The Lincoln–Johnson ledger-removal allegation refers to a 19th-century news story asserting that 17th U.S. President Andrew Johnson had illegally removed documents from the White House that rightfully belonged to the American people as part of the historical record of the United States federal government.
[1] In any case, within the first month after Johnson left office, a news story appeared in the Cincinnati Times newspaper that accused him of, at least, mishandling of government documents and at worst, outright theft.
[2][a] Serious Accusation against Andrew Johnson ¶ The Washington correspondent of the Cincinnati Times makes the following accusation against Andrew Johnson: ¶ "The late President always boasted of his integrity and his honesty and his farewell address pompously proclaimed that no one could charge him with corruption or with having received a cent which did not rightfully belong to him.
It has been discovered since he left the White House that he carried away with him all the books of record belonging to the Government amounting in value to upward of $3,000.
These books were mostly heavily bound costing from $30 to $90 each and were paid for with the public money and he had no more right to take them than he would have to carry off the furniture, paintings, and statuary from the White House.