Johnson is generally considered a "War Democrat,"[1] not a copperhead (i.e. "Peace Democrat"). That's why he was selected for the ticket: Lincoln knew he had no

Johnson is generally considered a "War Democrat,"[1] not a copperhead (i.e. "Peace Democrat"). That's why he was selected for the ticket: Lincoln knew he had no chance of winning the copperhead vote, be he could win the War Democrat vote with Johnson next to him. I agree that he had plenty of good reasons to drink, however :-) [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Andrew_Johnson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Andrew_Johnson