Johnson, Herschel Vespasian (1812-1880), was the Northern Democratic candidate for vice president of the United States in 1860. That year, the Northern and Southern Democrats split and ran separate sets of candidates. He and presidential candidate Stephen A. Douglas lost to Republicans Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin. Johnson served as a U.S. senator from Georgia in 1848 and 1849, filling a vacancy. He was governor of Georgia from 1853 to 1857.
Johnson served in the Confederate Senate during the Civil War (1861-1865). He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1866 but was not permitted to serve. Johnson was born on Sept. 18, 1812, in Burke County, Georgia. He died on Aug. 16, 1880.
