John Tyler

John Tyler
Presidential Seal
Order:10th President
Term of Office:April 4, 1841 - March 4, 1845
Followed:William Henry Harrison
Succeeded by:James Knox Polk
Date of BirthMarch 29, 1790
Place of Birth:Greenway, Virginia
Date of Death:January 18, 1862
Place of Death:Richmond, Virginia
First Ladies:Letitia Christian Tyler (1st wife)

Priscilla Cooper Tyler (daughter-in-law)

Julia Gardiner Tyler (2nd wife)
Occupation:lawyer
Political Party:Whig/independent
Vice President: none

John Tyler (March 29, 1790 - January 18, 1862) of Virginia was the tenth (1841) Vice President of the United States, and the tenth (1841-1845) President of the United States. He was the second President born after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and the first to assume the office of President following the death of his predecessor.

Contents

Biography

John Tyler was born the son of John Tyler (1747-1813) and Mary Armistead. He studied law with his father, who became Governor of Virginia (1808-1811), and followed his father as governor (1825-1827) after a stint in the House of Representatives. During his time as U.S. Senator, Tyler, who had begun as a strict state-rights Democrat, grew increasingly alienated from the Jacksonian Democrats, especially by Jackson's aggressive handling of the South Carolina nullification issue.

Drawn into the newly-organized Whig Party, Tyler was elected Vice President in 1840 as running mate to William Henry Harrison. Their campaign slogans of "Log Cabins and Hard Cider" and "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" are among the most famous in American politics. He assumed the presidency upon Harrison's death a month into his term.

Tyler was the first Vice President to assume the Presidency in this manner. He acceded to the Presidency upon the death of President Harrison on April 4, 1841, and took the Presidential oath of office as specified by the Constitution on April 6. The Cabinet and U.S. Congress agreed with Tyler that he was President and not merely Acting President, and as the Constitution was not explicit on that aspect of succession (until the 1967 ratification of the 25th Amendment), both the House and Senate passed resolutions recognizing Tyler as President.

Marriage

John married twice, firstly to Letitia Christian on March 29, 1813. They had eight children:

Letitia served as First Lady of the United States but died on September 10, 1842. John spent two years as a widower. His daughter-in-law Elizabeth Priscilla Cooper served as First Lady for this period. John then married Julia Gardiner on June 26, 1844. He was the first President to marry while in office. They had seven children:

Altogether Tyler was the father of 15 children, more than any other President before or after him. His youngest child, Pearl, died almost exactly 100 years after the death of his eldest daughter, Mary.

Presidency

His presidency was rarely taken seriously in his time; he was usually referred to as the "Acting President" or "His Accidency" by opponents. Further, Tyler quickly found himself at odds with his former political supporters. Harrison had been expected to adhere closely to Whig Party policies and work closely with Whig leaders, particularly Henry Clay. Tyler shocked Congressional Whigs by vetoing virtually the entire Whig agenda, twice vetoing Clay's legislation for a national banking act following the Panic of 1837 and leaving the government deadlocked. Tyler was officially expelled from the Whig Party in 1841, a few months after taking office, and the entire cabinet he had inherited from Harrison resigned in September. The one exception was Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, who remained to finalize the Webster-Ashburton Treaty in 1842, demonstrating his independence of Clay.

For two years Tyler struggled with the Whigs, but when he took John C. Calhoun as Secretary of State, to 'reform' the Democrats, the gravitational swing of the Whigs to identity with 'the North' and the Democrats as the party of 'the South,' led the way to the sectional party politics of the next decade.

Missing image
Bigtyler.gif

In May 1842, when the Dorr Rebellion in Rhode Island came to a head, John Tyler declined to use Federal troops to suppress the rioting adherents of a new state constitution, which extended Rhode Island's restricted franchise. Tyler was of the opinion that the 'lawless assemblages' were dispersing, and expressed his confidence in a 'temper of conciliation as well as of energy and decision:'

"I freely confess that I should experience great reluctance in employing the military power of Government against any portion of the people; but however painful the duty I have to assure your Excellency, that if resistance is made to the execution of the laws of Rhode-Island, by such force as the civil peace shall be unable to overcome, it will be the duty of this Government to enforce the Constitutional guarantee-- a guarantee given and adopted mutually by all the original States, of which Rhode-Island was one."

Tyler's later career may be seen in the light of his actions at this turn of events. His letter declined to offer an opinion on the internal affairs of Rhode Island: "They are questions of municipal regulation, the adjustment of which belongs exclusively to the people of Rhode Island." It was the first occasion in U.S. history where the question had arisen, according to Tyler, who was overlooking Shays' Rebellion. He ended his published letter.

"The people of the State of Rhode Island have been too long distinguished for their love of order and of regular government, to rush into revolution, in order to obtain a redress of grievances, real or supposed, which a government under which their fathers lived in peace, would not in due season redress. No portion of her people will be willing to drench her fair fields with the blood of their own brethren, in order to obtain a redress of grievances which their constituted authorities cannot, for any length of time resist, if properly appealed to by the popular voice. None of them will be willing to set an example, in the bosom of this Union, of such frightful disorder, such needless convulsions of society, such danger to life, liberty and property, and likely to bring so much discredit on the character of popular governments. My reliance on the virtue, intelligence and patriotism of her citizens, is great and abiding, and I will not doubt but that a spirit of conciliation will prevail over rash counsels, that all actual grievances will be promptly redressed by the existing Government, and that another bright example will be added to the many already prevailing among the North American Republics, of change without revolution and a redress of grievances without force or violence."

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, a main gun of the USS Princeton blew up during a demonstration firing, instantly killing Thomas Gilmer, the Secretary of the Navy, and Abel P. Upshur, the Secretary of State. Tyler met his second wife, Julia Gardiner, during the ceremony. Her father was also killed during the explosion. Tyler and Gardiner were married not long afterwards.

Tyler's last act in office was perhaps the most significant: he signed the bill annexing Texas, which had formerly been part of Mexico, thus extending the territory of slave-holding states and unbalancing the Missouri Compromise. The consequences of this act, which triggered war with Mexico, Tyler left to his successor, James K. Polk.

Cabinet

OFFICENAMETERM
PresidentJohn Tyler1841–1845
Vice PresidentNone 
Secretary of StateDaniel Webster1841–1843
 Abel P. Upshur1843–1844
 John C. Calhoun1844–1845
Secretary of the TreasuryThomas Ewing1841
 Walter Forward1841–1843
 John C. Spencer1843–1844
 George Bibb1844–1845
Secretary of WarJohn Bell1841
 John C. Spencer1841–1843
 James M. Porter1843–1844
 William Wilkins1844–1845
Attorney GeneralJohn J. Crittenden1841
 [[Hugh S. Legar靝1841–1843
 John Nelson1843–1845
Postmaster GeneralFrancis Granger1841
 Charles Wickliffe1841–1845
Secretary of the NavyGeorge E. Badger1841
 Abel P. Upshur1841–1843
 David Henshaw1843–1844
 Thomas Gilmer1844
 John Y. Mason1844–1845


Supreme Court appointments

Tyler appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:

States Admitted to the Union

Tyler postage stamp
Enlarge
Tyler postage stamp

Post-Presidency

Tyler retired to a plantation named "Walnut Grove" he had bought in Virginia, renaming it "Sherwood Forest" to signify that he had been "outlawed" by the Whig party, and withdrew from electoral politics, though his advice continued to be sought by states-rights Democrats.

Confederate allegiances

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 the federal government. He was himself a slaveowner his entire life. In February 1861, Tyler re-entered public life to sponsor and chair the Washington peace convention. The Washington peace convention sought a compromise to avoid civil war, while the Confederate Constitution was being drawn up at the Montgomery Convention. When the Senate rejected his plan, Tyler urged Virginia's immediate secession.

Having served in the provisional Confederate Congress in 1861, he was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives but died of bronchitis and bilious fever before he could take office, which could mean he is the only American president to die on foreign soil, depending on if one considers the CSA foreign or not.He was 71 years and 295 days old.

John Tyler is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. The city of Tyler, Texas is named for him.

Related articles

History Clipart and Pictures

External links


Preceded by:
John Clopton
U.S. Congressman for the 23rd District of Virginia
1817-1821
Succeeded by:
Andrew Stevenson
Preceded by:
James Pleasants
Governor of Virginia
1825-1827
Succeeded by:
William Branch Giles
Preceded by:
John Randolph
U.S. Senator from Virginia
1827-1836
Succeeded by:
William C. Rives
Preceded by:
(none)
Whig Party Vice Presidential candidate
1836(a), 1840
Succeeded by:
Theodore Frelinghuysen
Preceded by:
Richard M. Johnson
Vice President of the United States
March 4, 1841April 4, 1841(b)
Succeeded by:
George M. Dallas
Preceded by:
William Henry Harrison
President of the United States
April 4, 1841(c)March 4, 1845
Succeeded by:
James K. Polk
Preceded by:
(none)
Delegate to the Confederate Provisional Congress from Virginia
1861-1862
Succeeded by:
(none)
Preceded by:
(none)
Representative to the First Confederate Congress from Virginia
(none)(d)
Succeeded by:
 

Template:Succession footnote Template:Succession footnote Template:Succession footnote Template:Succession footnote Template:End box


Navigation

  • Art and Cultures
    • Art (https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Art)
    • Architecture (https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Architecture)
    • Cultures (https://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Cultures)
    • Music (https://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Music)
    • Musical Instruments (http://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/List_of_musical_instruments)
  • Biographies (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Biographies)
  • Clipart (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Clipart)
  • Geography (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Geography)
    • Countries of the World (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Countries)
    • Maps (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Maps)
    • Flags (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Flags)
    • Continents (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Continents)
  • History (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/History)
    • Ancient Civilizations (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Ancient_Civilizations)
    • Industrial Revolution (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Industrial_Revolution)
    • Middle Ages (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Middle_Ages)
    • Prehistory (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Prehistory)
    • Renaissance (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Renaissance)
    • Timelines (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Timelines)
    • United States (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/United_States)
    • Wars (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Wars)
    • World History (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/History_of_the_world)
  • Human Body (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Human_Body)
  • Mathematics (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Mathematics)
  • Reference (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Reference)
  • Science (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Science)
    • Animals (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Animals)
    • Aviation (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Aviation)
    • Dinosaurs (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Dinosaurs)
    • Earth (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Earth)
    • Inventions (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Inventions)
    • Physical Science (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Physical_Science)
    • Plants (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Plants)
    • Scientists (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Scientists)
  • Social Studies (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Social_Studies)
    • Anthropology (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Anthropology)
    • Economics (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Economics)
    • Government (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Government)
    • Religion (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Religion)
    • Holidays (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Holidays)
  • Space and Astronomy
    • Solar System (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Solar_System)
    • Planets (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Planets)
  • Sports (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Sports)
  • Timelines (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Timelines)
  • Weather (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Weather)
  • US States (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/US_States)

Information

  • Home Page (http://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php)
  • Contact Us (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Contactus)

  • Clip Art (http://classroomclipart.com)
Toolbox
Personal tools