Difference between revisions of "John Tyler" - New World Encyclopedia
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| − | '''John Tyler''' (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth President of the United States. | + | '''John Tyler''' (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth President of the [[United States]]. As the first vice president to succeed to the presidency on the death of an incumbent, he established precedents important to later vice presidents in similar circumstances. Like [[Andrew Johnson]], who succeeded Abraham Lincoln in 1865, Tyler served only a single term—the nearly full term remaining after the death of [[William Henry Harrison]] in 1841. And, like Johnson, he too was engaged in bitter struggles with rivals in Congress. By the end of his term, neither the Whigs nor the Democrats supported him, and he chose not to run for re-election. He was succeeded by Democrat [[James K. Polk]]. |
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==Early Life== | ==Early Life== | ||
The ancestors of John Tyler were among the earliest English settlers of Virginia. The family trace their lineage back to Wat Tyler, who in the fourteenth century, in the reign of Richard II, headed the insurrection in [[England]] known by his name. Mr. Tyler's grandfather was Marshall of Virginia. | The ancestors of John Tyler were among the earliest English settlers of Virginia. The family trace their lineage back to Wat Tyler, who in the fourteenth century, in the reign of Richard II, headed the insurrection in [[England]] known by his name. Mr. Tyler's grandfather was Marshall of Virginia. | ||
| − | John Tyler was born on March 29, 1790 in Virginia. He was the seventh of eight children born to John Tyler, Sr. and Mary Armistead. His mother died when he was only seven. At age twelve, he entered the College of William and Mary Preparatory School. He graduated from the College proper in 1807 when he was seventeen years of age. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1809. He practiced law for a short time before entering the political arena. | + | John Tyler was born on March 29, 1790 in Virginia. He was the seventh of eight children born to John Tyler, Sr. and Mary Armistead. His mother died when he was only seven. At age twelve, he entered the College of William and Mary Preparatory School. He graduated from the College proper in 1807 when he was seventeen years of age. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1809. He practiced law for a short time before entering the political arena. Two years later, at the age of 21, he was elected to the Virginia legislature. Then began a career in state and national politics that lasted with little interruption until he left the presidency. |
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==Political Career== | ==Political Career== | ||
| − | Tyler begin his career in politics when, from 1816-1821, he served in the Virginia House of Delegates | + | Tyler begin his career in politics when, from 1816-1821, he served in the Virginia House of Delegates. During his service in the House of Delegates, Tyler led the effort to censure Virginia's two U.S. Senators for supporting the Bank of the United States. When Tyler moved on to become a member of the House of Representatives from 1816-1821, Tyler opposed the Bank of the United States, high tariffs, and federally funded internal improvements. He argued against the constitutionality of restrictions on slavery, and was against Jackson's invasion of Florida. |
| − | Tyler was again elected as a Jeffersonian Republican representative | + | Tyler was again elected as a Jeffersonian Republican representative to the Virginia House of Delegates from 1823-1825. Then he was elected Governor of Virginia from 1825-1827, and fought unsuccessfully for statewide improvements in education and transportation, which reflects his position that internal improvements are the duty of the state and not the nation. He resigned in 1827 to accept his election to the U.S. Senate. Tyler entered the Senate criticizing then president [[John Quincy Adams]] and his administration, again on the grounds of Adams' support for federal funding of internal improvements. In 1836, Tyler chose to resign his seat rather than comply with orders from the Virginia legislature on how to vote. |
In 1838, Tyler was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, this time as a Whig candidate from the Williamsburg district. He was named the Speaker of the House in January 1839. He served for one year, and then Tyler was nominated to the position of Vice President. The nomination was intended as a tool to gain Southern support for the 1840 Whig candidate, [[William Henry Harrison]]. Harrison won the election, and Tyler became Vice President on March 4, 1841. No one could have foreseen then that Tyler would become president. | In 1838, Tyler was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, this time as a Whig candidate from the Williamsburg district. He was named the Speaker of the House in January 1839. He served for one year, and then Tyler was nominated to the position of Vice President. The nomination was intended as a tool to gain Southern support for the 1840 Whig candidate, [[William Henry Harrison]]. Harrison won the election, and Tyler became Vice President on March 4, 1841. No one could have foreseen then that Tyler would become president. | ||
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| + | [[Image:john_tyler_stamp.JPG|left|thumb|Tyler postage stamp]] | ||
===Policies=== | ===Policies=== | ||
| − | + | When Harrison died after only a month in office, Tyler, on April 6, 1841, took the oath of office. He knew that the nationalist Whigs intended to force him to accept their legislative program against his constitutional principles, but he was determined to be accepted as the president and not merely as acting president. The cabinet and Congress agreed, and as the Constitution was not explicit on succession, both the House and Senate passed resolutions recognizing Tyler as president. | |
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| − | + | Shortly afterward, however, Congress passed two bills to create a new Bank of the United States. Tyler vetoed both as unconstitutional, the second amid charges that he had expressed his approval privately before it was passed. During the uproar that followed, [[Henry Clay]] argued that Tyler ought to abide by the views of his cabinet and the congressional majority and sign the bank billor else he should resign from office. | |
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| − | Tyler | + | In an attempt to force Tyler out of office, all the members of the cabinet except [[Daniel Webster]] resigned in allegiance to Clay. Acting with a speed that suggested he had anticipated this turn of events, Tyler named the new secretaries in two days. On Sept. 13, 1841, the day the Senate confirmed the cabinet appointments, the Whig caucus declared all party ties with Tyler dissolved on the ground that he was seeking to build a new political party. The congressional Whigs then used every difference with the president as an occasion to charge him with "executive usurpation"—the same charge the party had made against Jackson. |
| − | + | Relations became so strained that Tyler was placed in the position of vetoing more bills than Jackson had. In 1842, when the House adopted a resolution charging him with offenses justifying impeachment for vetoing a protective tariff, Tyler sent a "Protest Message" as Jackson had done in 1834. The president succeeded in forcing Congress to pass separate bills for a mildly protective tariff and for distribution of the proceeds from the sale of public lands. He then approved the tariff and pocket-vetoed the distribution bill. | |
| − | In | ||
| − | + | In the congressional elections that followed, the Whigs lost control of the House. Tyler perceived this defeat as a sign of public support. In March 1845, however, Congress for the first time in history overrode a presidential veto—of a tariff bill. | |
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| − | Tyler | ||
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| + | ===Foreign Policy=== | ||
| + | Having reorganized his cabinet, Tyler devoted his attention to a highly successful foreign policy. He guided negotiations to secure the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, settling the Maine boundary dispute and other issues. In 1842 he extended the Monroe Doctrine, in effect, to the Hawaiian Islands to thwart British interests in the area and sent a trade mission to [[China]]. | ||
| + | Tyler initiated the annexation of Texas. When the treaty he negotiated was rejected by the Senate in June 1844, he suggested that a joint resolution might work just as well. He made annexation a major campaign issue in 1844 and maneuvered both Clay and Van Buren into positions on it that kept both from succeeding him as president. Tyler wavered between creating a new party and imposing himself on the Democrats as their candidate. Succeeding in neither, he considered running as an independent to throw the election into the House but desisted when the Democrats nominated [[James K. Polk]] and supported annexation. In the last days of his administration, Congress passed a joint resolution for annexation. | ||
==Administration and Cabinet== | ==Administration and Cabinet== | ||
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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 a slaveholder his entire life. In February 1861, Tyler re-entered public life to sponsor and chair the Washington Peace Convention. The convention sought a compromise to avoid [[American Civil War|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. | 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 a slaveholder his entire life. In February 1861, Tyler re-entered public life to sponsor and chair the Washington Peace Convention. The convention sought a compromise to avoid [[American Civil War|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 | + | 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. At his request his coffin was draped with the confederate flag. No public eulogy was offered for the former Chief Executive since most considered his behavior un-American. He was 71 years of age. His final words were "Perhaps it is best". Tyler is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. |
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| + | ==Family== | ||
| + | Tyler married Letitia Christian on March 29, 1813. They had eight children, among them Robert Tyler, lawyer, politician, and newspaper editor, whose wife, Priscilla Cooper Tyler, acted as White House hostess during the First Lady's illness. Two years after the death of his first wife, Tyler married Julia Gardiner, on June 26, 1844, becoming the first president to marry while in office. They had seven children.== | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 02:50, 16 August 2006
| Term of office | April 4, 1841 – March 3, 1845 |
| Preceded by | William Henry Harrison |
| Succeeded by | James K. Polk |
| Date of birth | March 29, 1790 |
| Place of birth | Charles City County, Virginia |
| Date of death | January 18, 1862 |
| Place of death | Richmond, Virginia |
| Spouse | Letitia Christian Tyler (1st wife) Julia Gardiner Tyler (2nd wife) |
| Political party | Whig and none |
John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth President of the United States. As the first vice president to succeed to the presidency on the death of an incumbent, he established precedents important to later vice presidents in similar circumstances. Like Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Abraham Lincoln in 1865, Tyler served only a single term—the nearly full term remaining after the death of William Henry Harrison in 1841. And, like Johnson, he too was engaged in bitter struggles with rivals in Congress. By the end of his term, neither the Whigs nor the Democrats supported him, and he chose not to run for re-election. He was succeeded by Democrat James K. Polk.
Early Life
The ancestors of John Tyler were among the earliest English settlers of Virginia. The family trace their lineage back to Wat Tyler, who in the fourteenth century, in the reign of Richard II, headed the insurrection in England known by his name. Mr. Tyler's grandfather was Marshall of Virginia.
John Tyler was born on March 29, 1790 in Virginia. He was the seventh of eight children born to John Tyler, Sr. and Mary Armistead. His mother died when he was only seven. At age twelve, he entered the College of William and Mary Preparatory School. He graduated from the College proper in 1807 when he was seventeen years of age. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1809. He practiced law for a short time before entering the political arena. Two years later, at the age of 21, he was elected to the Virginia legislature. Then began a career in state and national politics that lasted with little interruption until he left the presidency.
Political Career
Tyler begin his career in politics when, from 1816-1821, he served in the Virginia House of Delegates. During his service in the House of Delegates, Tyler led the effort to censure Virginia's two U.S. Senators for supporting the Bank of the United States. When Tyler moved on to become a member of the House of Representatives from 1816-1821, Tyler opposed the Bank of the United States, high tariffs, and federally funded internal improvements. He argued against the constitutionality of restrictions on slavery, and was against Jackson's invasion of Florida.
Tyler was again elected as a Jeffersonian Republican representative to the Virginia House of Delegates from 1823-1825. Then he was elected Governor of Virginia from 1825-1827, and fought unsuccessfully for statewide improvements in education and transportation, which reflects his position that internal improvements are the duty of the state and not the nation. He resigned in 1827 to accept his election to the U.S. Senate. Tyler entered the Senate criticizing then president John Quincy Adams and his administration, again on the grounds of Adams' support for federal funding of internal improvements. In 1836, Tyler chose to resign his seat rather than comply with orders from the Virginia legislature on how to vote.
In 1838, Tyler was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, this time as a Whig candidate from the Williamsburg district. He was named the Speaker of the House in January 1839. He served for one year, and then Tyler was nominated to the position of Vice President. The nomination was intended as a tool to gain Southern support for the 1840 Whig candidate, William Henry Harrison. Harrison won the election, and Tyler became Vice President on March 4, 1841. No one could have foreseen then that Tyler would become president.
Presidency 1841-1845
Policies
When Harrison died after only a month in office, Tyler, on April 6, 1841, took the oath of office. He knew that the nationalist Whigs intended to force him to accept their legislative program against his constitutional principles, but he was determined to be accepted as the president and not merely as acting president. The cabinet and Congress agreed, and as the Constitution was not explicit on succession, both the House and Senate passed resolutions recognizing Tyler as president.
Shortly afterward, however, Congress passed two bills to create a new Bank of the United States. Tyler vetoed both as unconstitutional, the second amid charges that he had expressed his approval privately before it was passed. During the uproar that followed, Henry Clay argued that Tyler ought to abide by the views of his cabinet and the congressional majority and sign the bank billor else he should resign from office.
In an attempt to force Tyler out of office, all the members of the cabinet except Daniel Webster resigned in allegiance to Clay. Acting with a speed that suggested he had anticipated this turn of events, Tyler named the new secretaries in two days. On Sept. 13, 1841, the day the Senate confirmed the cabinet appointments, the Whig caucus declared all party ties with Tyler dissolved on the ground that he was seeking to build a new political party. The congressional Whigs then used every difference with the president as an occasion to charge him with "executive usurpation"—the same charge the party had made against Jackson.
Relations became so strained that Tyler was placed in the position of vetoing more bills than Jackson had. In 1842, when the House adopted a resolution charging him with offenses justifying impeachment for vetoing a protective tariff, Tyler sent a "Protest Message" as Jackson had done in 1834. The president succeeded in forcing Congress to pass separate bills for a mildly protective tariff and for distribution of the proceeds from the sale of public lands. He then approved the tariff and pocket-vetoed the distribution bill.
In the congressional elections that followed, the Whigs lost control of the House. Tyler perceived this defeat as a sign of public support. In March 1845, however, Congress for the first time in history overrode a presidential veto—of a tariff bill.
Foreign Policy
Having reorganized his cabinet, Tyler devoted his attention to a highly successful foreign policy. He guided negotiations to secure the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, settling the Maine boundary dispute and other issues. In 1842 he extended the Monroe Doctrine, in effect, to the Hawaiian Islands to thwart British interests in the area and sent a trade mission to China.
Tyler initiated the annexation of Texas. When the treaty he negotiated was rejected by the Senate in June 1844, he suggested that a joint resolution might work just as well. He made annexation a major campaign issue in 1844 and maneuvered both Clay and Van Buren into positions on it that kept both from succeeding him as president. Tyler wavered between creating a new party and imposing himself on the Democrats as their candidate. Succeeding in neither, he considered running as an independent to throw the election into the House but desisted when the Democrats nominated James K. Polk and supported annexation. In the last days of his administration, Congress passed a joint resolution for annexation.
Administration and Cabinet
| OFFICE | NAME | TERM |
| President | John Tyler | 1841–1845 |
| Vice President | None | |
| Secretary of State | Daniel Webster | 1841–1843 |
| Abel P. Upshur | 1843–1844 | |
| John C. Calhoun | 1844–1845 | |
| Secretary of the Treasury | Thomas Ewing | 1841 |
| Walter Forward | 1841–1843 | |
| John C. Spencer | 1843–1844 | |
| George Bibb | 1844–1845 | |
| Secretary of War | John Bell | 1841 |
| John C. Spencer | 1841–1843 | |
| James Porter | 1843–1844 | |
| William Wilkins | 1844–1845 | |
| Attorney General | John J. Crittenden | 1841 |
| Hugh S. Legaré | 1841–1843 | |
| John Nelson | 1843–1845 | |
| Postmaster General | Francis Granger | 1841 |
| Charles Wickliffe | 1841–1845 | |
| Secretary of the Navy | George E. Badger | 1841 |
| Abel P. Upshur | 1841–1843 | |
| David Henshaw | 1843–1844 | |
| Thomas Gilmer | 1844 | |
| John Y. Mason | 1844–1845 | |
Supreme Court appointments
Tyler appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:
- Samuel Nelson - 1845
States admitted to the Union
- Florida – 1845
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 a slaveholder his entire life. In February 1861, Tyler re-entered public life to sponsor and chair the Washington Peace Convention. The 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. At his request his coffin was draped with the confederate flag. No public eulogy was offered for the former Chief Executive since most considered his behavior un-American. He was 71 years of age. His final words were "Perhaps it is best". Tyler is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.
Family
Tyler married Letitia Christian on March 29, 1813. They had eight children, among them Robert Tyler, lawyer, politician, and newspaper editor, whose wife, Priscilla Cooper Tyler, acted as White House hostess during the First Lady's illness. Two years after the death of his first wife, Tyler married Julia Gardiner, on June 26, 1844, becoming the first president to marry while in office. They had seven children.==
See also
- Second Party System
- Dorr Rebellion
- U.S. presidential election, 1840
- Sherwood Forest Plantation
Further Reading
- Schouler, James. History of the United States of America: Under the Constitution vol. 4. 1831-1847. Democrats and Whigs. (1917) online edition
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
External links
- Official Whitehouse biography
- U.S. Senate Historian's Office: Vice Presidents of the United States—John Tyler
- Tyler's letters refusing government intervention, April and May, 1842
- Works by John Tyler. Project Gutenberg
- List of Descendants
- First State of the Union Address
- Second State of the Union Address
- Third State of the Union Address
- Fourth State of the Union Address
John Tyler's Health and Medical History
| Preceded by: John Clopton |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 23rd congressional district 1817-1821 |
Succeeded by: Andrew Stevenson |
| Preceded by: James Pleasants |
Governor of Virginia 1825-1827 |
Succeeded by: William Branch Giles |
| Preceded by: John Randolph |
President pro tempore of the United States Senate 1827-1836 |
Succeeded by: William C. Rives |
| Preceded by: George Poindexter |
President pro tempore of the United States Senate March 3,1835–December 6,1835 |
Succeeded by: William R. King |
| Preceded by: (none) |
Whig Party vice presidential nominee 1836(a) (lost), 1840 (won) |
Succeeded by: Theodore Frelinghuysen |
| Preceded by: Richard M. Johnson |
Vice President of the United States March 4, 1841–April 4, 1841 |
Succeeded by: George M. Dallas |
| Preceded by: William Henry Harrison |
President of the United States April 4, 1841–March 3, 1845 |
Succeeded by: James K. Polk |
| Preceded by: (none) |
Delegate to the Confederate Provisional Congress from Virginia Representative-elect to the First Confederate Congress from Virginia 1861-1862 |
Succeeded by: (none) |
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