I recently was told that Andrew Johnson was involved in a sex scandal where it was widely rumored that he once had sexual relations with a bird. Apparently it was brought up during his impeachment trial. My friend swears she saw it on the History Channel or somewhere similar and they said his political opponents referred to him as “The Bird Bagger of Tennessee”. I definitely never heard that story in history class! I’ve tried Googling it, but I haven’t come up with anything. Does anyone know if there’s any truth to this?
The transcripts from the trial don’t seem to mention anything to do with a bird.
Personally, I think this is another historical UL.
The Republicans in Congress disliked Johnson enough without having to resort to such tactics.
I do recall seeing in a history book a cartoon depicting Johnson as a parrot, but that’s because he had the habit of quoting the Constitution all the time in his speeches and he was drawn as a parrot squawking “Constitution! Constitution!”
Ummm… are you sure your friend wasn’t just watching Saturday Night Live? The episode from the week when President Clinton was impeached had a faux television special claiming to be a “The History Channel” presentation to put the (then) current White House crisis in perspective. The mentioned a couple other presidents involved in sexual relationship outside of marriage (F. Roosevelt and T. Jefferson, I believe). It immediately went into the focus of the presentation: Andrew Johnson’s alleged affair with a bird. Near the end of the presentation, it showed what it claimed to be a political cartoon of the era: Johnson walking hand-in-wing with a large bird under the phrase “Sex Not The Bird.”
Forgot to mention that the faux THC presentation on SNL called Johnson “The Bird Bagger of Tennessee.”
I’ve tried searching for a transcript or copy of the sketch, but I haven’t had any luck in finding one.
I think SNL is a distinct possibility at this point. I should’ve known. Thanks!