After his military service, Johnson held a variety of positions. He practiced international banking law in the corporate counsel department of the Continental Illinois National Bank in Chicago and then as an associate at Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy LLP in Atlanta. In 1982, he returned to Royston, Georgia to practice law with his father, former Solicitor General Clete D. Johnson. He was elected to the Georgia State Senate from the 47th District in 1987 to fill the unexpired term of the late Senator Parks Brown. The 47th District included Banks, Elbert, Franklin, Hart, Madison, and portions of Jackson counties. Johnson, a Democrat, served as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, vice-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and served on the Committees on Agriculture, Transportation, Finance, Reapportionment, Public Utilities, and Rules. He served as Governor Joe Frank Harris’s assistant administration floor leader in the senate from 1989 until 1992. During his tenure as Georgia State Senator, Johnson was the original author of major legislation enacted to reform the state budget process, sovereign immunity, rural telecommunications, and the ethical standards of public officials.
Johnson won election in 1992 to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat representing Georgia's 10th congressional district, succeeding 16-year incumbent Doug Barnard of Augusta. While in office, Johnson served on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology and focused on national security and international economic policy. Johnson was also selected to serve as a member of Speaker Tom Foley's Working Group on Policy. He was a delegate to the North Atlantic Assembly in Berlin and Copenhagen and monitored Russia's first parliamentary election in Moscow in December 1993. Johnson was defeated in his bid for reelection in 1994, losing to RepublicanCharlie Norwood by a 31-point margin — the largest margin of defeat for a Democratic incumbent during the gigantic Republican landslide of that year. He was one of several moderate Southern Democrats who went down to defeat in that election. Johnson was tied to Bill Clinton largely because of his support for President Clinton's 1993 budget. Although extremely contentious at the time, this 1993 budget plan is historically seen as what ultimately balanced the nation's budget and led to national surpluses.
U.S. Trade Representative
In 1998, President Bill Clinton appointed Johnson to the rank of ambassador at the Office of the United States Trade Representative and he served for two and a half years as chief textile negotiator and principal adviser to both the President of the United States and the United States Trade Representative on all textile and apparel trade matters. Among the significant negotiations concluded during Johnson's tenure in office were the U.S.-China World Trade Organization Accession Agreement and the U.S.-Cambodia Textile Agreement. The latter agreement, which Ambassador Johnson negotiated with the Cambodian Commerce Minister, is considered a landmark in that it included, for the first time, labor provisions linked to trade benefits. He also led the U.S. in WTO dispute cases involving textiles against the European Union and Pakistan and resolved other disputes through negotiations. Johnson was substantially involved with the development of trade legislation during this period, including the Trade Act of 2000 which incorporated the Caribbean Basin Initiative and African Growth and Opportunity Act.
Career after politics
Johnson spent time as a partner at the law firm Patton Boggs LLP, and then was vice-chairman of Fleishman-Hillard Government Relations, Inc. In 2004, he moved to the Dean Rusk Center for International Law & Policy at the University of Georgia School of Law; he retired in 2015 and now is Director Emeritus. Johnson's official papers are housed at the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies at the University of Georgia. On July 27, 2011 he contributed an op-ed article to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, entitled "Show some courage on debt crisis - children are watching," in which he shares his personal story of how national interests should always outweigh narrow political interests.
Personal life
Currently, Johnson resides on his family cattle farm outside of Royston, Georgia with his wife Suzanne Spratlin Johnson. Together, they have three children and two grandchildren.
