether Johnson shot Tecumseh had become politically charged.<ref>Sugden, pp. 152–167.</ref> Tecumseh was said to have been shot from a firearm pointed at a downward angle, as if from a horse, with a ball and three buckshot, which Johnson's pistol was said to be loaded with. Evidence that it was so loaded is lacking, and the angle of the wound did not exclude the possibility that he had been stooping when shot. Some accounts have muskets loaded with cartridges containing a ball and three buckshot being commonly carried by American soldiers, and whether the Americans identified the proper body as Tecumseh (whose death was attested to by British officers who had been at the battle) is another source of contention.<ref>Sugden, pp. 140–142, 169–170, 174.</ref>

On April 4, 1818, an act of Congress requested that the President of the United States present to Johnson a sword in honor of his "daring and distinguished valor" at the Battle of the Thames.<ref>''Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, 1789–1903''.  Francis B. Heitman. Vol. 1, p. 576.</ref> The sword was presented to Johnson by President [[James Monroe]] in April 1820.<ref name = "p67" /> Johnson was one of only 14 military officers to be presented a sword by an act of Congress prior to the American Civil War.<ref>Heitman. p. 46.</ref>

====Return to Washington====
With the American success at the Battle of the Thames, the war in the northwest was effectively over. Although there was no organized resistance to his presence in Canada, Harrison withdrew to Detroit because of supply problems.<ref name=uva /> Johnson remained, wounded, at Detroit as his men began their return to Kentucky. Once he had recovered enough to bear the journey, he was conveyed home in a bed in a carriage, arriving there in early November 1813.<ref>Meyer, p. 136</ref> It took him five months to recover, though he was still left with a damaged left arm and hand, and was later described as walking with a limp. He returned to Congress in February 1814, but due to his wounds was unable to participate in debates until the following session of Congress.<ref>Jones, pp. 48–49.</ref> He received a hero's welcome, still suffering from war wounds that would plague him for the rest of his life.<ref name = "senate">{{cite web|title=Richard Mentor Johnson, 9th Vice President (1837–1841)|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_Richard_M_Johnson.htm|publisher=[[United States Senate]] Historical Office|access-date=June 7, 2018}}</ref>

In August 1814, British forces attacked Washington, D.C., and burned the [[White House]] and Capitol, and when Congress reconvened on September 19, with Johnson present, it was in temporary quarters.<ref>Meyer, pp. 140–141; Jones, p. 50.</ref> On September 22, Johnson moved for the appointment of a committee to look into why the British had been allowed to burn the city, and he was appointed as chairman. Johnson's committee compiled a voluminous report, but it was objected to by Representative [[Daniel Webster]], who felt the report, including much correspondence, needed to be printed so that all congressmen could study it. This postponed any debate to 1815, by which time the [[Treaty of Ghent]] had been ratified, and the United States was again at peace. With Congress having little interest in debating the matter, it was dropped.<ref>Jones, pp. 51–59.</ref> Had the war continued, Johnson was ready to return to Kentucky to raise another military unit.<ref>Langworthy, p. 31</ref>

===Post-war career in the House===
[[File:Colonel Richard M. Johnson Trim.jpg|thumb|right|Portrait of Johnson in uniform]]
With the end of the war, Johnson, who was made chairman of the House Committee on Military Affairs, turned his legislative attention to issues such as securing [[pension]]s for widows and orphans and funding [[internal improvements]] in the [[Western United States|West]].<ref name=uva /> There were widespread reports of Americans, including women and children, captured by Indians during the war, and Johnson used his congressional office to investigate these matters, and to try to secure the release of captives.<ref>Petriello, pp. 58–59.</ref> Western Democratic-Republicans like Johnson strongly supported the military and urged aid for the veterans; in December 1815, Johnson introduced legislation for the "relief of the infirm, disabled, and superannuated officers and soldiers".<ref>Smith 2013, pp. 131–132.</ref> Fearing that the [[United States Military Academy]] at [[West Point, New York]] produced dandies, not soldiers, Johnson expanded on a proposal by President Madison to establish three additional military academies, urging the placement of one of them in Kentucky.<ref>Smith 2013, pp. 134–135.</ref> Despite the support of such influential members of the House as Clay and [[John C. Calhoun]], the proposal did not pass, but Johnson worked to have federal facilities built in the West throughout his time in Congress.<ref>Petriello, p. 55.</ref>

Johnson believed that Congressional business was too slow and tedious and that the ''per diem'' system of compensation encouraged delays on the part of members.<ref name=meyer168>Meyer, p. 168</ref> To remedy this, he sponsored legislation to pay annual salaries of $1,500 to congressmen rather than a $6 ''per diem'' for the days the body was in session.<ref name=meyer170>Meyer, p. 170</ref> At the time, this had the effect of increasing the total compensation from about $900 to $1500. Johnson noted that congressmen had not had a pay increase in 27 years, during which time the cost of living had greatly increased, and that $1,500 was less than the salaries of 28 of the clerks employed by the government.<ref name=meyer171>Meyer, p. 171</ref> The popular Johnson's sponsorship of the measure provided political cover for proponents; Maryland's [[Robert Wright (Maryland politician)|Robert Wright]] wondered how his colleagues would feel if, "the highly honorable mover of this bill, who slew Tecumseh with his own hands&nbsp;... he who came up here covered with wounds and glory, with his favorite war-horse and his more favorite servant—his attendant in the army, his nurse and necessary assistant" was "obliged to sell his war-horse or his servant"; salaries would prevent such things from coming to pass.<ref>Smith 2013, pp. 142–144.</ref> The bill passed the House and Senate quickly and was made law on March 19, 1816.<ref name=meyer171 /> But, the measure proved extremely unpopular with voters, in part because it gave Congress an immediate pay raise, rather than waiting until after the next election.<ref>Hatfield; Cleaves, p. 237</ref>{{efn|Today, this would violate the Twenty-seventh Amendment.}} Many members who supported the bill lost their seats as a result, including Johnson's colleague [[Solomon P. Sharp]] from Kentucky. Johnson's overall popularity helped him retain his seat against a challenge, one of only 15 of 81 who voted to pass the bill to keep their seats in the House. The old Congress met for a [[lame-duck session]] in December, repealed the new law effective when the new Congress was sworn in, but at Johnson's suggestion, did not revive the old ''per diem'', thus forcing the new legislators to act on the matter if they wanted to get paid.<ref>Meyer, pp. 171–176.</ref> Compensation for members of Congress remained on a ''per diem'' basis until an annual salary of $3,000 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=3000|start_year=1855}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) was prescribed in 1855.<ref>{{cite web|title=Salary Storm|publisher=[[United States Senate]]|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Salary_Storm.htm|access-date=June 8, 2018}}</ref> According to Edward J. McManus, who wrote Johnson's entry in the ''[[American National Biography]]'', "Johnson, instead of defending the merits of the reform, avoided the backlash by pledging to work for the repeal of his own measure. He justified his reversal by arguing that representatives should reflect the popular will, but lack of political stamina may have been closer to the truth."<ref name = "ANB" />

Johnson disliked the idea of a national bank, and had voted in 1811 not to renew the charter of the [[First Bank of the United States]].<ref>Meyer, pp. 79–80.</ref> Calhoun's bill for a [[Second Bank of the United States]] passed Congress in early 1816. Johnson was opposed, but was absent for the vote, busy with other matters.<ref>Jones, pp. 61–62.</ref> A bonus was to be paid to the government by the Second Bank, and a bill was introduced early in 1817 to spend that money on internal improvements. Although Johnson was opposed to the national bank, he supported the bill, believing that the improvements to transportation would benefit his constituents, and the bill passed the House by two votes. Madison, then in his final days in office, vetoed the bill. Johnson joined the effort to override the veto, but it failed.<ref>Petriello, p. 61.</ref> The break from the administration was unusual for Johnson, but he believed the war had shown the need for better roads and canals.<ref>Meyer, p. 163.</ref>

When he took office in 1817, President [[James Monroe]]'s first choice for Secretary of War was Henry Clay, who declined the position. The post ultimately went to Calhoun.<ref name=hatfield /> The result was that Johnson became chair of the [[United States House Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments|Committee on Expenditures]] where he wielded considerable influence over defense policy in the [[United States Department of War|Department of War]] during the [[15th United States Congress|Fifteenth Congress]].<ref name=bioguide /> In 1817, Congress investigated General [[Andrew Jackson]]'s execution of [[Arbuthnot and Ambrister incident|two British subjects]] during the [[First Seminole War]]. Johnson chaired the inquiry committee. The majority of the committee favored a negative report and a [[censure]] for Jackson. Johnson, a Jackson supporter, drafted a minority report that was more favorable to Jackson and opposed the censure. The ensuing debate pitted Johnson against fellow Kentuckian Clay. Johnson's report prevailed, and Jackson was spared censure.<ref>Langworthy, pp. 35–36</ref> This disagreement between Johnson and Clay, however, marked the beginning of a political separation between the two that lasted for the duration of their careers.<ref name=meyer181>Meyer, p. 181.</ref>

In 1818, Calhoun approved an [[Yellowstone Expedition|expedition]] to build a military outpost near the present site of [[Bismarck, North Dakota]] on the [[Yellowstone River]]; Johnson awarded the contract to his brother James.<ref name=hatfield /> Although the [[Yellowstone Expedition]] was an ultimate failure and expensive to the U.S. Treasury, the Johnsons escaped political ill will in their home district because the venture was seen as a peacekeeping endeavor on the frontier.<ref name=hatfield /> However, the [[Panic of 1819]] caused Congress to investigate the Yellowstone matter, and in 1820, a report found that James Johnson had overcharged the government by $76,000.<ref>Petriello, pp. 65–66.</ref> Richard and James Johnson, as well as other family members, remained in debt until 1824, when arrangements were made with the largest creditor, the [[Second Bank of the United States]], to settle the liabilities.<ref>Jones, pp. 141–142</ref>

===Senator===
====Monroe years (1819–1825)====
Johnson announced his intent to retire from the House of Representatives in early 1818.<ref name=meyer183>Meyer, p. 183.</ref> Sources differ on why he did; David Petriello, in his biography of Johnson, stated that the Kentucky congressman had determined to move on to the Senate;<ref name = "p67">Petriello, p. 67.</ref> an earlier biographer, Leland Winfield Meyer stated that Johnson's departure from the House was because he believed in [[rotation in office]] and felt he had served there long enough.<ref name=meyer183/> Jones stated that Johnson planned to return to private life to deal with family business interests.<ref>Jones, p. 181.</ref>

Under the original federal Constitution, state legislators, not the voters, elected U.S. senators,<ref name = "p67" /> and the [[Kentucky General Assembly]] was to choose a replacement for outgoing senator [[Isham Talbot]] in December 1818. Johnson was considered a strong contender if he entered the race, and in October he let it be known through the press that he would accept the Senate seat if the General Assembly elected him. On December 18, 1818, legislators chose [[William Logan (Kentucky)|William Logan]] over Johnson, 67–55.<ref name=meyer185>Meyer, p. 185</ref> Newspapers noted that the former congressman had never officially declared his candidacy, and that Johnson's political friends intended to nominate him for governor in the 1820 election.<ref>Meyer, pp. 184–185</ref>

Johnson's term in the House expired March 3, 1819, but by August, he had been elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives, where he worked to secure passage of a law that abolished imprisonment for debtors in the state,<ref name=kye /> though it did not pass until 1821.<ref name="senate"/> But when Senator John J. Crittenden resigned in November 1819, the legislature was called upon to fill the seat.<ref name=kye /> The following month, the General Assembly elected Johnson to the Senate in a 68–53 vote over [[John Adair]], who would be Kentucky's next governor.<ref>Petriello, p. 68.</ref>

Johnson was sworn in on January 3, 1820. The Senate was at that time grappling with the admission of the [[Missouri Territory]] and the [[Maine District]] (then part of Massachusetts) as states. When a bill was introduced which would bar slavery in the territories north and west of Missouri, Johnson was assigned to a select committee of five senators to consider it. The Maine and Missouri questions had been combined into one bill; Johnson voted against an amendment to separate them, which was defeated.<ref>Meyer, pp. 207–210.</ref>

On February 17, the Senate voted to bar slavery outside Missouri in the part of the [[Louisiana Purchase]] north of the [[Parallel 36°30′ north|36°30′ north latitude]] line, with Johnson voting in favor. The bill passed, and was signed by President Monroe in March. Missouri's admission was delayed due to controversial clauses in its draft constitution, such as one forbidding the entry to the state of free African-Americans. Johnson served on the committee of House and Senate members which brokered a resolution, enabling Missouri's admission in August 1821.<ref>Meyer, pp. 213–215.</ref>

Johnson was re-elected to a full term in 1822, so that in total, his Senate tenure ran from December 10, 1819, to March 4, 1829.<ref name=bioguide /> In 1821, he introduced legislation chartering Columbian College (later [[The George Washington University]]) in Washington, D.C.<ref name=kye /> During this time period, his views on Western expansion were clear. He believed that the US "empire of liberty" should extend across the continent, arguing in debates leading up to the [[Missouri Compromise]] that western expansion and emancipation should go hand in hand, acknowledging issues with white [[racism]] but advocating for gradual emancipation.<ref>Snyder, ''Great Crossings'', p. 7.</ref> Furthermore, he went against the ideas put forward by sympathizers of the [[Colonization movement]], arguing in "favor of meaningfully incorporating people of color into a multiracial empire".<ref>Snyder, ''Great Crossings'', p. 61.</ref>

[[File:Col. Johnson Liberating An Unfortunate Debtor.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|"Col. Johnson liberating an unfortunate debtor," an illustration published in an 1843 biographical sketch of Johnson]]

In December 1822, Johnson introduced legislation to abolish imprisonment for debt at the federal level.<ref>Schlesinger, p. 135.</ref> He first spoke to the issue in the Senate on December 14, 1822, pointing to the positive effects its cessation had effected in his home state. The bill failed, but Johnson persisted in re-introducing it every year. In 1824, it passed the Senate but was too late to be acted upon by the House. It passed the Senate a second time in 1828, but again, the House failed to act on it, and the measure died for some years, owing to Johnson's exit from the Senate the next year.<ref>Meyer, pp. 282–287</ref> Passage would have made only a modest impact since few were imprisoned for debt at the federal level, but Johnson hoped to advance the cause of abolishing it in the states. The reform was opposed by the business community, but Jackson's support after he became president in 1829 eventually gave the movement fresh life, and a limited bill was passed in 1832. Within ten years after that, imprisonment for debt had been abolished in most states.<ref>Schesinger, pp. 135–136.</ref>

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.<ref>Stillman, Schlesinger, pp. 30–32</ref> Johnson knew this politically pressing issue, which he worked on into the 1830s, quite well because it affected him personally. He was in debt himself from his business losses and support for Western expansion.<ref>Snyder, pp. 48–49.</ref> He also continued to advocate for the positions he had held while a member of the House. As the chair of the Committee on Military Affairs, Johnson pushed for higher veterans pensions, and a liberal policy to enable settlers to buy land in the West more easily.<ref>Snyder, pp. 47–48.</ref>

====Adams opponent (1825–1829)====
The [[congressional nominating caucus]] system for choosing presidential and vice presidential candidates was unpopular by 1824, though a caucus did choose [[William H. Crawford]] of Georgia. State legislatures chose the other presidential candidates: Clay, Jackson and [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[John Quincy Adams]]. Johnson supported Clay, his fellow Kentuckian, and Clay gained the state's electoral votes. Jackson led in both the popular and electoral vote for president, but did not have a majority, so [[1824 United States presidential election|the election]] for president was thrown into the House of Representatives, though Calhoun gained a majority of the electoral vote for vice president. Clay had finished fourth in electoral vote, and as the Constitution limits the House's choice to the top three finishers, he was eliminated.<ref>Petriello, pp. 74–75.</ref> Johnson supported Jackson, and there were rumors Johnson would be Secretary of War in a Jackson administration. Clay threw his support to Adams, who was elected, and many believed Clay (who became Secretary of State) and Adams had made a [[Corrupt Bargain]]. Johnson was the one who informed Jackson of this. Many of Jackson's supporters were enraged by the outcome,<ref>Petriello, p. 75.</ref> including Johnson, who promised to oppose the Adams administration: "for by the Eternal, if they act as pure as the angels that stand at the right hand of the throne of God, we'll put them down".<ref>Meyer, p. 221.</ref> Johnson opposed Adams's policies, and became a member of the faction, later the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], that New York Senator [[Martin Van Buren]] was forming to promote Jackson's candidacy in 1828.<ref>Smith 2013, pp. 218–219.</ref>

Already known for securing government contracts for himself, as well as his brothers and friends, he offered land to establish the [[Choctaw Academy]], a school devoted to the European-American education of Indians from the Southeast tribes. Johnson had tried to establish an Indian school at Great Crossings in 1818, partnering with the Kentucky Baptist Society, but the school folded in 1821 after it failed to gain the support of the federal government or private donors.<ref>Snyder, ''Great Crossings'', pp. 50–51.</ref> The new academy would come into being a few years later. The academy, sitting on his farm in Scott County in 1825, was overseen by Johnson; and not only was part of treaty negotiations with the [[Choctaw]] Nation but appealed to his colleagues as a form "peaceful conquest" or "expansion with honor" as [[Henry Knox]] put it.<ref>Snyder, ''Great Crossings'', pp. 38–40, 69.</ref><ref name=foreman>Foreman, ''The Choctaw Academy''</ref> Although he never ran afoul of the [[conflict of interest]] standards of his day, some of his colleagues considered his actions ethically questionable.<ref name=stillman/> Johnson was paid well for the school by the federal government, which gave him a portion of the annuities for the Choctaw. It was promoted by the [[Baptist Missionary Society]] as well.<ref name="mcmillan">[ Ethel McMillan, "FIRST NATIONAL INDIAN SCHOOL: THE CHOCTAW ACADEMY"], ''Chronicles of Oklahoma'', accessed November 12, 2013</ref> Some European-American students also attended the academy, including his nephew [[Robert Ward Johnson]] from Arkansas.<ref name="ark">[http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=1682 "Robert Ward Johnson (1814–1879)"], ''Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture'', accessed November 12, 2013</ref>

Another pet project Johnson supported was prompted by his friendship with [[John Cleves Symmes Jr.]], who proposed that the [[Hollow Earth|Earth was hollow]]. In 1823, Johnson proposed in the Senate that the government fund an expedition to the center of the Earth. The proposal was soundly defeated, receiving only twenty-five votes in the House and Senate combined.<ref name=mcqueen19 />

Johnson served as chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Post Office and Post Roads|Committee on Post Office and Post Roads]] during the [[19th United States Congress|Nineteenth]] and [[19th United States Congress|Twentieth]] Congresses. Near the end of his term in the Senate, petitioners asked Congress to prevent the handling and delivery of mail on Sunday because it violated [[Bible|biblical]] principles about not working on the [[Sabbath in Christianity|Sabbath]].<ref name=stillman /> These petitions were referred to Johnson's committee. In response, Johnson, a practicing [[Baptist]], drafted a report now commonly referred to as ''The Sunday Mail Report''.<ref name=stillman /><ref name=langworthy39>Langworthy, p. 39</ref> In the report, presented to Congress on January 19, 1829, Johnson argued that government was "a civil, and not a religious institution", and as such could not legislate the tenets of any particular [[Religious denomination|denomination]].<ref name=hatfield /> The report was applauded as an elegant defense of the doctrine of [[separation of church and state]]. But Johnson was criticized for conflicts of interest in his defense, as he had friends who were contracted to haul mail, and who would have suffered financially from such a ban.<ref name=stillman />

In 1828, Johnson was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election, owing in part to his relationship with the biracial slave Julia Chinn, with whom he lived in a common-law marriage.<ref name=hatfield /> Although residents of his own district seemed little bothered by the arrangement, slaveholders elsewhere in the state were not so forgiving.<ref name=hatfield /> The Democratic Party in Kentucky was split, with enough dissidents to be able to join with the opposition to block Johnson's re-election. Johnson's managers withdrew his name and proposed [[George M. Bibb]], who was elected.<ref>Meyer, pp. 251–254.</ref> In his own defense, Johnson said, "Unlike [[Thomas Jefferson|Jefferson]], Clay, [[George Poindexter|Poindexter]] and others I married my wife under the eyes of [[God]], and apparently He has found no objections."<ref name=burke>Burke, ''Window to the Past''</ref> (The named men were suspected or known to have similar relationships with slave women.)<ref name=burke /> According to Henry Robert Burke, what people objected to was Johnson trying to introduce his daughters to "polite society". People were used to planters and overseers having relationships with slave women, but they were expected to deny them.<ref name=burke />

===Return to the House===
[[File:Richard Mentor Johnson Portrait by Newsam Crop.jpg|thumb|right|[[Lithograph]] by [[Albert Newsam]], 1832]]
After his failed Senatorial re-election bid, Johnson returned to the House, representing Kentucky's [[Kentucky's 5th congressional district|Fifth District]] from 1829 to 1833, and [[Kentucky's 13th congressional district|Thirteenth District]] from 1833 to 1837. During the [[21st United States Congress|Twenty-first]] and [[22nd United States Congress|Twenty-second]] Congresses, he again served as chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Post Office and Post Roads|Committee on Post Office and Post Roads]].<ref name=bioguide /> In this capacity, he was again asked to address the question of Sunday mail delivery. He drew up a second report, largely similar in content to the first, arguing against legislation preventing mail delivery on Sunday.<ref name=langworthy40>Langworthy, p. 40</ref> The report, commonly called "Col. Johnson's second Sunday mail report", was delivered to Congress in March 1830.<ref name=langworthy40 />

Some contemporaries doubted Johnson's authorship of this second report.<ref name=hatfield /> Many claimed it was instead written by [[Amos Kendall]].<ref name=meyer262>Meyer, p. 262</ref> Kendall claimed he had seen the report only after it had been drafted and said he had only altered "one or two words".<ref name=meyer262 /> Kendall speculated that the author could be Reverend O.B. Brown, but historian Leland Meyer concludes that there is no reason to doubt that Johnson authored the report himself.<ref name=meyer262 />

Johnson chaired the [[United States House Committee on Military Affairs|Committee on Military Affairs]] during the Twenty-second, [[23rd United States Congress|Twenty-third]], and [[24th United States Congress|Twenty-fourth]] Congresses.<ref name=bioguide /> Beginning in 1830, there arose a groundswell of public support for Johnson's "pet project" of ending debt imprisonment.<ref>Meyer, pp. 287–288</ref> The subject began to appear more frequently in President Jackson's addresses to the legislature.<ref name=meyer288>Meyer, p. 288</ref> Johnson chaired a House committee to report on the subject, and delivered the committee's report on January 17, 1832.<ref>Meyer, pp. 288–289</ref> Later that year, a bill abolishing the practice of debt imprisonment passed both houses of Congress, and was signed into law on July 14.<ref name=meyer289>Meyer, p. 289</ref>

Johnson's stands won him widespread popularity and endorsement by [[George Henry Evans|George H. Evans]], [[Robert Dale Owen]], and [[Theophilus Fisk]] for the presidency in 1832, but Johnson abandoned his campaign when Andrew Jackson announced he would seek a second term. He then began campaigning to become Jackson's running mate, but Jackson favored Martin Van Buren instead. At the [[Democratic National Convention]], Johnson finished a distant third in the vice-presidential balloting, receiving only the votes of the Kentucky, [[Indiana]], and [[Illinois]] delegations; [[William Berkeley Lewis|William B. Lewis]] had to persuade him to withdraw<ref>Hatfield; Schlesinger, p. 142.</ref>

===Election of 1836===
After the [[1832 United States presidential election|election of 1832]], Johnson continued to campaign for the vice presidency which would be available in [[1836 United States presidential election|1836]]. He was endorsed by the New York labor leader [[Ely Moore]] on March 13, 1833, nine days after Jackson and Van Buren were inaugurated. Moore praised his devotion to [[freedom of religion]] and his opposition to imprisonment for debt.<ref>Emmons, pp. 61''ff'', which abstracts Moore's speech and other documents.</ref>{{efn|Note that Emmons, like Langworthy, was published in New York City.}}

William Emmons, the [[Boston]] printer, published a [[biography]] of Johnson in New York dated July 1833.<ref>Emmons, p. 4; Schlesinger, p. 142.</ref> Richard Emmons, from Great Crossing, Kentucky, followed this up with a play entitled ''Tecumseh, of the Battle of the Thames'' and a poem in honor of Johnson. Many of Johnson's friends and supporters&nbsp;– [[Davy Crockett]] and [[John Bell (Tennessee politician)|John Bell]] among them&nbsp;– encouraged him to run for president. Jackson, however, supported Vice President Van Buren for the office. Johnson accepted this choice, and worked to gain the nomination for vice president.<ref name=hatfield />

Emmons's poem provided the line that became Johnson's campaign slogan: "Rumpsey Dumpsey, Rumpsey Dumpsey, Colonel Johnson killed Tecumseh."<ref name=hatfield /> Jackson supported Johnson for vice-president, thinking that the war hero would balance the ticket with Van Buren, who had not served in the War of 1812.<ref name=uva /> Jackson made his decision based on Johnson's loyalty but also the president's anger at the primary rival candidate, [[William Cabell Rives]].<ref name=hatfield />

Despite Jackson's support, the party was far from united behind Johnson. Van Buren preferred Rives as a running mate.<ref name=hatfield /> In a letter to Jackson, [[Tennessee Supreme Court]] justice [[John Catron]] doubted that "a lucky random shot, even if it did hit Tecumseh, qualifies a man for the vice presidency."<ref name=stillman /> Although Johnson was a "widower" after Chinn's death in 1833, there was still dissension related to Johnson's open relationship with a slave.<ref name=burke /> The [[1835 Democratic National Convention]], in [[Baltimore]], in May 1835, was held under the [[two-thirds rule]], largely to demonstrate Van Buren's wide popularity. Although Van Buren was nominated unanimously, Johnson barely obtained the necessary two-thirds of the vote. (A motion was made to change the rule, but it obtained only a bare majority, not two-thirds.)

Tennessee's delegation did not attend the convention. Edward Rucker, a Tennessean who happened to be in Baltimore, was picked to cast its 15 votes, so that all the states would endorse Van Buren. Senator [[Silas Wright]], of New York, prevailed upon Rucker to vote for Johnson, giving him just more than twice the votes cast for Rives, and the nomination.<ref>Lynch, pp. 383''ff''</ref>

Jackson's faith in Johnson to balance the ticket proved misplaced. In the general election, Johnson cost the Democrats votes in the [[Southern United States|South]], where his relationship with Chinn was particularly unpopular. He also failed to garner much support from the West, where he was supposed to be strong due to his reputation as an Indian fighter and war hero.<ref name=stillman /> He even failed to deliver his home state of Kentucky for the Democrats.<ref name=stillman /> Regardless, the Democrats still won the popular vote.

When the electoral vote was counted in Congress on February 8, 1837, Van Buren was found to have received 170 votes for president, but Johnson had received only 147 for vice-president.<ref name=stillman /> Although [[Virginia]] had elected electors pledged to both Van Buren and Johnson, the state's 23 "[[faithless elector]]s" refused to vote for Johnson, leaving him one electoral vote short of a majority.<ref name=hatfield /> For the only time, the Senate was charged with electing the vice president as [[Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twelfth Amendment]] required the Senate to choose the vice president from the top two candidates if none of them received a majority. The vote on February 8, 1837 divided mostly along party lines, with Johnson becoming vice-president by a vote of 33, as opposed to 16 for [[Francis Granger]]; three senators were absent.<ref>{{cite web| title=24th Congress Senate Vote 334 (1837)| url=https://voteview.com/rollcall/RS0240334| website=voteview.com| publisher=UCLA Department of Political Science and Social Science Computing| location=Los Angeles, California| access-date=October 17, 2024}}</ref>

==Vice presidency (1837–1841)==
[[File:Richard Mentor Johnson Portrait by Peale.jpg|thumb|Portrait of a middle-aged Johnson by [[Rembrandt Peale]]]]
Johnson served as vice president from March 4, 1837, to March 4, 1841. His term was largely unremarkable, and he enjoyed little influence with President Van Buren.<ref name=uva /> His penchant for wielding his power for his own interests did not abate. He lobbied the Senate to promote Samuel Milroy, whom he owed a favor, to the position of Indian agent.<ref name=hatfield /> When [[Lewis Tappan]] requested presentation of an [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] petition to the Senate, Johnson, who was still a slaveholder, declined the request.<ref name=hatfield />

As presiding officer of the Senate, Johnson was called on to cast a [[List of tie-breaking votes cast by the vice president of the United States|tie-breaking vote]] fourteen times, more than all of his predecessors save [[John Adams]] and John Calhoun. Despite the precedent set by some of his predecessors, Johnson never addressed the Senate on the occasion of a tie-breaking vote; however, on one occasion, he did explain his vote — via an article in the ''[[Kentucky Gazette]]''.<ref name=hatfield />

After the financial [[Panic of 1837]], Johnson took a nine-month leave of absence, during which he returned home to Kentucky and opened a [[tavern]] and [[spa]] on his farm to offset his continued financial problems.<ref name=hatfield /><ref>McQueen, pp. 19–20</ref> Upon visiting the establishment, [[Amos Kendall]] wrote to President Van Buren that he found Johnson "happy in the inglorious pursuit of tavern keeping&nbsp;– even giving his personal superintendence to the chicken and egg purchasing and [[Watermelon|water-melon]] selling department".<ref name=hatfield />

In his later political career, he became known for wearing a bright red vest and tie.<ref name=meyer310>Meyer, p. 310</ref> He adopted this dress during his term as vice-president when he and James Reeside, a mail contractor known for his drab dress, passed a tailor's shop that displayed a bright red cloth in the window.<ref name=meyer311>Meyer, p. 311</ref> Johnson suggested that Reeside should wear a red vest because the mail coaches he owned and operated were red.<ref name=meyer311 /> Reeside agreed to do so if Johnson would also.<ref name=meyer311 /> Both men ordered red vests and neckties, and were known for donning this attire for the rest of their lives.<ref name=meyer311 />

===Election of 1840===
By 1840, it had become clear that Johnson was a liability to the Democratic ticket. Even former president Jackson conceded that Johnson was "dead wait [sic]," and threw his support to [[James K. Polk]].<ref name=stillman /><ref name=mcqueen20>McQueen, p. 20</ref> President Van Buren stood for re-election, and the Whigs once again countered with William Henry Harrison.<ref name=stillman /> Van Buren was reluctant to drop Johnson from the ticket, fearing that dropping the Democrats' own war hero would split the party and cost him votes to Harrison.<ref name=stillman /> A unique compromise ensued, with the Democratic National Convention refusing to nominate Johnson, or any other candidate, for vice president.<ref name=hatfield /> The idea was to allow the states to choose their own candidates, or perhaps return the question to the Senate should Van Buren be elected with no clear winner in the vice-presidential race.<ref name=stillman />

Undaunted by this lack of confidence from his peers, Johnson continued to campaign to retain his office. Although his campaign was more vigorous than that of Van Buren, his behavior on the campaign trail raised concern among voters. He made rambling, incoherent speeches. During one speech in [[Ohio]], he raised his shirt in order to display to the crowd the wounds that he had received during the Battle of the Thames. Charges he leveled against Harrison in [[Cleveland]] were so poorly received that they touched off a [[riot]] in the city.<ref name=hatfield />

In the end, Johnson received only forty-eight [[Electoral College (United States)|electoral vote]]s.<ref name=mcqueen21>McQueen, p. 21</ref> One elector from Virginia and all eleven from [[South Carolina]] voted for Van Buren for president but selected someone other than Johnson for vice-president.<ref name=hatfield /> Johnson lost his home state of Kentucky again and his home district.<ref name=hatfield />

==Post-vice presidency (1841–1850)==
[[File:Richard Mentor Johnson Daguerreotype Engraving 1844 Alt Crop.png|thumb|right|Engraving of Johnson by J. B. Forrest, from a [[daguerreotype]] miniature by I. T. Warner, published in ''[[The United States Magazine and Democratic Review]]'' in 1844]]
After his term as vice president, Johnson returned to Kentucky to tend to his farm and oversee his tavern.<ref name=uva /> He again represented Scott County in the Kentucky House from 1841 to 1843.<ref name=kye /> In 1845, he served as a pallbearer when [[Daniel Boone]] was re-interred in [[Frankfort Cemetery]].<ref name=stillman />

Johnson never gave up on a return to public service. He ran an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate against John J. Crittenden in 1842.<ref name=stillman /> He briefly and futilely sought his party's nomination for president in 1844.<ref name=stillman /> He also ran as an independent candidate for [[Governor of Kentucky]] in 1848, but after talking with the Democratic candidate, [[Lazarus W. Powell]], who had replaced [[Linn Boyd]] on the ticket, Johnson decided to drop out and back Powell.<ref name=starling>Starling in ''Kentucky: History of Henderson County''</ref> Some speculated that the real object of this campaign was to secure another nomination to the vice-presidency, but this hope was denied.<ref name=hatfield />

Johnson finally returned to elected office in 1850, when he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives. By this time, however, his physical and mental health was already failing. On November 9, the ''[[The Courier-Journal|Louisville Daily Journal]]'' reported that "Col. R. M. Johnson is laboring under an attack of [[dementia]], which renders him totally unfit for business. It is painful to see him on the floor attempting to discharge the duties of a member. He is incapable of properly exercising his physical or mental powers."<ref name=mcqueen21 />

[[File:Richard Mentor Johnson grave.JPG|thumb|left|Johnson's gravesite at [[Frankfort Cemetery]]]]

{{anchor|Death}}
He died of a [[stroke]] on November 19, just two weeks into his term, aged 70.<ref name=stillman /><ref name="EB"/> He was interred in the Frankfort Cemetery, in [[Frankfort, Kentucky]].<ref name=bioguide />

==Legacy==
[[File:Flickr - USCapitol - Death of Tecumseh.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|Johnson (center right) killing Tecumseh, from the frieze of the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol]]
Counties in four U.S. states are named for Johnson, namely in [[Johnson County, Illinois|Illinois]], [[Johnson County, Kentucky|Kentucky]],<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_luoxAQAAMAAJ | title=The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Volume 1 | publisher=Kentucky State Historical Society | year=1903 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_luoxAQAAMAAJ/page/n35 35]}}</ref> [[Johnson County, Missouri|Missouri]], and [[Johnson County, Nebraska|Nebraska]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Blevins|first=Danny K.|title=Van Lear|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3lwJQBTCElgC&pg=PA11|date=February 20, 2008|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-1-4396-3534-6|page=11}}</ref> Richard Mentor Johnson is also the namesake of [[Dick Johnson Township, Clay County, Indiana|Dick Johnson Township, Indiana]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_1VLWAAAAMAAJ | title=Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana: Historical and Biographical | publisher=F.A. Battey & Company | author=Blanchard, Charles | year=1884 | page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_1VLWAAAAMAAJ/page/n78 83]}}</ref>

His political prominence led to a family dynasty: his brothers James and [[John Telemachus Johnson]], and his nephew [[Robert Ward Johnson]] were all elected to the House of Representatives, the first two from Kentucky, and Robert from Arkansas. Robert was later elected as a senator before the Civil War.<ref name=bioguide>{{Cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000170|title=JOHNSON, Richard Mentor – Biographical Information|website=bioguide.congress.gov}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of federal political sex scandals in the United States]]
* [[List of people from Kentucky]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

{{-}}
==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist | 30em |refs =
<ref name="SabatoErnst2014">
{{cite book
 | first1   = Larry J.
 | last1   = Sabato
 | first2   = Howard R.
 | last2   = Ernst
 | title     = Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections
 | url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=d-379E2mFmYC&pg=PA133
 | date      = May 14, 2014
| publisher = Infobase Publishing
 | isbn      = 978-1-4381-0994-7
 | pages     = 133
 | quote     = in 1836...the Virginia electors abstained rather than vote for Democratic vice presidential nominee Richard Johnson"
 | access-date = November 15, 2016
}}</ref>

}}

===Sources===
* [[Mark O. Hatfield]], ed.: "[https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/richard_johnson.pdf Richard Mentor Johnson], 9th Vice President (1837–1841)", ''Vice Presidents of the United States, 1789–1993'' ([[PDF]]), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1997: pp.&nbsp;121–131. Retrieved on January 3, 2008.
* Jonathan Milnor Jones, "The making of a vice president: The national political career of Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky" (Ph.D. thesis) Memphis, Tennessee: University of Memphis, 1998.
* [[John E. Kleber]]. "Johnson, Richard Mentor", in John E. Kleber, ed: ''The Kentucky Encyclopedia'', Associate editors: [[Thomas D. Clark]], [[Lowell H. Harrison]], and [[James C. Klotter]], Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1992. {{ISBN|0-8131-1772-0}}.
* [[Asahel Langworthy]] ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=cDsrUIvgtN8C A Biographical Sketch of Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky]''. New York City, New York: Saxton & Miles. Retrieved on January 3, 2008.
* Leyland Winfield Meyer, ''The Life and Times of Colonel Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky''. New York: Columbia University, 1932. OCLC 459524641.
* David Petriello, ''The Days of Heroes are Over: A Brief Biography of Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson'' (Kindle edition). Washington, D.C.: Westphalia Press, 2016. {{ISBN|978-1-63391-403-2}}.
*[[Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.]], ''The Age of Jackson'', Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1945. OCLC 3077215.
* Miles Smith, "The Kentucky colonel: Richard M. Johnson and the rise of western democracy, 1780–1850" (Ph.D. thesis). Fort Worth, Texas: Texas Christian University, 2013.
* Christina Snyder ''Great Crossings: Indians, Settlers, and Slaves in the Age of Jackson''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. {{ISBN|978-0-19-939907-9}}.

==Further reading==
* Anonymous:
** [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/johnson7.html  Index to Politicians: Johnson, O to R.] [[The Political Graveyard]]. Retrieved on January 3, 2008.
** "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080421201514/http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/vanburen/essays/vicepresident/1862 Richard Mentor Johnson (1837–1841)]." [[University of Virginia]]. Retrieved on January 4, 2008.
* [[Pierre Berton]], ''Flames across the Border'', Little Brown, 1981.
* Ann Bevins, {{webarchive |url = https://archive.today/20070818040600/http://www.scottcountymuseum.org/subpage.html |date=August 18, 2007 |title = "Richard M Johnson narrative: Personal and Family Life" }}, Georgetown and Scott County Museum, 2007, Retrieved on March 25, 2008.
* Henry Robert Burke. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131112155915/http://www.coax.net/people/lwf/HRB_RMJ.HTM  "Window to the Past"], Lest We Forget Communications. Retrieved on January 3, 2008.
* "[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1895/08/13/102468939.pdf By His Hand the Chief Tecumseh Fell]" ([[PDF]]), ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 13, 1895. Reprint from the Philadelphia ''Times''.  Retrieved on January 3, 2008.
* [[Albert Z. Carr]], ''The Coming of War; an account of the remarkable events leading to the War of 1812.'' Doubleday, 1960.
* Freeman Cleaves, ''Old Tippecanoe; William Henry Harrison and his Time.'' Scribner, 1939.
* William Emmons,  ''Authentic Biography of Colonel Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky''. New York; H. Mason., 1833.
* [[Carolyn Thomas Foreman]] "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080617221601/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v006/v006p453.html The Choctaw Academy]". ''The Chronicles of Oklahoma'' 6 (4), December 1928. Oklahoma Historical Society.  January 3, 2008.
* [[James Strange French]], ''Elkswatawa'', Harper Brothers, 1836. A historical novel with endnotes based on the author's research and interviews.
* Denis Tilden Lynch: ''An Epoch and a Man, Martin Van Buren and his Times'', Liveright, 1929
* [[Edgar J. McManus]], "[http://www.anb.org/articles/03/03-00246.html?a=1&n=Mentor&ia=-at&ib=-bib&d=10&ss=0&q=1 Richard Mentor Johnson]", ''American National Biography''. Online version posted February 2000, accessed April 5, 2008.
* Keven McQueen, "Richard Mentor Johnson: Vice President", in ''Offbeat Kentuckians: Legends to Lunatics'', Ill. by Kyle McQueen, [[Kuttawa, Kentucky]]: McClanahan Publishing House. {{ISBN|0-913383-80-5}}.
* [[David Mills (TV writer)|David Mills]]. "[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-mills/the-vice-president-and-th_b_46953.html The Vice-President and the Mulatto]", ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', April 26, 2007, Retrieved on January 5, 2008.
*[[Fletcher Pratt]], "Richard M. Johnson: ''Rumpsey-Dumpsey''", ''Eleven Generals; Studies in American Command'', New York; William Sloane Assoc., 1949, pp.&nbsp;81–97.
*[[Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.]], ''The Age of Jackson'', Little Brown, 1945.
*[[Robert Sobel]], "[https://books.google.com/books?id=rKbplI6XnqoC&q=Mentor&pg=PA204 Johnson, Richard Mentor]", ''Biographical Directory of the United States Executive Branch, 1774–1989''. Greenwood Press, 1990 {{ISBN|0-313-26593-3}}. Retrieved on January 5, 2008.
*Edmund Lyne Starling, ''[http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/henderson/powell.lw.txt History of Henderson County, Kentucky]''. [[Henderson, Kentucky]], 1887; repr. Unigraphic, [[Evansville, Indiana]], 1965. Accessed April 5, 2008.
*[[Michael Stillman]], "[https://web.archive.org/web/20071030162210/http://www.americanaexchange.com/NewAE/aemonthly/printarticle.asp?from=a&id=118 Eccentricity at the Top: Richard Mentor Johnson]." ''Americana Exchange Monthly'', January 2004. Retrieved on January 3, 2008.
*George William Stimpson, "[https://books.google.com/books?id=5eQ5AAAAMAAJ A book about American politics]." 1952. Retrieved on August 11, 2010.
* {{cite news

|title=He became the nation's ninth vice president. She was his enslaved wife
|first=Ronald G.
|last=Shafer
|date=February 7, 2021
|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]
|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/02/07/julia-chinn-slave-wife-vice-president/|ref=none}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080619045422/http://loc.harpweek.com/LCPoliticalCartoons/DisplayCartoonMedium.asp?MaxID=&UniqueID=5&Year=1836&YearMark= "An Affecting Scene in Kentucky"], a political print (c.1836) attacking Johnson for his relationship with Julia Chinn, published in ''[[Harper's Weekly]]'', at Library of Congress
* [http://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI3039386/ Carolyn Jean Powell, ''"What's love got to do with it?" The Dynamics of Desire, Race and Murder in the Slave South'', January 2002, Doctoral dissertation #AAI3039386, University of Massachusetts Amherst.]
* [http://loc.harpweek.com/LCPoliticalCartoons/IndexDisplayCartoonMedium.asp?SourceIndex=People&IndexText=Chinn%2C+Julia&UniqueID=15&Year=1836 "Carrying the War into Africa"], an 1836 political print attacking Johnson for his relationship with Julia Chinn, published in ''Harper's Weekly'', at Library of Congress
* Richard Shenkman, Kurt Reiger (2003). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=SEkD9WnGscIC&q=Mentor&pg=PA71 The Vice-President Who Sold His Mistress At Auction]", ''One-Night Stands with American History: Odd, Amusing, and Little-Known Incidents.'' HarperCollins, pp.&nbsp;71–72. {{ISBN|0-06-053820-1}}.
* George Stimpson, ''A Book about American Politics''. New York; Harper 1952, p.&nbsp;133.
* [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=8A_z6IqZeOMC ''The Sunday Mail Report''], authored and delivered by Johnson to the Senate on January 19, 1829 (related to delivery of mail on the [[Sabbath]])
* William Hobart Turner, Edward J. Cabbell ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=uWneKE3rODIC Blacks in Appalachia]''. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1985. pp.&nbsp;75–80. {{ISBN|0-8131-0162-X}}.

==External links==
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/johnson7.html#199.60.30 Richard Mentor Johnson] at [[The Political Graveyard]]
* {{CongBio|J000170}}

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{{s-ref|The [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] vice presidential nomination split this year between Johnson and [[William Smith (South Carolina senator)|William Smith]]. |The [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] vice presidential nomination split this year between Johnson, [[Littleton Waller Tazewell|Littleton Tazewell]] and [[James K. Polk]].}}
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