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This article is about the 10th U.S. president. For his father, see John Tyler, Sr..

John Tyler, Jr.

Daguerreotype of President Tyler taken in 1845 by Brady

10th President of the United States

In officeApril 4, 1841 – March 4, 1845

Vice President None

Preceded by William Henry Harrison

Succeeded by James K. Polk

10th Vice President of the United States

In officeMarch 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841

President William Henry Harrison

Preceded by Richard Mentor Johnson

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Succeeded by George Dallas

23rd Governor of Virginia

In officeDecember 10, 1825 – March 4, 1827

Preceded by James Pleasants

Succeeded by William Branch Giles

President pro tempore of the United States Senate

In officeMarch 3, 1835 – December 6, 1835

President Andrew Jackson

Preceded by George Poindexter

Succeeded by William R. King

United States Senatorfrom Virginia

In officeMarch 4, 1827 – February 29, 1836

Preceded by John Randolph of Roanoke

Succeeded by William C. Rives

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 23rd district

In officeDecember 17, 1816 – March 3, 1821

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Preceded by John Clopton

Succeeded by Andrew Stevenson

BornMarch 29, 1790Charles City County, Virginia

DiedJanuary 18, 1862 (aged 71)Richmond, Virginia

Birth name John Tyler, Jr.

Political party Whig, independent, Democratic

Spouse(s)Letitia Christian (1813–1842; her death)Julia Gardiner (1844–1862; his death)

Children

Mary TylerRobert TylerJohn TylerLetitia TylerElizabeth TylerAnne Contesse TylerAlice TylerTazewell TylerDavid Gardiner TylerJohn Alexander TylerJulia Gardiner TylerLachlan TylerLyon Gardiner TylerRobert Fitzwalter TylerPearl Tyler(allegations of Tyler being the father of John Dunjee have also risen)

Alma   mater The College of William and Mary

Occupation Lawyer

Religion Episcopal (possibly Deist)[3]

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Signature

Military service

Service/branch Volunteer Military Company

Years of service 1813

John Tyler, Jr. (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth President of the United States (1841–1845) and the first to succeed to the office following the death of a predecessor.

A longtime Democratic-Republican, Tyler was nonetheless elected Vice President on the Whig ticket. Upon the death of President William Henry Harrison on April 4, 1841, only a month after his inauguration, the nation was briefly in a state of confusion regarding the process of succession. Ultimately the situation was settled with Tyler becoming President both in name and in fact. Tyler took the oath of office on April 6, 1841, setting a precedent that would govern future successions and eventually be codified in the Twenty-fifth Amendment.

Once he became president, he stood against his party's platform and vetoed several of their proposals. In result, most of his cabinet resigned and the Whigs expelled him from their party.

Arguably the most famous and significant achievement of Tyler's administration was the annexation of the Republic of Texas in 1845. Tyler was the first president born after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, the only president to have held the office of President pro tempore of the Senate, and the only former president elected to office in the government of the Confederacy during the Civil War (though he died before he assumed said office).

John Tyler, Jr., was born on March 29, 1790 in Charles City County, Virginia (the same county where William Henry Harrison was born).[1] Tyler's father was John Tyler, Sr., and his mother was Mary Armistead Tyler.[1]

Tyler was raised, along with seven siblings, to be a part of the region's elite gentry, receiving a very good education.[1] He was brought up believing that the Constitution of the United States was to be strictly interpreted, and reportedly never lost this conviction.[2]

While Tyler was growing up, his father, a friend of Thomas Jefferson, owned a tobacco plantation of over 1,000 acres (4 km2) served by dozens of slaves, and worked as a judge at the U.S. Circuit Court at Richmond, Virginia; the elder Tyler's advocacy of states' rights maintained his power.[1]

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When Tyler was seven years old, his mother died from a stroke. At the age of twelve he entered the preparatory branch of the College of William and Mary, enrolling into the collegiate program there three years later.[1] Tyler graduated from the college in 1807, at age seventeen.[1]

[edit] Lawyer, the War of 1812, and early political career

John Tyler went on to study law with his father, who became Governor of Virginia (1808–1811). He was admitted to the bar in 1809 and started practice in Charles City County. He also supported the United States' fight against Britain during the War of 1812, and he took command of a small militia company, though he saw no action.[1] He became a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1811, and in 1816 was named a member of the council of state.

First wife, Letitia Christian Tyler

[edit] U.S. House of Representatives

Tyler was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Fourteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John Clopton. Reelected to the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Congresses, he served in the House of Representatives from December 17, 1816, to March 3, 1821. While in Congress, Tyler was a leader in opposing the Missouri Compromise.

[edit] Virginia politics

Tyler declined to be a candidate for renomination to Congress in 1820 because of impaired health. Instead, he became a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Charles City County, serving from 1823 to 1825. Tyler was then elected to be the Governor of Virginia (1825–1827). He was well known for opposing legislation which gave more power to the national government. In 1829 and 1830, he served as a member of the Virginia state constitutional convention.

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During this period, a major realignment of American politics was taking place. Following the 1824 election, the dominant Democratic-Republican party, of which Tyler was a member, split into two factions. The Andrew Jackson faction would shortly evolve into the Democratic Party. The John Quincy Adams-Henry Clay faction would eventually coalesce into the Whig Party.

Tyler had supported Adams in 1824. Afterwards, however, because Adams supported nationally-funded internal improvements, Tyler joined the Jackson faction and became a Democrat.

[edit] U.S. Senate

Tyler was elected as a Jacksonian to the United States Senate in 1827. He was reelected in 1833 and served from March 4, 1827, to February 29, 1836, when he resigned.

Tyler supported Jackson in both the 1828 and 1832 elections, and backed him when he vetoed the Bank of the United States recharter in 1832. However, starting with the Nullification Crisis of 1832-33, Tyler drifted away from the Jacksonian Democrats. During the Nullification Crisis, Tyler opposed the force bill allowing Jackson to use armed force to collect tariff revenues in South Carolina. While other senators opposing the bill abstained, Tyler cast the only opposing vote as the bill passed 32–1.

By 1836, Tyler was closer to Henry Clay's newly formed Whigs than Jackson's Democrats. That year, Virginia's legislature instructed its senators to vote to expunge the Senate's 1834 censure of Jackson from the record. Rather than do so, Tyler resigned his seat.[3]

In the Senate, Tyler served as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Twenty-third Congress (the only President to have served as President pro tempore of the Senate), and was chair of the Committee on the District of Columbia (Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses), as well as the Committee on Manufactures (Twenty-third Congress).

[edit] 1836 presidential election

In 1836, the new Whig party was not organized enough to hold a national convention and name a single ticket against Jackson's chosen successor, Martin Van Buren. Instead, Whigs in various states proposed three regional candidates, Daniel Webster, William Henry Harrison, and Hugh White. Tyler was named as a vice-presidential candidate and ran with Harrison in some states and White in others.[3] He finished third, receiving 47 electoral votes.

[edit] Return to Virginia politics

After leaving the U.S. Senate, Tyler served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1838 from Williamsburg. He was elected Speaker of the House in 1839.

[edit] 1840 Presidential election

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At the Whigs' convention, Tyler supported Henry Clay's presidential candidacy. After Clay was passed over for William Henry Harrison, Tyler was named as Harrison's running mate. Their opponent was Democratic incumbent Martin Van Buren.

The Whigs' 1840 campaign slogans of "Log Cabins and Hard Cider" and "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" are among the most famous in American politics. "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" not only offered the slight sectionalism that would further be apparent in the presidency of Tyler, but also the nationalism that was imperative to gain the American vote.

Harrison and Tyler won the election by an electoral vote of 234-60 and a popular vote of 53%-47%. On March 4, 1841, Tyler was inaugurated as the tenth Vice-President of the United States.

[edit] Vice-Presidency 1841

Largely ignored by the men who were pressuring Harrison to give them jobs, Tyler stayed in Washington, D.C. only long enough to be inaugurated Vice President on March 4 and to preside over the next day's Senate confirmation of Harrison's cabinet. On March 5 he returned to his home in Williamsburg, Virginia, not even staying through the close of the Senate's session.[4] Harrison sought little of Tyler's advice, and Tyler reportedly offered none.[4] Secretary of State Daniel Webster sent word to Tyler of Harrison's illness on April 1; two days later, Richmond attorney James Lyons wrote with the news that the President had taken a turn for the worse, remarking that "I shall not be surprised to hear by tomorrow's mail that Gen'l Harrison is no more.".[5] Tyler determined not to travel to Washington, not wanting to appear unseemly in anticipating the President's death. However, at dawn on April 5, two couriers from the State Department — one of them Webster's son — arrived at Tyler's home bearing the message that Harrison had died the day before.[4][6]

[edit] Presidency 1841–1845

[edit] "His Accidency"

1888 illustration of Vice President Tyler receiving the news of President Harrison's death from Chief Clerk of the State Department Fletcher Webster.

Harrison's unprecedented death in office caused considerable disarray regarding his successor. The Constitution of the United States stated only that:

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In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President.

This led to the question of whether the office of the presidency itself "devolved" upon Vice President Tyler, or merely its powers and duties. The protocol was so uncertain that Secretary of State Daniel Webster discreetly requested the counsel of Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (who declined, citing concerns about the separation of powers).[7]

By the time Tyler arrived in Washington at 4:00 a.m. on April 6, he had firmly resolved that he was now, in name and fact, the President of the United States, and acted on this determination by taking the oath of office in his hotel room with the cabinet looking on, then immediately calling them into a meeting where he asserted his authority by terminating Harrison's practice of making policy by cabinet majority.[7]

Tyler's claim was not immediately accepted by opposition members in Congress such as John Quincy Adams, who argued for Tyler to assume a role as a caretaker under the title of "Acting President", or remain Vice President in name. Among these was Whig leader Henry Clay, who had intended to be a "power behind the throne" and exercise great influence over his fellow Whig Harrison and now transferred that ambition onto his close friend, Tyler.

Once Harrison was dead, Clay was even more determined to hold sway over his successor. Amidst the constitutional uncertainties, Clay, "kept referring to Tyler as 'the Vice-President' and insisted that his administration would be more in the nature of a regency...[Tyler] quickly set the constitutional standard for later presidential successions by asserting that he was not merely "acting president" but had in fact acquired the full powers of the presidency...Tyler thundered at Clay: "Go you now, Mr. Clay, to your end of the avenue, where stands the Capitol, and there perform your duty to the country as you shall think proper. So help me God, I shall do mine at this end of it as I shall think proper."[8]

On June 1, 1841, impressed by his authoritative actions, both houses of Congress passed resolutions declaring Tyler the tenth President of the United States. Tyler had thus become the first U.S. vice president to assume the office of president upon the death of his predecessor, establishing a precedent that would be followed seven times in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Yet it was not until 1967 that Tyler's action of assuming full powers of the presidency was legally codified in the Twenty-fifth Amendment.[9]

Although his accession was given approval by both the Cabinet and, later, the Senate and House, Tyler's detractors (who, ironically, would eventually include many of the Cabinet members and members of Congress who had legitimized his presidency) never fully accepted him as President. He was referred to by many nicknames, including "His Accidency," a reference to his having become President not through election but by the accidental circumstances regarding his nomination and Harrison's death. However, Tyler never wavered from his conviction that he was the rightful president; when his political opponents sent correspondence to the White House addressed to the "Vice President" or "Acting President," Tyler had it returned unopened.[10]

[edit] Policies

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Tyler quickly found himself at odds with his former political supporters. Harrison had been expected to adhere closely to Whig Party policies and to work closely with Whig leaders, particularly Henry Clay. The former Democrat shocked Congressional Whigs by vetoing virtually their entire agenda. Twice he vetoed Clay's legislation for a national banking act following the Panic of 1837 — even after the bill had been tailored to meet his stated objections in the first veto — leaving the government deadlocked.

On September 11, 1841, following the second bank veto, members of the cabinet entered Tyler's office one by one and resigned - an orchestration by Clay to force Tyler's resignation (and place his own lieutenant, Senate President Pro Tempore Samuel L. Southard, in the White House). The exception was Secretary of State Daniel Webster, who remained to finalize what became the 1842 Webster-Ashburton Treaty, as well as to demonstrate his independence from Clay.[11] Two days later, when the president stood firm, the Whigs in Congress officially expelled Tyler from the party, and advocated a one-term limit for presidents and limitations on the veto power.[12] Tyler was now a president without a party, making him one of only three Presidents (along with George Washington and Andrew Johnson) to have no party affiliation during part of his term.

For two years, Tyler struggled with the Whigs, eventually nominating 22 men to the six cabinet offices. But when he nominated John C. Calhoun in 1844 as Secretary of State, to 'reform' the Democrats, the gravitational swing of the Whigs to identify with "the North" and the Democrats as the party of "the South" led the way to the sectional party politics of the next decade. Tyler's final Cabinet consisted of five Southerners and one Northerner (William Wilkins, Secretary of War).

On Tyler's last full day in office, March 3, 1845, Congress overrode his veto of a bill relating to revenue cutters and steamers. This marked the first time any president's veto had been overridden.

[edit] Rhode Island's Dorr Rebellion

In May 1842, when the Dorr Rebellion in Rhode Island came to a head, Tyler pondered the request of the governor and legislature to send in Federal troops to help it suppress the Dorrite insurgents. The insurgents under Thomas Dorr had armed themselves and proposed to install a new state constitution. Before such acts, Rhode Island had been following the same constitutional structure that was established in 1663. Tyler called for calm on both sides, and recommended the governor enlarge the franchise to let most men vote. Tyler promised that in case an actual insurrection should break out in Rhode Island he would employ force to aid the regular, or Charter, government. He made it clear that federal assistance would be given, not to prevent, but only to put down insurrection, and would not be available until violence had been committed. After listening to reports from his confidential agents, Tyler decided that the 'lawless assemblages' were dispersing and expressed his confidence in a "temper of conciliation as well as of energy and decision." He did not send any federal forces. The rebels fled the state when the state militia marched against them.[13] With their dispersion, they accepted the expansion of suffrage.

[edit] China, Hawaii, Britain, and the Native Americans

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Tyler reportedly recognized the "coming importance of the Asian Pacific region to trade",[14] and sent lawyer Caleb Cushing to China, who negotiated the terms in the Treaty of Wanghia. This agreement gave the United States the same privileged trading rights with China that the British had successfully won in the Opium Wars. China allowed the United States similar concessions as a way to play one Western power against another, so that Britain could not monopolize their commercial power over China.[14] Tyler also applied the Monroe Doctrine to Hawaii, told Britain not to interfere there, and began the process towards the eventual annexation of Hawaii by the United States.[14]

In 1842 the Secretary of State, Daniel Webster, negotiated the Webster-Ashburton Treaty with Britain which concluded where the border between Maine and Canada lay.[14] The issue of where the border lay had caused tension between the United States and Britain for a notable amount of time, and had brought the two countries nearly to war with each other on several occasions.[14] The treaty improved Anglo-American diplomatic relations.[14] However, Tyler was unsuccessful in concluding a treaty with the British to fix the boundaries of Oregon.[14]

Tyler brought the Second Seminole War to an end in 1842, and he also advocated the establishment of a chain of American forts from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to the Pacific.[14]

[edit] Impeachment attempt

After Tyler vetoed a tariff bill in June 1842, the House of Representatives initiated the first impeachment proceedings against a president in American history. A committee headed by former president John Quincy Adams, who was now a member of Congress, condemned Tyler's use of the veto and stated that Tyler should be impeached.[15] This was not only a matter of the Whigs supporting the bank and tariff legislation which Tyler vetoed. Until the presidency of the Whigs' archenemy Andrew Jackson, presidents vetoed bills rarely, and then generally on constitutional rather than policy grounds,[16] so Tyler's actions also went against the Whigs' idea of the presidency. Adams then proposed a constitutional amendment to change the two-thirds requirement to override a veto to a simple majority, but neither house passed such a measure.

On January 10, 1843, a resolution introduced by John Minor Botts, of Virginia, charged "John Tyler, Vice President acting as President" with nine counts of impeachable offenses, including corruption, official misconduct, and other high crimes and misdemeanors.[17] The resolution was defeated, 83-127.

In the elections of 1842, the Whigs lost control of the House (although they retained a majority in the Senate), and were therefore unable to pursue further impeachment proceedings.

[edit] USS Princeton accident

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Second wife, Julia Gardiner Tyler

The last year of Tyler's presidency was marred by a freak accident that killed two of his Cabinet members. During a ceremonial cruise down the Potomac River on February 28, 1844, the main gun of the USS Princeton blew up during a demonstration firing. Tyler was unhurt, but Thomas Gilmer, the Secretary of the Navy, and Abel P. Upshur, who had succeeded Daniel Webster at the State Department nine months earlier, were instantly killed. Also killed or mortally wounded were Rep. Virgil Maxey of Maryland, Rep. David Gardiner of New York, Capt. Beverly Kennon, Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Construction, Equipment and Repairs, and the President’s valet, while some 20 others were injured.

Tyler's future second wife, Julia Gardiner, whom Tyler had met two years earlier at a reception, was also aboard the Princeton that day. Her father, David Gardiner, was among those killed during the explosion. Upon hearing of her father's death, Gardiner fainted into the President's arms.[18]

Tyler and Gardiner were married not long afterwards in New York City, on June 26, 1844. This made Tyler the first of three sitting presidents to be married in office. The other two were Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson.

[edit] Annexation of Texas

Tyler tried to form a new political party, but needed more support before it could be established.[19] Tyler hoped to gain such support by leading a drive for the annexation of Texas by the United States.[19]

Texas had declared independence from Mexico in 1836. Although Texas had succeeded in maintaining its independence as a result of its victory in the Texas Revolution, Mexico still

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considered it part of its territory, and threatened war with the United States should the US annex Texas.[19] Another problem was that many Americans worried that annexing Texas, which permitted slavery, would upset the sectional balance within Congress.[19]

Tyler believed that annexing Texas was a way he could achieve political respectability. His new party, the Democratic Republicans, used the slogan "Tyler and Texas!"[19]

In what is considered "a serious tactical error that ruined the scheme [of establishing political respectability for him]",[19] Tyler appointed John C. Calhoun in 1844 as his Secretary of State. Calhoun, as Secretary of State, was responsible for the negotiations with Texas over its admission to the Union. Calhoun was a leading advocate of slavery, and his attempts to get an annexation treaty passed were resisted by abolitionists as a result.[19]

Martin Van Buren also worked, behind the scenes of American politics, to ensure the annexation treaty was not approved, in an attempt to avenge his loss to Harrison and Tyler in the last presidential election.[19] Even with the support of Andrew Jackson for the treaty, the United States Senate rejected it, 16-35.[19]

Tyler wanted the issue of the annexation of Texas to be the foundation of his reelection campaign. After the annexation treaty was rejected, Tyler called for Congress to annex Texas by joint resolution rather than by treaty. Tyler eventually dropped out of the race, but after fellow expansionist James Polk won the election, Tyler announced in his annual message to Congress that "a controlling majority of the people and a large majority of the states have declared in favor of immediate annexation."[20]

In late February 1845, the House by a substantial margin and the Senate by a bare 27-25 majority approved a joint resolution offering terms of annexation to Texas. On March 1, three days before the end of his term, Tyler signed the bill into law.[19]

After some debate,[21] Texas accepted the terms, and entered the union on December 29, 1845, as the 28th state.

[edit] Reelection attempt

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Uncle Sam and his ServantsAn anti-Tyler satire lampoons President Tyler's efforts to secure a second term against challengers Whig Henry Clay and Democrat James K. Polk. Clay, Polk, John C. Calhoun and Andrew Jackson attempt to get in as Tyler pushes the door shut on them. Uncle Sam demands that Tyler stop and let Clay in.

Having left the Democrats and been renounced by the Whigs, Tyler's hopes for a second term depended on running at the helm of a third party. Tyler "created his own new party, built on a core of officeholders,"[22] and was nominated for the presidency in May 1844. At the same time, the Senate was considering Tyler's treaty to annex Texas, which it voted down the next month.

The major party nominees were widely expected to be former president Martin Van Buren for the Democrats and Tyler's nemesis, Henry Clay, for the Whigs.[22] Both Van Buren and Clay publicly opposed annexing Texas. Clay was indeed nominated, but Van Buren's stand cost him his party's nomination.[23] Instead, the Democrats nominated James Polk on a pro-annexation platform.

Accordingly, Tyler withdrew from the race in August 1844 and threw his support to Polk. Polk won a narrow victory in November, enabling Tyler to claim a popular mandate for annexing Texas.

[edit] Judicial appointments

[edit] Supreme Court

Two vacancies occurred on the Supreme Court during Tyler's presidency, as Justices Smith Thompson and Henry Baldwin died in 1843 and 1844, respectively. Tyler, ever at odds with Congress — including the Whig-controlled Senate — nominated several men to the Supreme Court to fill these seats.

However, the Senate successively voted against confirming John Canfield Spencer, Reuben Walworth, Edward King and John M. Read (King was rejected twice). One reason cited for the Senate's actions was the hope that Whig Henry Clay would fill the vacancies after winning the 1844 presidential election.[24]

Finally, in February 1845, with less than a month in his term, Tyler's nomination of Samuel Nelson to Thompson's seat was confirmed by the Senate. Nelson's successful confirmation was a surprise. Nelson, although a Democrat, had a reputation as a careful and noncontroversial jurist.

Baldwin's seat remained vacant until James Polk's nominee, Robert Grier, was confirmed in 1846.[25]

Tyler's four unsuccessful nominees are the most by a president.

[edit] Other courts

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Tyler was able to appoint only six other federal judges, all to United States district courts:

Judge CourtBegan activeservice

Ended activeservice

James Dandridge Halyburton E.D.Va. June 15, 1844 April 24, 1861Elisha Mills Huntington D. Ind. May 2, 1842 October 26, 1862

Theodore Howard McCalebE.D.La.W.D.La. [26]

September 3, 1841 January 28, 1861[27]

Samuel Prentiss D.Vt. April 8, 1842 January 15, 1857Archibald Randall E.D.Pa. March 8, 1842 June 8, 1846Peleg Sprague D.Mass. July 16, 1841 March 13, 1865

[edit] Florida

On Tyler's last full day in office, March 3, 1845, Florida was admitted to the Union as the 27th state.

[edit] Administration and Cabinet

The Tyler Cabinet

Office Name Term

President John Tyler 1841–1845

Vice President None 1841–1845

Secretary of State Daniel Webster (W) 1841–1843

Abel P. Upshur (W) 1843–1844

John C. Calhoun (D) 1844–1845

Secretary of Treasury Thomas Ewing, Sr. (W) 1841

Walter Forward (W) 1841–1843

John C. Spencer (W) 1843–1844

George M. Bibb (D) 1844–1845

Secretary of War John Bell (W) 1841

Four of Tyler's Cabinet nominees were rejected, the most of any president. These were Caleb Cushing (Treasury), David Henshaw (Navy) James Porter (War), and James S. Green (Treasury). Henshaw and Porter served as recess appointees before their rejections.

Tyler aggravated this problem when he repeatedly renominated Cushing. As a result, Cushing was rejected three times in one day, March 3, 1843, the last day of the 27th Congress.[24]

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John C. Spencer (W) 1841–1843

James M. Porter (W) 1843–1844

William Wilkins (D) 1844–1845

Attorney General John J. Crittenden (W) 1841

Hugh S. Legaré (D) 1841–1843

John Nelson (W) 1843–1845

Postmaster General Francis Granger (W) 1841

Charles A. Wickliffe (W) 1841–1845

Secretary of the Navy George E. Badger (W) 1841

Abel P. Upshur (W) 1841–1843

David Henshaw (D) 1843–1844

Thomas W. Gilmer (D) 1844

John Y. Mason (D) 1844–1845

[edit] Post-Presidency

Tyler retired to a Virginia plantation located on the James River in Charles City County, Virginia, and originally named "Walnut Grove." He renamed it "Sherwood Forest" to signify that he had been "outlawed" by the Whig party. He withdrew from electoral politics, though his advice continued to be sought by states-rights Democrats.

[edit] Tyler and the Civil War

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George P. A. Healy's 1859 portrait of John Tyler

On the eve of the Civil War, Tyler reentered public life to sponsor and chair the Virginia Peace Convention, held in Washington, D.C. in February 1861 as an effort to devise means to prevent a war. Tyler had long been an advocate of states' rights, believing that the question of a state's "free" or "slave" status ought to be decided at the state level, with no input from federal government. The convention sought a compromise to avoid civil war while the Confederate Constitution was being drawn up at the Montgomery Convention. When war broke out, Tyler unhesitatingly sided with the Confederacy, and became a delegate to the Provisional Confederate Congress in 1861. He was then elected to the House of Representatives of the Confederate Congress, but died in Richmond, Virginia, before he could assume office.

Tyler's death was the only one in presidential history not to be officially mourned in Washington, because of his allegiance to the Confederacy. Tyler is also sometimes considered the only president to die outside the United States because his place of death,[citation needed] Richmond, Virginia, was part of the Confederate States at the time. Tyler's favorite horse named "The General" is buried at his Sherwood Forest Plantation with a gravestone which reads, "Here lies the body of my good horse 'The General.' For twenty years he bore me around the circuit of my practice and in all that time he never made a blunder. Would that his master could say the same."[28]

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Marriage and children

John Tyler was married twice and had 15 children.

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Tyler's grave at Hollywood Cemetery

His first wife was Letitia Christian Tyler (November 12, 1790 – September 10, 1842), with whom he had eight children:

Mary Tyler (1815–47) Robert Tyler (1816–77) John Tyler (1819–96) Letitia Tyler Semple (1821–1907) Elizabeth Tyler (1823–50) Anne Contesse Tyler (1825) Alice Tyler (1827–54) Tazewell Tyler (1830–74)

Letitia died in the White House in September 1842.

His second wife was Julia Gardiner Tyler (July 23, 1820 – July 10, 1889), with whom he had seven children:

David Gardiner Tyler (1846–1927) John Alexander Tyler (1848–83) Julia Gardiner Tyler Spencer (1849–71) Lachlan Tyler (1851–1902) Lyon Gardiner Tyler (1853–1935) Robert Fitzwalter Tyler (1856–1927) Pearl Tyler (1860–1947)

His granddaughter Julia Gardiner Tyler Wilson, daughter of Lyon Gardiner Tyler, was one of the founders of Kappa Delta Sorority.

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Tyler was a slaveholder for his entire life. John Dunjee claimed to be the illegitimate son of John Tyler, a child of Tyler and one of his female slaves. Early in his presidency Tyler was attacked by a newspaper alleging he had fathered (and sold) several sons with his slaves, prompting a response from the Tyler administration linked newspaper the Madisonian.[29]

As of 2009, Tyler has two living grandsons through his son Lyon Gardiner Tyler (1853–1935). Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Jr., was born in 1924, and Harrison Ruffin Tyler was born in 1928.[30]

[edit] Health and death

Throughout Tyler's life, he suffered from poor health. Frequent colds occurred every winter as he aged. After his exit from the White House, he fell victim to repeated cases of dysentery. He has been quoted as having many aches and pains in the last eight years of his life. In 1862, after complaining of chills and dizziness, he vomited and collapsed during the Congress of Confederacy. He was revived, yet the next day he admitted to the same symptoms. It was likely that John Tyler died of a stroke. His final words were "I am going now, perhaps it is for the best." Tyler is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, VA.

[edit] Legacy

According to the White House's biography of him, Tyler "strengthened the Presidency",[2] but also "increased sectional cleavage that led toward civil war".[2] Tyler was and is also considered to have, by claiming "the right to a fully functioning and empowered presidency instead of relinquishing the office or accepting limits on his powers", [31] established a precedent for future Presidents of the United States.[31] With regards to Tyler's foreign policies, it is argued that "Tyler could claim an ambitious, successful foreign policy presidency, due largely to the efforts of Secretary of State Webster."[14] The city of Tyler, Texas is named after him.[32]

Presidential Coin of Tyler

John Tyler, Issue of 1938Tyler, Texas, welcome sign

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Born: 29 March 1790 Birthplace: Greenway, Virginia Died: 18 January 1862 Best Known As: President of the United States, 1841-1845

John Tyler was the 10th president of the United States. The child of an old Virginia family, he graduated from the College of William and Mary at age 17 (not an unusual age for that time) and went on to become a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1816-21), governor of Virginia (1825-26), and a member of the U.S. Senate (1827-36). He was tapped by the Whigs to be the running mate of William Henry Harrison in 1840 -- not so much for his policies, but to draw support from Virginia and the south. Just one month into his term, Harrison died and Tyler became president. Tyler's years in office were rocky, and by the end of his term, neither the Whigs nor the Democrats supported him. He chose not to run for re-election. He was succeeded by Democrat James K. Polk. At the time of his death in 1862, Tyler was a member of the Confederate Congress, in revolt against the United States during the Civil War.

First Lady Letitia Christian Tyler died in the White House in 1842. Two years later, at the age of 54, John Tyler married 24 year-old Julia Gardiner... Tyler had 15 children, the most fathered by any U.S. president. His last child was born in 1860, when Tyler was 70 years old... Harrison was called "Old Tippecanoe" for his victory in battle at Tippecanoe Creek in 1811; that led to the famous 1840 campaign slogan, "Tippecanoe and Tyler too!"

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:

John Tyler Top Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

(born March 29, 1790, Charles City county, Va., U.S. — died Jan. 18, 1862, Richmond, Va.) 10th president of the U.S. (1841 – 45). He practiced law before serving in the Virginia legislature (1811 – 16, 1823 – 25, 1839) and as governor of Virginia (1825 – 27). In the U.S. House of Representatives (1817 – 21) and Senate (1827 – 36), he was a supporter of states' rights. Though a slaveholder, he sought to prohibit the slave trade in the District of Columbia, provided Maryland and Virginia concurred. He resigned from the Senate rather than acquiesce to state instructions to change his vote on a censure of Pres. Andrew Jackson. After breaking with the Democratic Party, he was nominated by the Whig Party for vice president under William H. Harrison. They won the 1840 election, carefully avoiding the issues and stressing party loyalty and the slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler too!" Harrison died a month after taking office, and Tyler became the first to attain the presidency "by accident." He vetoed a national bank bill supported by the Whigs, and all but one member of the cabinet resigned, leaving him without party

Source

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support. Nonetheless, he reorganized the navy, settled the second of the Seminole Wars in Florida, and oversaw the annexation of Texas. He was nominated for reelection but withdrew in favour of James K. Polk and retired to his Virginia plantation. Committed to states' rights but opposed to secession, he organized the Washington Peace Conference (1861) to resolve sectional differences. When the Senate rejected a proposed compromise, Tyler urged Virginia to secede.

For more information on John Tyler, visit Britannica.com.

 US Supreme Court:

John TylerTop Home > Library > Law & Legal Issues > US Supreme Court

(b. Charles City County, Va., 29 Mar. 1790; d. Richmond, Va., 18 Jan. 1862), statesman and president of the United States, 1841–1845. After assuming the nation's highest office upon the death of President William Henry Harrison in 1841, John Tyler found himself locked in a political struggle with his own Whig party. Tyler's unexpected ascension to the presidency horrified Senate Whigs led by Kentucky's Henry Clay, who fundamentally opposed the Virginian's states' rights political philosophy (see State Sovereignty and States' Rights). As a result of this party split, Tyler was the least successful of all presidents in securing confirmation of his nominees to the Supreme Court.

When Justice Smith Thompson died in December 1843, Tyler nominated his secretary of the treasury, John C. Spencer, a lawyer from New York. A political enemy of Clay, Spencer failed to gain Senate confirmation; subsequently, Tyler nominated another capable New York attorney, Reuben H. Walworth. Before the Senate could act, however, Justice Henry Baldwin died in April 1844, creating a second vacancy on the Court. To this seat, Tyler hoped to appoint Pennsylvania's James Buchanan, but, in keeping with the president's luck, Buchanan declined the position. Tyler then nominated Philadelphia lawyer Edward King, Senate Whigs, however, sensing a victory in the fall presidential election, postponed in June the nominations of both Walworth and King.

Although the Whig Party failed to capture the presidency, Tyler's political position continued to wane in the final months of his term. He withdrew both of his nominations in January 1845 and instead proposed Samuel Nelson, chief justice of New York. After the Senate speedily confirmed this choice, Tyler attempted to fill the second vacancy with Philadelphia lawyer John Meredith Read. Political success, however, did not come easy to Tyler. Dealing the president a final defeat, the Senate adjourned without acting on the nomination, leaving the seat to the choice of Tyler's successor, James K. Polk.

See also Nominees, Rejection of.

— Timothy S. Huebner

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 US Military Dictionary:

John TylerTop Home > Library > History, Politics & Society > US Military Dictionary

Tyler, John (1790-1862)10th president of the United States (1841-1845). Born in Greenway, Virginia, in 1790, Tyler practiced law before entering politics. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1817-1821), as governor of Virginia (1825-1827), and in the U.S. Senate (1827-1836). In 1840, Tyler was elected Vice President on the Whig ticket. When President William Henry Harrison died in office on April 4, 1841, Tyler became President. He clashed with Senator Henry Clay, oversaw settlement of the boundary disputes with Great Britain, and ended the Second Seminole War in 1842. In December 1845, shortly before leaving office, Tyler engineered a joint resolution of Congress annexing Texas. He subsequently presided over the 1861 Virginia Peace Convention but eventually went with the secessionists. He was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives but died in 1862 before taking his seat.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

 Biography:

John TylerTop Home > Library > Miscellaneous > BiographiesJohn Tyler (1790-1862), tenth president of the United States, was the first vice president to succeed to the presidency. His administration was marked by great conflict over the Texas question.

John Tyler was born on March 29, 1790, at Greenway Plantation in Charles City County, Va. His father, John Tyler, was governor of Virginia and a judge of the U.S. District Court. Young Tyler attended several preparatory schools and graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1807. He then studied law and was licensed to practice at the age of 19.

At 21 Tyler was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates; he served from 1811 to 1815. He subsequently was elected to the Virginia Council of State, to the U.S. House of Representatives, to the governorship of Virginia, and to the U.S. Senate (1827-1834). During these years Tyler emerged as one of the chief proponents of the states'-rights doctrine. He opposed internal improvements at Federal expense, a tariff to protect native industries, and a national banking system.

Like most politics of his day, Tyler's political activities were molded by the confused party situation existing during the 1820s and 1830s, as the long-dominant Jeffersonian Republican party dissolved. In the election of 1828 Tyler supported Andrew Jackson but found himself in

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opposition to Jackson soon after the inauguration. Tyler was against the President's threat to use force against South Carolina in order to enforce the tariff nullified in 1832. Tyler also attacked Jackson for what he considered to be his high-handed way of withdrawing governmental deposits from the Bank of the United States. Oddly, by alienating himself from the administration, Tyler found himself aligned with Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and the other Northern nationalists who had created the Whig party.

In 1839 the Whigs, whose presidential candidate was William Henry Harrison of Ohio, sought to balance the ticket with Tyler as their vice-presidential candidate. Because his views bore little relationship to those of the rest of his party, Tyler skillfully sidestepped the major issues during the campaign. Despite his presence on the ticket, the Whigs lost Virginia; however, they won nationally.

Harrison's death a month after his inauguration created a minor constitutional crisis and a major political one. Tyler was the first vice president to succeed to the presidency, and the question was raised as to whether he was actually president or just the vice president acting as president. Tyler established the precedent that the vice president succeeded to the powers and honors of the office as if he had been elected in his own right.

Although Tyler inherited governmental powers, he lost control of his party. As a misplaced Democrat within the Whig party, he had great difficulty with the congressional leaders of his party, especially Henry Clay. The split was most evident on three issues: the Bank of the United States, the tariff, and a proposal to distribute among the states the revenue secured from the sale of public lands. Tyler twice vetoed the charter passed by Congress for the creation of a Third Bank of the United States. He made several positive suggestions, however, for a substitute - including creation of a Bank of the District of Columbia with less power than that of the Second Bank of the United States. Tyler also vetoed a tariff and distribution bill that he contended violated the principles of the compromise tariff of 1833 (which had ended South Carolina's nullification threat).

Tyler's increasing isolation from the Whig party was hastened by the resignation on Sept. 11, 1841, of all the members of the Cabinet appointed by Harrison, except Secretary of State Daniel Webster. Webster remained until May 1843 in order to complete negotiations with England over a long-standing boundary dispute. Tyler's final Cabinet was composed mainly of Southerners, including John C. Calhoun as secretary of state.

The latter part of Tyler's tenure was dominated by the Texas question. After Texas won its independence from Mexico, the Jackson and Martin Van Buren administrations refrained from annexation because of the position of the North, which opposed incorporating more slave territory into the United States. Rejecting this opposition, Calhoun negotiated a treaty of annexation. This was turned down by the Senate in 1844. The question played a part in the election of 1844, after which the administration pushed a joint resolution through Congress providing for the incorporation of Texas. It was passed on the last day of Tyler's administration.

As Tyler had had little hope of renomination by the Whigs in 1844, he had sought to build a third party composed of dissident Democrats and Whigs but soon abandoned his efforts. Tyler

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remained active in national politics. He supported the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. After South Carolina seceded in 1860, Tyler participated in the Washington Peace Convention that met early in 1861. When Virginia seceded, he supported his state. He was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives, but he died on Jan. 18, 1862, a month before that body held its first session.

Further Reading

Several good works deal with Tyler's life: Oliver Perry Chitwood, John Tyler: Champion of the Old South (1939), is a sympathetic portrait by a major historian, and Robert Seager, And Tyler Too: A Biography of John and Julia Gardiner Tyler (1963), is a warm portrait, which also includes much social history of the period. A good account of the politics of Tyler's administration is in Robert J. Morgan, A Whig Embattled: The Presidency under John Tyler (1954). The campaign of 1840 is detailed in Robert G. Gunderson, The Log-cabin Campaign (1957), and Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., History of American Presidential Elections, vol. 1 (1971). For biographies of persons who were important in the Tyler administration see Glyndon G. Van Deusen, The Life of Henry Clay (1937); Charles M. Wiltse, John C. Calhoun (3 vols., 1944-1951); and Richard N. Current, Daniel Webster and the Rise of National Conservatism (1955).

 US Government Guide:

John Tyler, 10th PresidentTop Home > Library > History, Politics & Society > US Government Guide

• Born: Mar. 29, 1790, Charles City County, Va.• Political party: Democrat, elected on Whig ticket• Education: College of William and Mary, B.A., 1807• Military service: Virginia militia, 1813• Previous government service: Virginia House of Delegates, 1811–16, 1823–25, 1838–40; U.S. House of Representatives, 1817–21; governor of Virginia, 1825–27; U.S. Senate, 1827–36; Vice President, 1841• Succeeded to Presidency, 1841; served, 1841–45• Died: Jan. 18, 1862, Richmond, Va. John Tyler was the first Vice President to succeed to the Presidency. He established the precedent that the successor becomes President and is not the Vice President “acting as President.” He also demonstrated that the constitutional prerogatives of the office can check and balance Congress, even when it is dominated by a party such as the Whigs, who insisted on their right to set national policy.

Tyler came from a family of wealthy Virginia plantation owners. He studied law under his father, practiced briefly, and went into politics. He served in the Virginia legislature and became governor in 1825, then U.S. senator in 1827. Tyler voted against the high tariffs of 1828 and 1832. He supported President Andrew Jackson's veto of internal improvements. But he broke with Jackson over South Carolina's nullification of, or decision not to enforce, federal tariffs,

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casting the only vote in the Senate against the Force Bill of 1833, which gave Jackson the power to use federal force to ensure compliance with the tariff. Tyler was instrumental in forging the compromise tariff of 1833, which ended the crisis. He voted against the re-chartering of the Second Bank of the United States and voted to uphold Jackson's veto of the bill, but he joined in the Senate censure of Jackson over the removal of federal deposits from the Bank. In 1836 he resigned his seat rather than adhere to the instructions of his state legislature to vote to expunge the resolution of censure, and he broke his connections with the Democratic party.

In 1836 Tyler ran for Vice President as a regional Whig candidate but lost to the Democratic ticket. In 1840 he was nominated for the Vice Presidency on the Whig ticket, along with General William Henry Harrison for President. Although opposed to the Bank, the Whigs were attracted to Tyler because they believed correctly that he could help carry Southern states.

President Harrison died of pneumonia within a month of taking the oath. John Tyler was in an awkward position. It was not clear from the wording of the Constitution whether the Vice President succeeded to the office of President or only exercised the “powers and duties” of the office, serving merely as acting President. Tyler took the Presidential oath and issued a statement to the American people couched in the form of an inaugural address. The House promptly passed a resolution referring to him as President, while the Senate defeated a resolution referring to him as Vice President. But much of the nation referred to Tyler as “His Accidency” and did not recognize him as President.

The Whig cabinet moved to take control from the President. At the first cabinet meeting, Secretary of State Daniel Webster told Tyler that his predecessor had settled questions by majority vote of the cabinet. Tyler responded that he alone would be responsible for his administration, and he called for the resignation of anyone who did not accept his view.

Tyler faced a dilemma: Should he allow the Whigs, led by Senator Henry Clay, to pass their economic program? Or should he pursue his own domestic program, which came much closer to the ideas of the Democrats? Tyler did not command a majority in Congress, and the Whigs proceeded to pass their own banking bill, which he vetoed twice. With the help of Democrats, Tyler's vetoes were sustained. The Whig cabinet resigned, and the Whig party issued a statement disassociating it-self from the Tyler administration. Whigs demanded that he resign and be succeeded by the president pro tempore of the Senate–a Whig who would hold office until a special election could be held. Tyler refused and made recess appointments of Democrats to his cabinet. Eventually, the Whigs passed a resolution of censure against Tyler, claiming that his use of the veto on policy grounds was unconstitutional.

Tyler was effective even though he was a President without a party. He resolved Dorr's Rebellion, a civil war between two political factions in Rhode Island. He reorganized the navy. A few days before he left office, Tyler won his most important victory: Congress admitted Texas to the Union.

Tyler was a political failure. He did not win the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1844. Historians generally rate him ineffective because of the deadlock in domestic policies. But he showed that a President without a shred of popular or congressional support could still exercise

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the power to stalemate congressional majorities.

After leaving the Presidency, Tyler returned to the Democratic party. He supported the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act, both of which were designed to defuse slavery tensions and save the Union. In 1860 he spoke out against secession, believing a new compromise could be reached, and early in 1861 he sponsored the Richmond Convention, a last-ditch attempt to avert war between the regions. After the collapse of that effort, he urged Virginia to secede from the Union. He died on January 18, 1862, shortly after being elected to the Confederate House of Representatives.

See also Harrison, William Henry; Succession to the Presidency

Sources

Robert J. Morgan, A Whig Embattled: The Presidency under John Tyler (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1954).

Norma Lois Peterson, The Presidencies of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1989)

 US History Companion:

Tyler, JohnTop Home > Library > History, Politics & Society > American History Companion

(1790-1862), tenth president of the United States. Tyler was the first to ascend from the vice presidency through the accident of a chief executive's death. "His Accidency" was also only the second politician to switch parties before attaining the White House and the first to be driven from his party before departing Pennsylvania Avenue. Yet this partisan without a party and chief executive with almost no followers scored a presidential triumph so portentous as to make him one of the most important American presidents.

Tyler believed that these paradoxes stemmed from his devout adherence to states' rights. Born and bred to be a Virginia gentleman of the old school, he was educated at William and Mary, studied law, and swiftly ascended in state politics. He served successively in the Virginia House of Delegates, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the governorship of Virginia before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1827.

Tyler's senatorial tenure coincided with Andrew Jackson's presidency. Tyler, seeking a less imperial president and a stronger states' rights policy, joined a small group of Jacksonians who deserted the fold and eventually became known as southern states' rights Whigs. In 1836, the Jacksonian-controlled Virginia legislature demanded and secured the recreant's senatorial resignation.

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Tyler soon received compensation for his losses. In 1840, the Whig party, seeking a southern states' righter to balance William Henry Harrison's more nationalistic views, nominated Tyler as Harrison's running mate. Tyler, swept into subordinate office in the famous "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" campaign, became president when Harrison died a month after the inaugural.

His Accidency's greatest problem was that Whig nationalists, in command of the party, would take no commands from a states' righter like Tyler. Twice Henry Clay drove nationalistic bank bills through Congress. Twice Tyler vetoed them. The second time, the Whig congressional caucus drummed the president out of the party. Almost the entire cabinet then resigned.

But the seemingly powerless president still remained potent enough to take advantage of the emergence of the Texas annexation issue. In the early 1840s, both major parties' leaders opposed adding the Lone Star Republic as a slave state to the nation, fearing a possible war with Mexico and an escalation of North-South tension. But Tyler was afraid that Texas, if not annexed, would ally with England to secure protection against Mexico and would be forced to emancipate its relatively few slaves in order to seal the English bargain. Tyler, determined to protect the South and states' rights, secured an annexation treaty and demanded that southern states' righters come to his aid.

Southern Jacksonians answered the call. They forced the nomination of an annexationist, James K. Polk, at the Democratic convention and won the election of 1844. Although still lacking a two-thirds majority to ratify Tyler's treaty in the Senate, the Democrats admitted Texas to the Union by resolution (which required only simple majorities in House and Senate) in late February 1845. A few days later, Tyler retired to his Virginia plantation.

The ex-president could only watch as consequences of his Texas prize escalated: war with Mexico, the crisis of 1850, a decade of sectional controversy. Tyler would not serve his people or his creed again until 1861, when he was chairman of the failed peace convention during the secession crisis. He subsequently voted for disunion in the Virginia secession convention and was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives. But the old states' righter was not destined to fulfill this last responsibility. John Tyler, the accident who not-at-all-accidentally helped precipitate the near-destruction of a nation, died in 1862 before taking the oath to serve the Southern nation he had come to prefer.

Bibliography:

Oliver Perry Chitwood, John Tyler, Champion of the Old South (1939); Frederick Merk, Fruits of Propaganda in the Tyler Administration (1971).

Author:

William W. Freehling

See also Elections: 1840; Texas Revolution and Annexation; Whig Party.

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 Columbia Encyclopedia:

John TylerTop Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Columbia Encyclopedia - PeopleTyler, John, 1790-1862, 10th President of the United States, b. Charles City co., Va.

Early Career

Educated at the College of William and Mary, he studied law under his father, John Tyler (1747-1813), governor of Virginia from 1808 to 1811, and was admitted (1809) to the bar. A state legislator (1811-16, 1823-25) and U.S. Representative (1817-21), Tyler was an unswerving states' rights Democrat. He joined the condemnation of Andrew Jackson's actions in Florida and voted against the Missouri Compromise.

Governor of Virginia (1825-27) and a U.S. Senator (1827-36), Tyler reluctantly supported Jackson as the least objectionable of the presidential candidates in 1828 and 1832. Although he did not approve South Carolina's nullification act, he violently opposed Jackson's measures against it (see force bill). The President's fiscal policies further alienated him, so that he was eventually drawn to the new Whig party, joining its states' rights Southern wing, which differed with many of the nationalistic policies associated with the Clay leadership. He resigned from the Senate rather than abide by the instructions of the Virginia legislature to vote for the motion to expunge Henry Clay's censure of Jackson from the records.

Presidency

In 1840, Tyler was chosen running mate to the Whig presidential candidate, William Henry Harrison, and they waged their victorious "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" campaign. One month after his inauguration Harrison died, and on Apr. 4, 1841, Tyler became the first Vice President to succeed to the presidency. His antipathy toward many Whig policies soon became apparent (he had never concealed it), and a rift developed between him and Henry Clay, the party leader.

After his second veto of a measure creating a national bank with branches in the states (on the grounds that it violated the constitutional rights of the states), his cabinet, except for Daniel Webster, resigned (Sept., 1841). Webster stayed on as Secretary of State until the negotiations for the Webster-Ashburton Treaty with the British were completed (May, 1843). Bitterly denounced by the Whigs and with few friends among the Democrats, Tyler became a President without a party.

Nevertheless he accomplished much toward the annexation of Texas. Abel P. Upshur, Webster's successor, was killed when a gun on the U.S.S. Princeton blew up, and John C. Calhoun continued Upshur's negotiations for a treaty with Texas. The treaty was rejected by the Senate. Tyler then supported a plan for a joint resolution to annex Texas and had the satisfaction of

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seeing it accepted by Texas just before he left office in 1845. The completion of annexation was brought about under James K. Polk, Tyler's Democratic successor.

Later Career

Tyler, nominated by a small Democratic faction, had withdrawn from the 1844 election. In Feb., 1861, he presided over the unsuccessful conference at Washington that attempted to find some last-minute solution to avert the Civil War. Later, he served in the provisional Confederate Congress and was elected to the permanent Confederate Congress, but he died before he could take his seat.

Bibliography

See L. G. Tyler (his son), Letters and Times of the Tylers (3 vol., 1884-96, repr. 1970); biography by O. P. Chitwood (1939, repr. 1964); studies by R. J. Morgan (1954) and N. L. Peterson (1989).

 Legal Encyclopedia:

Tyler, JohnTop Home > Library > Law & Legal Issues > Legal Biographies

John Tyler served as the tenth president of the United States from 1841 to 1845. A political maverick and a proponent of states' rights, Tyler was the first vicepresident to succeed to the office because of the death of a president. Rejecting the concept of an acting president, Tyler established the right of the vice president to assume the powers and duties of president.

Tyler was born into a politically active family on March 29, 1790, in Greenway, Virginia. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1807 and was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1809. He began his political career in 1811 when he was elected as a member of the Democratic party to the Virginia legislature. In 1817 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he remained until 1821. During his years in the House, he was a consistent supporter of states' rights, believing that the role of the federal government should be limited. Tyler, who owned slaves, objected to the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which placed restrictions on the expansion of slavery to new states.

In 1823 Tyler returned to the Virginia legislature, where he served two years. In 1825 he was elected governor of Virginia, and in 1827 he was elected to the U.S. Senate.

During his nine years in the Senate, Tyler opposed several of President AndrewJackson's policies though he and Jackson were both Democrats. In 1832 South Carolina issued its nullification policy, declaring its right as a state to reject federal tariff regulations. Jackson, in retaliation,

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initiated the Force Act of 1833 (4 Stat. 633), which permitted the president to use the military, if necessary, to collect tariff revenues. Tyler did not agree with South Carolina's actions, but he vehemently opposed Jackson's use of federal power to bring the state to heel.

Tyler lost the support of Virginia Democrats when he refused to reverse his 1834 vote of censure against Jackson for removing deposits from the Bank of the United States. In 1836, when the Virginia legislature gave him a direct order to change his vote, Tyler resigned from the Senate rather than obey. He returned to Virginia, where he was elected again to the Virginia legislature in 1838.

In the presidential election of 1840, the Whig party sought to broaden its northern political base by selecting a vice presidential candidate who could attract southern voters. Accordingly, Tyler was chosen to be the vice presidential candidate to run with William Henry Harrison, known as "Tippecanoe" from the battle where he had defeated Chief Tecumseh of the Shawnee tribe. In a campaign devoid of political ideas, the political slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" popularized the two Whig candidates, who won the election.

The elderly Harrison died thirty-one days after becoming president, and Tyler assumed the presidency on April 4, 1841. As the first vice president to become president because of the death of the chief executive, Tyler rejected the idea that he serve as acting president. Though the U.S. Constitution was silent on the matter of succession, Tyler announced that he would assume the full powers and duties of the office, setting a precedent that would be followed by other vice presidents. (Procedures for presidential succession were added to the Constitution by the Twenty-fifth Amendment in 1967.)

Tyler's maverick streak, which had once stung the Democrats, soon offended the Whigs. Still a staunch supporter of states' rights, Tyler twice vetoed a Whig-sponsored act establishing a national bank. As a result, his entire cabinet resigned, with the exception of the secretary of state, Daniel Webster. For the remainder of his term, Tyler was a chief executive without a political party. Consequently, his accomplishments were few. He did approve the annexation of Texas and he signed the Preemption Act of 1841 (5 Stat. 453), which gave squatters on government land the right to buy 160 acres of land at the minimum auction price without competitive bidding.

After leaving office in 1845, Tyler continued to defend states' rights. In 1861, before the outbreak of the Civil War, Tyler directed the Washington conference, which was convened in a final attempt to avert war. When that meeting failed, Tyler favored secession and was elected as a member of the Confederate Congress. He died on January 18, 1862, in Richmond, Virginia, however, before he could take his seat in the secessionist Congress. U

John Tyler (1790 - 1862)

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At a Glance

10th President of the United States (1841-1845)

Born: March 29, 1790, Charles City County, Virginia

Nickname: "Accidental President;" "His Accidency"

Education: College of William and Mary (graduated 1807)

Religion: Episcopalian

Marriage: March 29, 1813, to Letitia Christian (1790-1842); June 26, 1844, to Julia Gardiner (1820-1889)

Children: Mary (1815-1848), Robert (1816-1877), John (1819-1896), Letitia (1821-1907), Elizabeth (1823-1850), Anne Contesse (1825), Alice (1827-1854), Tazewell (1830-1874), David Gardiner (1846-1927), John Alexander (1848-1883), Julia Gardiner (1849-1871), Lachlan (1851-1902), Lyon Gardiner (1853-1935), Robert Fitzwalter (1856-1927), Pearl (1860-1947)

Career: Lawyer

Political Affiliation: Democrat, Whig

Died: January 18, 1862, Richmond, Virginia

Buried: Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia

A Life in Brief: John Tyler signaled the last gasp of the Old Virginia aristocracy in the White House. Born a few years after the American Revolution in 1790 to an old family from Virginia’s ruling class, Tyler graduated from the College of William and Mary at the age of seventeen, studied law, and went to work for a prestigious law firm in Richmond. More....

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Read a letter from President Tyler

Portrait Gallery

Did You Know?

• He was nicknamed "His Accidency," due to the way in which he assumed office.• He was known as a president without a party, and was threatened with impeachment by both the Whigs and the Democratic party.• He was known as a political outlaw, and named his home "Sherwood Forest."• He was the first president to be widowed and re-married.

More...

Key Events in the Administration

John Tyler(March 29, 1790 - January 18, 1862)

Life Facts

For more videos on this president, search Book TV, Booknotes and the C-SPAN Video Library.

Personal:• First Lady: Priscilla Cooper Tyler, daughter-in-law• Wife's Maiden Name: Letitia Christian• Other Marriages: Julia Gardiner• Number of Children: 15• Education Level: College• School Attended: College of William and Mary• Religion: Episcopalian• Profession: Military, Lawyer• Military Service: Captain

Public Service:• Dates of Presidency: 4/6/1841 - 3/3/1845• Presidency Number: 10• Number of Terms: 1• Why Presidency Ended: Left after 1st term• Party: Whig• His Vice President(s): None• Vice President For: William Henry Harrison (1841-1841)• Senator: Virginia (1827-1836)• House of Representatives: Virginia (1816-1821)• Governor of a State: Virginia (1825-1827)• State Legislative Service: VA (1811-1816)• Other Offices: Virginia House of Delegates Methodology and Resources

Presidential Places

Birthplace: GreenwayGravesite: Hollywood CemeteryOther Sites: Sherwood Forest

Reference Material

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John Tyler

10th President of the United States(April 6, 1841 to March 3, 1845)

Nicknames: "Accidental President"; "His Accidency"

Born: March 29, 1790, in Greenway, VirginiaDied: January 18, 1862, in Richmond, Virginia

Father: John TylerMother: Mary Marot Armistead TylerMarried: Letitia Chrisitan (1790-1842), on March 29, 1813; Julia Gardiner (1820-1889), on June 26, 1844Children: Mary Tyler (1815-48); Robert Tyler (1816-77); John Tyler (1819-96); Letitia Tyler (1821-1907); Elizabeth Tyler (1823-50); Anne Contesse Tyler (1825); Alice Tyler (1827-54); Tazewell Tyler (1830-74); David Gardiner Tyler (1846-1927); John Alexander Tyler (1848-83); Julia Gardiner Tyler (1849-71); Lachlan Tyler (1851-1902); Lyon Gardiner Tyler (1853-1935); Robert Fitzwalter Tyler (1856-1927); Pearl Tyler (1860-1947)

Religion: EpiscopalianEducation: Graduated from the College of William and Mary (1807)Occupation: LawyerPolitical Party: WhigOther Government Positions:

Member of Virginia House of Delegates, 1811-16 Member of U.S. House of Representatives, 1816-21 Virginia State Legislator, 1823-25 Governor of Virginia, 1825-26 United States Senator, 1827-36 Vice President, 1841 (under W. H. Harrison) Member of Confederate States Congress, 1861-62

Presidential Salary: $25,000/year

Presidential Election Results: Never ran for president.

Vice President: None

Cabinet:

Secretary of State Daniel Webster (1841-43) Abel P. Upshur (1843-44) John C. Calhoun (1844-45)

Secretary of the Treasury Thomas Ewing (1841) Walter Forward (1841-43)

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John C. Spencer (1843-44) George M. Bibb (1844-45)

Secretary of War John Bell (1841) John C. Spencer (1841-43) James M. Porter (1843-44) William Wilkins (1844-45)

Attorney General John J. Crittenden (1841) Hugh S. Legare (1841-43) John Nelson (1843-45)

Postmaster General Francis Granger (1841) Charles A. Wickliffe (1841-45)

Secretary of the Navy George E. Badger (1841) Abel P. Upshur (1841-43) David Henshaw (1843-44) Thomas W. Gilmer (1844) John Y. Mason (1844-45)

Notable Events:

1841 o Tyler's cabinet resigned after he vetoed banking bills supported by the Whigs.

1844 o Far East opened to U.S. traders after a treaty with China signed.

1845 o Texas annexed followed by war with Mexico.

Internet Biographies:

John Tyler -- from The Presidents of the United States of America Compiled by the White House.

John Tyler -- from Table of Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States - MSN Encarta Grolier Online has created this resource from its collection of print articles in Encyclopedia Americana. Contains a full biography, written by Robert J. Morgan of the University of Virginia, along with suggestions for further reading.

John Tyler -- from The American President From the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, in addition to information on the Presidents themselves, they have first lady and cabinet member biographies, listings of presidential staff and advisers, and timelines detailing significant events in the lives of each administration.

John Tyler -- from the Hall of Forgotten Presidents A case for considering Tyler as one of the "near-great" presidents.

John Tyler's Obituary -- from Dead Presidents The text from The New York Times.

Historical Documents:

None

Other Internet Resources:

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Sherwood Forest History of the Tyler home, tour information, virtuals tours, and a ghost story.

Points of Interest:

Tyler was the first president whose wife died while he was in office. Tyler was the only president to hold office in the Confederacy. Five years after leaving office, Tyler was so poor he was unable to pay a bill for $1.25

until he had sold his corn crop. The tradition of playing "Hail to the Chief" whenever a president appears at state

functions was started by Tyler's second wife, Julia. For more on the origins of "Hail to the Chief," see C-SPAN's Vignette on The Origins Of "Hail To The Chief" (RealAudio).

 

John TylerTyler was the first vice president to assume the office of President after the death of his predecessor. His most notable accomplishment was the annexation of Texas.

 

   The Early Years

 

John Tyler was born in Greenway, Virginia. His mother died when he was seven years old. He attended The College of William and Mary. Upon graduation,Tyler began to study law, first under his father (a former governor of Virginia), then under his cousin and finally under Edmund Randolph, the first US Attorney General. Tyler was admitted to the bar in 1809.

From 1811-1816 he served as a Member of the Virginia House of Delegates. He led the efforts to censure the two Virginian senators who had voted for the creation of the Bank of New York.

During the War of 1812, Tyler enlisted in the militia as a Captain. His unit, however, saw no combat. From 1816- 1821, Tyler, who was elected on a states' rights platform, served in the House of Representatives. In January of 1821, after consistently finding himself in the minority on most issues, he resigned.

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From 1823-1825, he was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and from 1825-27 was Governor of Virginia. For the next nine years, Tyler served in the US Senate. He became a vocal opponent of Andrew Jackson.

From 1838 to 1840 Tyler served as a Member of the Virginia House of Delegates. In 1840 he was elected Vice President to balance the ticket of William Harrison.

Accomplishements in Office

 

As the first President to attain that office because of the death of the previous President, Tyler was forced to address the question of the legitimacy of his Presidency. To many, when he assumed the Presidency after Harrison's untimely death, Tyler was thought to be an "acting" President. This was a designation he did not accept. At the first cabinet meeting that Tyler chaired, Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State, asked whether Tyler would continue Harrison's policy that votes in the cabinet be based solely on majority rule, and in which the President had only one vote. Tyler refused, and stated that "I can never consent to being dictated to ... I, as President, shall be responsible for my administration."

Tyler became involved in a major battle with Congress, led by Senator Henry Clay, over the issue of national banking. Tyler refused to accede to the view of his party of the need to create the Third National Bank, and he twice vetoed attempts to create that bank. As a result, Tyler's complete cabinet resigned, except for Daniel Webster.

During Tyler's term of office, the Webster-Ashburton treaty was signed with Great Britain, thus settling the long-simmering territorial dispute along the Canadian border. The issue for which Tyler will no doubt be best remembered was his support for the annexation of Texas. While Congress at first opposed the annexation, Tyler's successor, Polk, was elected on a platform supporting annexation, and Congress passed a joint resolution supporting annexation signed into law by Tyler three days before his term expired.

The First Family

 

Father: John TylerMother: Mary ArmisteadWifes: Lettia Christian, Julia Gardina

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Daughters: Mary, Letitia, Elizabeth, Alice, Julia, PearlSons: John Jr., Tazewell, David, John, Lachlan, Lyon, Robert

 

Major Events

 

Webster-Ashburton Treaty Treaty of Wanghia Texas Annexed

 

The Cabinet

 

Secretaries of State: Daniel Webster, Abel Upshur, John Calhoun Secretaries of Treasury: Thomas Ewing, Walter Forward, John Spencer, George BibbSecretaries of War: John Bell, John Spencer, William WilkinsAtorney General: John Crittendon, Hugh Legare, John NelsonSecretaries of the Navy: George Badger, Abel Upshur, Thomas Gilmer, John Mason Postmaster Generals: Francis Granger, Charles Wickliffe

 

Military

 

Sent military forces the Texas to protect against a possible Mexican attack.

 

Did You Know?

 

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First President to be elevated from vice-president to President. First President to marry in office.

 

Inaugural Address

 

Full text and audio for inaugural addresses for each President are availible on MultiEducator's US History: 2 CD Set, which can be purchased through HistoryShopping.com. You may also view the text online in the Primary Sources area of HistoryCentral.com.

 

John Tyler

JOHN TYLERTHE TENTH PRESIDENT.THE SURPRISE PRESIDENT.

There are many boys and men in our country with an ambition only to make good lawyers, good doctors, good merchants, good farmers or good mechanics. By dint of good work they will be likely enough to succeed in this. But the world may hold a great surprise for them, and take them far beyond what they expected. It is of one of these great surprises I wish to speak. Certainly no man could have been more surprised than John Tyler, when a messenger, riding desperately from Washington, arrived early one morning at his country seat with a letter which told him that he was the President of the United States. Here is the letter:

WASHINGTON, April 4, 1841. "To John Tyler, Vice-President of the United States:

" Sir:--It becomes our painful duty to inform you that William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States, has departed this life. 

"This distressing event took place this day, at the President's mansion in this city, at thirty

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minutes before one in the morning.

"We Iose no time in despatching the chief clerk in the State Department as a special messenger to bear you these melancholy tidings.

"We have the honor to be with highest regard, "Your obedient servants.''

To this letter was signed the names of Daniel Webster and other members of President Harrison's Cabinet.

John Tyler was the first man to become President of the United States by the death of another President. You know that in our form of government the people elect a President, who rules the country with the aid of Congress, and whose place must be filled if he should die during the four years for which he is elected. At the same time that the President is elected, a Vice-President is also elected, to succeed him in office in case of his death ; so when William Henry Harrison was nominated for President, John Tyler was the candidate for Vice-President. I have told you already how, during the exciting election of these two men, the banners carried the strange words " Tippecanoe and Tyler too."  

Before I tell you what Tyler did as President, you will be interested in learning something of his early life, and you will also see why we say it is very important for every boy or girl who begins life to try and do everything so well, that if he should be called upon to fill a great office, or even to become President of the United States, he will be well prepared for it. This is just what John Tyler did. 

He was born in Virginia, near Charles City, March 29, 1790. His father, whose name was also John Tyler, was a staunch old Virginia patriot, and had been Speaker of the Continental Congress. He was now a prominent lawyer, and it was his wish that his son, if possible, should also be well educated and study law. It is a great help to a boy when a father can help him decide what he shall do, and give him a good start.

Unlike some other Presidents of whom we have read, John TyIer's early home surroundings were very good. He came of the old planter class, with its culture and high social distinction. Although his father was not a man of wealth, yet he had

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sufficient means to give his son a good education. Very early did his father and mother begin to teach him things at home; so when he began to go to school he knew how to read and write, and also was very fond of books.

He very soon showed that he was a boy of more than ordinary ability. He had a quick mind, an excellent memory, was very fond of his books, and got a good start in his happy home under the training of his parents. He was only twelve years old when he was prepared to enter the William and Mary College, at Williamsburg, in Virginia. Here he studied so hard and did so well that he graduated with honor from this famous old college at the age of seventeen.

The boy was ambitious and determined to rise to the top of his profession, the law. His father was prominent in politics, and had served, as we have seen, in the Continental Congress. He had also served in the House of Burgesses, which was the name given to the Legislature of Virginia. He was still more honored in 1838, when he was made Governor of that State. This was a great help to the young lawyer, who eagerly went into politics and began to deliver political speeches--or stump speeches, as they are often called to-day.  The young orator belonged to the Democratic party, which was then the leading party of the country, the one to which Jefferson and Madison had belonged. He was only twenty-one years of age when his neighbors and friends nominated him for the House of Burgesses, and he was elected.  

This was a great honor for one so young, and he was sent to represent the county for five terms in succession. Before the war with England began, in 1812, young Tyler had won a fine business and had a high reputation as a lawyer. When the war broke out he showed that he was as warm a patriot as his father had been before him. When the British sailed up the Chesapeake and began to burn and plunder, he did all he could to stir up the people and gather the militia to oppose them. No man was more energetic than he in this work.

He was a young man of very easy and graceful manners, a good speaker, and ready to be friends with every one, and in the year 1816 his admirers nominated him for Congress, and he was sent to Washington to represent his district. He was then only years old. Very few men have entered Congress so young. But although young in years, his experience in the politics of his State gave him the skill and power of a much older man. While in Congress he worked so hard that he found it necessary to resign in his second term and retire to his native county to regain health and strength. But his friends did not allow him to remain at home long. They sent him to the State Legislature, and a little later, in 1825, elected him by a large majority to become Governor of their State.

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As Governor, he showed that he was deeply interested in the welfare of his State, and through his efforts a great twenty-six many useful laws were passed improving the condition of the people. Before this time Mr. Tyler was happily married. He had fallen in love with an attractive young lady of Cedar Grove, Virginia, named Miss Letitia Christian. He was twenty-three years old when the wedding took place. The newly wedded pair settled at Greenway, on a part of the Tyler estate, where they lived in great harmony and happiness.

It was not long before there was an opportunity for the young Governor to be elected to the United States Senate. About that time John Randolph, a distinguished orator from Virginia, but who had done a great many things to displease the people of the State, was a candidate for re-election. John Tyler was nominated to run against him, and was elected, having the honor of defeating one of the most famous men of the old Congress. This was in 1827, when he was only thirty-seven years of age. At this time John Quincy Adams was President of the United States.  He served only a short time when he resigned and returned to Virginia and to his law practice. In this way he was able to earn a large amount of money for those times.

Although he had withdrawn from Congress, he continued to be very popular in his State. He was a Democrat still, but people began to call him the "Southern Whig " ; for though he differed with the Whigs of the North in some things, yet in many others he agreed with them. That was why, when the time came for the Whigs to nominate a President, and wanted a Southern man to run with William Henry Harrison for President, they nominated John Tyler for Vice-President. It was the votes of the Northern Whigs that, in the famous log-cabin campaign, made John Tyler the Democrat Vice-President of the United States.

At the time this was done no one imagined that he would be called upon to be President, and no one thought it made much difference what ideas the Vice-President might hold.  You know the Vice-President is the man who presides over the United States Senate. He is sometimes called the President of the Senate. So it occurred that when William Henry Harrison was elected President, John Tyler became the presiding officer of the United States Senate.

President Harrison, as you have been told, lived only one month after he was inaugurated, and when he died the Presidency came to John Tyler. It was then that word was sent him, at his quiet home in Williamsburg, that he had become President of the United States. On receiving this important notice, he hurried with all speed to Washington and took the oath of office.

At that time some of the high Cabinet officials did not know what title to give him. He was the first Vice-President to become President, and they said it was not right for him to have the full title. There was a political question in this, for they did not know if Mr. Tyler would carry out the Whig policy. But he made short work of their objections, and at once took the title of President, as the Constitution gave him the right to do.

An interesting incident is told of what happened when he came to Washington.  President Harrison had several very distinguished men in his Cabinet, probably the most distinguished being Daniel Webster, the great orator and statesman. He himself had also been a candidate for the Presidency. At the very first meeting the new President had with the Cabinet, he was told that it was customary for the President to take the advice of his Cabinet, and not to act upon anything

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before it was voted upon. The President, they said, should have one vote, and each one of his Cabinet officers should have one vote. Mr. Tyler listened quietly to what they had to say, and then informed them that he considered he was President of the United States. He was ready to follow their advice and counsel, if he approved of it, but he himself was responsible for the decision that was reached, and was not willing to have it settled by a Cabinet vote. If they did not like it that way they could resign. This rather surprised his Cabinet, but they knew very well that he was right, and they concluded to stay where they were.

Mr. Tyler had nearly four years to serve as President of the United States. He soon made it plain to the people of the United States that he did not agree at all with the ideas that President Harrison held on a great many subjects. He had been elected as a Whig, but he was really a Democrat. 

President Tyler's position became soon very unpleasant. The people who had elected him did not like him, and many of those who had voted against him did not approve of what he had done; so the four years he was in office were very bitter and quarrelsome ones. When a new election took place Mr. Tyler was not nominated, and on the 4th of March, 1845, he was succeeded by James Knox Polk.

But the years that followed were very stirring years, for the great slavery contest had now come on. Finally the North and South could no longer agree, and the great Civil War broke out. Mr. Tyler was then living in Virginia, and he went with the South. He was elected to the Confederate Congress, but was not able to take much part. He was an old man now, and the excitement of the time bore heavily on him. He was attacked by a severe illness in 1862, and on January 18th he died at his home near Charles City.

Children:

John Tyler, President from 1841-1845, had two wives. Both were First Ladies, and between them had fifteen children, which is still the record for presidential children. Fourteen of these children lived to maturity.

Tyler's first wife, Letitia, suffered a stroke in 1839, and during her years as First Lady, remained upstairs in the living quarters of the White House, coming downstairs only once for her daughter's wedding in January of 1842. On September 9, 1842, she suffered a second stroke and died peacefully the next day. She had given birth to eight children, seven of whom lived to maturity. John Tyler remarried in June 1844. His second wife was Julia Gardner, who gave birth to seven children, all of whom lived to maturity.

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Mary Tyler, 1815-1848. She was married in 1835 to a wealthy Tidewater planter named Henry Lightfoot Jones. She died two months after her thirty-third birthday.

Robert Tyler, 1816-1877. After he served as his father's private secretary in the White House, Robert settled in Philadelphia, where he became a leader in the state Democratic Party. He practiced law and held the positions of sheriff's solicitor and chief clerk of the state supreme court. He supported James Buchanan throughout his career. Robert's wife was an actress named Priscilla Cooper, who acted as official White House hostess for the invalid Letitia Tyler for the first three years of John Tyler's Presidency. When the Civil War broke out, a mob attacked Robert's home and he had to flee Philadelphia. He returned to Virginia where he served as the register of the Treasury of the Confederacy. He was broke after the war and settled in Montgomery, Alabama where he became wealthy again as a lawyer and publisher of the Montgomery Advertiser. He was also a leader of the state Democratic Party in Alabama.

John Tyler, Jr., 1819-1896. Like his older brother, John also became a lawyer, served as private secretary of his father during his presidential term and also campaigned for James Buchanan. During the Civil War, he served as Confederate assistant secretary of war. After the war, he practiced law in Baltimore. President Grant appointed him to a minor position in the Internal Revenue Bureau at Tallahassee, Florida.

Letitia Tyler, 1821-1907. In 1839, she married James Semple, whom her father appointed a navy purser. The marriage was not a happy one, and she left James after the Civil War. She moved to Baltimore and opened a school, the Eclectic Institute.

Elizabeth Tyler, 1823-1850. She married William Waller in 1842 in a White House wedding, the one event for which her mother came downstairs. She died as a result of complications of childbirth at the age of 27.

Anne Contesse Tyler, April-July 1825.

Alice Tyler, 1827-1854. She was married in 1850 to the Reverend Henry Denison, an Episcopal rector in Williamsburg. She died suddenly of colic at the age of 27.

Tazewell Tyler, 1830-1874. He served as a surgeon in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. After the war, he moved to California. He had five sons and two daughters by his second wife.

David Gardiner "Gardie" Tyler, 1846-1927. During the Civil War, the 16-year-old Gardie dropped out of Washington College to enlist in the Confederate Army. After the war, he studied in Germany and became a lawyer. He settled in Charles City County, Virginia. He served in the Virginia state senate (1891-1892 and 1899-1904) and in the U.S. House of Representatives (1893-1897). He was a circuit court judge in Virginia from 1904 until his death in 1927.

John Alexander "Alex" Tyler, 1848-1883. Like his older brother Gardie, Alex dropped out of Washington College. He enlisted in the Confederate Army while barely in his teens. He also studied in Germany after the war, becoming a mining engineer. While in Germany, he served in

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the Saxon army during the Franco-Prussian War. The Prussian government decorated him for his service during the war. He returned to the United States and was appointed U.S. surveyor of the Interior Department in 1879. He was working in this capacity when he died in New Mexico after drinking contaminated water at the age of 35.

Julia Gardiner Tyler, 1849-1871. In 1869, she married William Spencer, a farmer from Tuscarora, New York, who was deeply in debt. She died from complications after childbirth at the age of 22.

Lachlan Tyler, 1851-1902. He was a doctor who practiced in Jersey City, New Jersey. In 1879, he became surgeon in the U.S. Navy. In 1887, he moved to Elkhorn, West Virginia, where he practiced medicine until his death.

Lyon Gardiner Tyler, 1853-1935. He began his career as a lawyer, but only practiced law for a few years. He earned a reputation as a writer and educator. In 1885, he published a two-volume work, "The Letter and Times of the Tylers." In this and other books, he worked to vindicate his father's presidency and career as well as the

the South in general. He was a professor of literature at the College of William and Mary. He served as President of the College of William and Mary from 1888 until 1919.

Robert Fitzwater "Fitz" Tyler, 1856-1927. He lived in Hanover County, Virginia, where he was a farmer.

Pearl Tyler, 1860-1947. Born when her father was 70 years old, she never got to know her father. Her father died in a Richmond hotel room, where he was staying waiting to be sworn in as a member of the Confederate House of Representatives. At the age of 12, she and her mother converted to Roman Catholicism. She married William Ellis, who had been a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. They lived near Roanoke, Virginia.

Most of John Tyler's many children lived quiet, productive lives. A few became political leaders like their father. They are remembered at all mainly because their father managed to have a record number of presidential children. No other President has even come close to this record.

The copyright of the article PRESIDENTIAL CHILDREN: TYLER'S 15, STILL A RECORD in American Presidents is owned by John S. Cooper. Permission to republish PRESIDENTIAL CHILDREN: TYLER'S 15, STILL A RECORD in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Children and names:

John Tyler

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Mary Tyler Jones

She was born April 15, 1815, and died June 17, 1848. Mary was the first of fifteen children born to John

Tyler, eight with his first wife, Letitia Christian. On a visit to the White House, Mary gave birth to her

second son, Robert, who later served with honor in the Civil War. They had three children.

Robert Tyler

He was born September 9, 1816 and died December 3, 1877. Introverted and shy as a child, Robert

overcame his handicap to become a powerful lawyer and politician. In his twenties he married Priscilla

Cooper and worked as a private secretary in his father's White House. The couple lived in the mansion,

with Priscilla serving as White House hostess for an invalid First Lady. Later, Robert rose to prominence

in Pennsylvania politics, becoming an early supporter of President James Buchanan. He served as

registrar for the Confederate treasury during the Civil War. Tyler refused opportunities to trade on his

fame as a presidential son, maintaining a dignity and integrity that won deep friendships and wide

respect. In later years he became the Alabama Democratic state chairman and editor of the

Montgomery Advisor. He had nine children.

John Tyler, Jr.

He was born April 27, 1819 and died January 26, 1896. He was famous for defending his father in a

much-publicized duel with a Richmond newspaper. John Jr. was a writer, lawyer and politician who was

not successful as any of the three. He became an alcoholic. John, Jr. married Martha "Mattie" Rochelle,

but lived with her only a few months before trying to get a divorce. And yet, they had three children

together.

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Letitia (Letty) Tyler Semple

She was born May 11, 1821 and she died December 28, 1907. Letitia stepped in as a substitute mother

to the growing Tyler clan when her mother suffered a paralyzing stroke. It all ended when the 54 year

old president married twenty-four-year-old Julia Gardiner. The rivalry between the two women, first

daughter and First Lady, became a lifelong obsession.

Elizabeth "Lizzie" Tyler Waller

She was born July 11, 1823 and she died on June 1, 1850. On January 31, 1842, she married William

Waller in a White House wedding. They moved to Lynchburg, Va. where they had five children before

her death at the age of twenty-six from childbirth complications.

Anne Contesse Tyler

She was born April, 1825. She died three months later in July, 1825. Cause of death unknown.

Alice Tyler Denison

She was born March 23, 1847. She died of colic on June 8, 1854, at the age of 27. She married Henry

Mandeville Denison, the handsome Episcopalian rector of the Williamsburg parish. They bore two

children.

Tazewell Tyler

He was born December 6, 1830 and died January 8, 1874. The youngest of the eight children born to

the tenth chief executive and first wife, Taz was 14 when his father married the second time. He

became a physician and served during the Civil War. His life ended in divorce and alcoholism. He had

two children.

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David Gardiner "Gardie" Tyler

He was born July 12, 1846 and died September 5, 1927 at the age of 81. "Gardie" was the first of

seven children born to Tyler's second wife, Julia. He left Washington College as a sixteen-year-old to

serve in the Confederate Army. After the Civil War, he worked as a lawyer and in a number of elected

offices, including the U.S. Congress. He and wife, Mary Morris Jones, had five children.

John Alexander "Alex" Tyler

He was born April 7, 1848 and died at age 35 on September 1, 1883. He ran away from home at

fourteen to enlist in the Confederate Army. He was rejected as too young, then later joined the

Confederate Navy. Alex enlisted in the German Army at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in

1870. He worked as an engineer and a surveyor in the American West. He married a cousin but was

often separated from her. His death has spawned several mysterious theories, but most historians

accept an account that he died of dysentery after drinking contaminated water in New Mexico in 1883.

He had one child.

Julia Tyler Spencer

She was born December 25, 1849. She died at 21 years of age on May 8, 1871 from childbirth

complications She studied at a convent school in Nova Scotia, then married William Spencer. He ran up

staggering debts eventually disappearing from the family's sight forever. They had one child.

Lachlan Tyler

He was born December 2, 1851. He died January 25, 1902 at age 50. Lachlan trained as a physician.

For years he tried to use his credentials as a president's son to open doors but was unsuccessful.

Eventually, on his own merits, he obtained a position as a surgeon in the U.S. Navy. He eventually

achieved a measure of success in private practice. He and wife, Georgia Powell, had no children.

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Lyon Gardiner Tyler

He was born August, 1853 and he died February 12, 1935. He practiced law for a time, but spent most

of his life as an educator. He served as president of William and Mary for thirty-one years. He was an

author and respected historian. Married twice, he had three children by his first wife and two by his

second.

Robert Fitzwalter Tyler

He was born March 12, 1856 and he died December 30, 1927. Robert turned to the simple life of a

Virginia farmer ,after being forced, by a lack of funds, to drop out of Georgetown College. He fathered

three children with wife, Fannie Glenn.

Pearl Tyler Ellis

She was born June 20, 1860 and died June 30, 1947. She was the last of the Tyler children. Pearl was a

graduate of Sacred Heart in Washington, D. C. She married Major William Mumford Ellis and lived most

of her life near Roanoke, Virginia, a homemaker and a mother. She had eight children.

 

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Full Name: John Tyler Born: March 29, 1790 Place of Birth: Charles City, Virginia Ancestry: English Father: John Tyler (1747 - 1813) Mother: Mary Armistead (1761 - 1797) First Lady: Letitia Christian Tyler and Julia Gardiner Tyler Children: Fifteen; 7 girls and 8 boys Pet(s): Le Beau, A Greyhound; A Horse Named The General Education: Graduated from the College of William and Mary (1807) Religion: Episcopalian Occupation: Lawyer Military Service: Captain Political Party: Whig Offices Held: Member of Virginia House of Delegates, (1811-16); Member of U.S. House of Representatives, (1816-21);

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Virginia State Legislator, (1823-25); Governor of Virginia, (1825-26); United States Senator, (1827-36); Vice President, (1841); Member of Confederate States Congress, (1861-62) Age at Inauguration: 51 Terms Served: Four; (1841 - 1845) Vice Presidents: George Mifflin Dallas Campaign Slogan: None States Admitted: Florida Sport or Hobby: Fox Hunting Nickname: Young Hickory Died: January 18, 1862 - Age 72 Place of Death: Exchange Hotel, Richmond, Virginia Cause of Death: Bronchitis and high fever Interesting Facts: Tyler had the most children of any President (15). He was the first President whose wife died while he was in office. Impeachment proceedings were started against him for abusing his veto power.Tyler was a great violinist.

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John Tyler Facts and Trivia Birthday: March 29, 1790

Birthplace: Greenway, Va.

College or University: William and Mary

Religion: Episcopalian

Occupation or Profession: Lawyer

Military Rank: Captain

Married: Letitia Christian Tyler (1st wife)Julia Gardiner Tyler

Children: 8 children by 1st wife, 7 children by 2nd wife

President number: 10th

Political Party: Whig

Runner Up: n/a

Vice President: n/a

Age at Inauguration: 51

Served: 1841 - 1845

Number of terms: 1

Other Offices or Commissions: U.S. House of Representatives, Governor of Virginia, U.S. Senator, Vice-President

Died: January 18, 1862

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Age at Death: 71

Place of Burial: Richmond, Va.