John Tyler

John Tyler

John Tyler 1841 – 1845

John Tyler, (born March 29, 1790, Charles City county, Virginia, U.S.—died January 18, 1862, Richmond), 10th president of the United States (1841–45), who took office upon the death of Pres. William Henry Harrison. A maverick Democrat who refused allegiance to the program of party leader Andrew Jackson, Tyler was rejected in office by both the Democratic Party and the Whig Party and functioned as a political independent. (For a discussion of the history and nature of the presidency, seepresidency of the United States of America.).

Tyler, John

An overview of John Tyler

Early life and career

Tyler was the son of John Tyler, member of the Virginia House of Delegates during the American Revolution and later governor of Virginia, and Mary Armistead. After graduating from the College of William and Mary in 1807, young Tyler studied law with his father, gaining admission to the bar in 1809. He married his first wife, Letitia Christian, on his 23rd birthday in 1813. His political career began in the Virginia legislature, where he served from 1811 to 1816, 1823 to 1825, and in 1839. He served as United States representative (1817–21), as state governor (1825–27), and as United States senator (1827–36). His service in Washington was marked by his consistent support of states’ rights and his strict constructionist interpretation of the Constitution. While in the Senate, Tyler—who was a slaveholder—sought to prohibit the slave trade in the District of Columbia but opposed its abolition there without the consent of Maryland and Virginia. He voted against the protective tariffs of 1828 and 1832 but also condemned South Carolina’s attempted nullification of these measures.

Tyler, Letitia Letitia Tyler. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 

In an unusual show of independence, Tyler resigned from the Senate in 1836 rather than yield to his state legislature’s instructions to reverse his vote on Senate resolutions censuringPresident Jackson for removal of deposits from the Bank of the United States. This anti-Jackson stand endeared Tyler to the opposition Whig Party, which in 1840 nominated him for the vice presidency in an effort to attract Southern support. Harrison and Tyler defeated the Democratic incumbents Martin Van Buren and Richard M. Johnson after a campaign that sedulously avoided the issues and stressed innocuousparty insignia and the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler too!” (the former referring to the river in Indiana where Harrison defeated the Shawnee Indians in 1811).

Sheet music for “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too! A Comic Glee,” the campaign song of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler during the 1840 presidential race.

"Tippecanoe and Tyler Too! A Comic Glee" sheet music, 1840. Call number: M1.A12V vol. 5 Case Class original bound volumes; Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

American presidential election, 1840

Results of the American presidential election, 1840Source: United States Office of the Federal Register.

Succession to the presidency

President Harrison’s sudden death, only one month after his inauguration, created a constitutional crisis. Because the Constitution was silent on the matter, it was unclear whether, upon the death of a president, the vice president would become president or merely “vice president acting as president,” as John Quincy Adams maintained at the time. Defying his opponents, who dubbed him “His Accidency,” Tyler decided that he was president and moved into the White House, thereby establishing a precedent that was never successfully challenged.

Tyler, John John Tyler, detail of a mezzotint engraving by John Sartain after James Reid Lambdin, 1842; in the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut. 

After Tyler vetoed two bills aimed at reestablishing a national bank, all but one member, Secretary of State Daniel Webster, of the cabinet Tyler inherited from Harrison resigned, and two days later he was formally ostracized by congressional Whigs. Tyler was now a president without a party. Nevertheless, his administration managed to accomplish a great deal. It reorganized the navy, established the United States Weather Bureau, brought an end to the Second Seminole War (1835–42) in Florida, and put down the rebellion (1842) led by Thomas Dorr against the state government of Rhode Island. Tyler’s wife Letitia Christian Tyler died in 1842, the first president’s wife to die in the White House. Tyler married Julia Gardiner (Julia Tyler) in 1844, thus becoming the first president to marry while in office.

John Tyler, oil painting by Hart, c. 1841–45; in the Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, U.S.

The Library of Virginia

Tyler, Julia

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 

Having been rejected by the Whigs and finding only lukewarm support among the Democrats, Tyler entered the presidential election of 1844 as the candidate of his own party, which he created from a core of loyal appointees. His candidacy attracted little support, however, and in August 1844 he withdrew in favour of the Democratic nominee, James K. Polk.

After leaving office, Tyler continued to take an active interest in public affairs and remained a strong champion of Southern interests. However, on the eve of the Civil War he stood firmly against secession and worked to preserve the Union. Early in 1861 he presided over the Washington Peace Conference, an abortive effort to resolve sectional differences. When the Senate rejected the proposals of the conference, he relinquished all hope of saving the Union and returned to Virginia, where he served as a delegate to the Virginia Secession Convention. Shortly before his death Tyler was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives.

Cabinet of Pres. John Tyler

The table provides a list of cabinet members in the administration of Pres. John Tyler.

Cabinet of President John TylerApril 6, 1841–March 3, 1845State Daniel Webster

Abel Parker Upshur (from July 24, 1843)

John C. Calhoun (from April 1, 1844)Treasury Thomas Ewing

Walter Forward (from September 13, 1841)

John Canfield Spencer (from March 8, 1843)

George Mortimer Bibb (from July 4, 1844)

War John Bell

John Canfield Spencer (from October 12, 1841)

William Wilkins (from February 20, 1844)

Navy George Edmund Badger

Abel Parker Upshur (from October 11, 1841)

David Henshaw (from July 24, 1843)

Thomas Walker Gilmer (from February 19, 1844)

John Young Mason (from March 26, 1844)

Attorney General John Jordan Crittenden

Hugh Swinton Legaré (from September 20, 1841)

John Nelson (from July 1, 1843).

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