Herschel V. Johnson

After graduating from the University of Georgia in Athens, Hershel Johnson practiced law first in Louisville, seat of Jefferson County, then in Milledgeville, Georgia's state capital. Following failed attempts to run for Congress and governor of Georgia, Johnson was appointed to fill the Senate seat of Walter Colquitt. In 1853 Johnson resigned his seat and returned to Georgia to successfully run for governor.

After his term as governor, Johnson was frequently chosen as an anti-secessionist speaker. In 1860 he was one of the few Southerners who stayed following a walkout of pro-slavery Democrats from the national convention. Because of this and his anti-secession stance, Johnson was chosen by Douglas and the Democrats as their vice-presidential candidate. Douglas lost the election to Abraham Lincoln.

Johnson returned to Georgia, where he ran as an anti-secessionist to the Georgia Secessionist Convention. Once Georgia seceded he decided to stay with his state and served a portion of a term as a Confederate States Senator. Following the war he was elected to the U. S. Senate in 1866, but his credentials were never approved because of his involvement with the Confederates.

He was chosen to lead the 1868 Constitutional Convention in Atlanta.