He was the first native born Minnesotan to be elected governor of the state. He was only the second non Republican governor in the past 50 years and third since statehood. Lieutenant Governor Adolph Olson Eberhart became Governor upon the death of Governor Johnson.
Governor John Johnson was the first of three governors to die in office. Governor Winfield Scott Hammond was the second Minnesota governor to die in office after suffering a stroke in 1915. Floyd B. Olson was the third and last governor to die in office when he died of cancer in 1936.