Final Years

After leaving office, Johnson returned to Tennessee, where he took an active interest in state politics. In 1869 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate, and in 1872 he was defeated for representative-at-large from Tennessee to Congress. He again ran for the Senate in 1874, and this time was elected. When he returned to the Senate in March, 1875, he received a standing ovation. Soon after Congress adjourned that summer, Johnson visited a daughter in Carter County, Tennessee, where he suffered a stroke and died on July 31.

Johnson was buried on a hilltop in Greeneville, wrapped in a 37-star flag with a copy of the Constitution under his head.