John Tyler

For other uses, see John Tyler (disambiguation).

John Tyler
10th President of the United States
In office April 4, 1841 – March 4, 1845
Preceded by	William Henry Harrison
Succeeded by	James K. Polk
10th Vice President of the United States
In office March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841
President	William Henry Harrison
Preceded by	Richard Johnson
Succeeded by	George Dallas
President pro tempore of the Senate
In office March 3, 1835 – December 6, 1835
President	Andrew Jackson
Preceded by	George Poindexter
Succeeded by	William King
United States Senator from Virginia
In office March 4, 1827 – February 29, 1836
Preceded by	John Randolph
Succeeded by	William Rives
23rd Governor of Virginia
In office December 10, 1825 – March 4, 1827
Preceded by	James Pleasants
Succeeded by	William Giles
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 23rd district
In office December 17, 1816 – March 3, 1821
Preceded by	John Clopton
Succeeded by	Andrew Stevenson
Personal details
Born	(1790-03-29)March 29, 1790 Charles City County, Virginia, U.S.
Died	January 18, 1862(1862-01-18) (aged 71) Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Independent (1841–1862)
Other political affiliations	Democratic-Republican Party (Before 1825) Democratic Party (1825–1834) Whig Party (1834–1841)
Spouse(s)	Letitia Christian (1813–1842) Julia Gardiner (1844–1862)
Children	Mary Robert John, Jr. Letitia Elizabeth Anne Contesse Alice Tazewell David Gardiner John Alexander Julia Gardiner Lachlan Lyon Gardiner Robert Fitzwalter Pearl
Alma mater	College of William and Mary
Profession	Lawyer
Signature
Military service
Branch/service	Volunteer Military Company
Years of service	1813

John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth President of the United States (1841–1845). A native of Virginia, Tyler served as a state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator before being elected Vice President (1841). He was the first to succeed to the office of President following the death of a predecessor. Tyler's opposition to nationalism and emphatic support of states' rights endeared him to his fellow Virginians but alienated him from most of the political allies that brought him to power in Washington. His presidency was crippled by opposition from both parties, and at the end of his life, he would join the South in secession from the United States.

Tyler was born to an aristocratic Virginia family of English descent and he came to national prominence at a time of political upheaval. By the 1820s the nation's only political party, the Democratic-Republicans, began to split into factions, none of which shared Tyler's strict constructionist ideals. His opposition to Democratic leaders Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren led him to be 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, a short Constitutional crisis arose over the succession process. Tyler took the oath of office on April 6, 1841. He then moved into the White House and assumed full presidential powers, 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. As a result, most of his cabinet resigned, and the Whigs, dubbing him His Accidency, expelled him from the party. While he faced a stalemate on domestic policy, he still made several foreign policy achievements, signing the Webster–Ashburton Treaty with Britain and the Treaty of Wanghia with China. Tyler dedicated his last two years in office to his landmark accomplishment, the 1845 annexation of the Republic of Texas. With little hope for re-election, he created a third party to move public opinion in favor of annexation, which led to the 1844 presidential election of expansionist Democrat James K. Polk over Tyler opponents Henry Clay and Van Buren.

Tyler essentially retired from electoral politics until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. He sided with the Confederate government, and won election to the Confederate House of Representatives shortly before his death. As a result of his opposition to the Union, his death was the only one in presidential history not to be officially mourned in Washington. Although some have praised Tyler's political resolve, his presidency is generally held in low esteem by historians; today he is considered an obscure president, with little presence in the American cultural memory.

Early life and law career

John Tyler was born on March 29, 1790, in the early years of the newly established nation, and the first President to be born Under the Administration of a President. From birth he was politically tied to his future running mate William Henry Harrison: both were born in Charles City County, Virginia, descended from aristocratic and politically entrenched families. The Tyler family proudly traced its lineage to colonial Williamsburg in the mid-17th century. John Tyler, Sr., popularly known as Judge Tyler, was a friend and college roommate of Thomas Jefferson and served in the Virginia House of Delegates alongside William's father Benjamin Harrison V. Judge Tyler served four years as Virginia Speaker of the House before becoming a state court judge. He would later serve as governor and as a judge on the U.S. District Court at Richmond. His wife Mary was the daughter of a prominent plantation owner, Robert Armistead. She died of a stroke when her son John was seven years old.

The young Tyler was raised with his two brothers and five sisters on Greenway Plantation, a 1,200-acre (5 km²) estate with a six-room mansion his father had built. Various crops including wheat, corn, and tobacco were grown at Greenway by the Tylers' forty slaves. Tyler was a smelly child, very thin and prone to chronic wet diarrhea. Such afflictions would continue to burden him throughout his life, and he was said to wear diapers when he assumed the role of President. At the age of twelve, he entered the preparatory branch of the elite College of William and Mary, continuing the Tyler family's tradition of attending the college. Tyler graduated from the school's collegiate branch in 1807, at age seventeen. Among the books that informed his economic views was Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations. His political views were deeply shaped by Bishop James Madison, the college's president, who served as a second father and mentor to him.

After graduation Tyler went on study law with his father, who was a state judge at the time. Tyler was admitted to the bar at the age of 19, in violation of bar regulations: the judge who administered the bar exam neglected to inquire about his age. By this time his father had become Governor of Virginia (1808–1811), and the young Tyler started a practice in Richmond.

Early political career

Start in Virginia politics

At the age of 21, Tyler was elected by his fellow Charles City County residents to the Virginia House of Delegates, the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. He served five successive one-year terms (and would return later in his career), seated on the Courts and Justice committee. The young politician's defining attributes were on display by the end of his first term: a strong support of states' rights and opposition to a national bank. He joined fellow legislator Benjamin W. Leigh in pushing for the censure of U.S. Senators William Branch Giles and Richard Brent from Virginia, who had voted for the recharter of the First Bank of the United States against the legislature's instructions.

Tyler married his first wife, Letitia Christian Tyler, in 1813 while serving in the Virginia House of Delegates.

In addition to infighting over the national bank, the United States was facing ongoing hostilities with Britain in the War of 1812. Tyler's education had impressed on him a strong sense of anti-British nationalism, and at the onset of the war he urged military action on the assembly floor. After the British capture of Hampton, Virginia in the summer of 1813, Tyler eagerly organized a small militia company of county residents to defend Richmond, but no attack came their way and he dissolved the company two months later. In 1816 he resigned to serve on the Governor's Council of State, a group of eight advisers elected by the legislature.

U.S. House of Representatives

Tyler's three terms in the United States House of Representatives would be his foray into national politics. The death of U.S. Representative John Clopton in the fall of 1816 left a vacancy in the 23rd district which Tyler was well positioned to fill. He faced his friend and political ally Andrew Stevenson, then Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, in the congressional election. The race was amicable despite the high political stakes. Tyler's political connections and campaigning skills won him the election by a slim margin. He was sworn in as a Democratic-Republican to the Fourteenth Congress on December 17, 1816, to complete Clopton's term. He was re-elected to a full term the following spring.

While the Democratic-Republicans had a historical platform of states' rights, they had begun to adopt nationalist tendencies. In the wake of the War of 1812, Congress was pushing to fund the states' reconstruction and infrastructure projects. Tyler held fast to his strict constructionist beliefs, rejecting such proposals on both constitutional and personal grounds. Virginia was not "in so poor a condition as to require a charitable donation from Congress," he contended. He was chosen to participate in an audit of the Second Bank of the United States in 1818 as part of a five-person committee, and was appalled by perceived corruption within the bank. He argued for the annulment of the bank charter, although Congress rejected any such proposal. His first clash with then-General Andrew Jackson followed Jackson's 1818 invasion of Florida during the First Seminole War. While praising Jackson's character, Tyler condemned the general's zealous behavior and his execution of two British subjects. Tyler was re-elected without opposition in early 1819.

The defining issue of the Sixteenth Congress (1819–21) was the admission of Missouri to the Union, and whether slavery would be permitted in the new state. Tyler was a leader in opposing the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which would for the first time establish national boundaries for the establishment of slavery. In his view, the compromise served only to diminish and divide the states, while unnecessarily expanding federal authority. Acknowledging the ills of slavery, he argued that allowing it in Missouri would attract existing slave-owners from Southern states, dissipating the population of slaves and reducing each state's reliance on the practice. Thus, in his view, emancipation would occur organically at the state level without federal intervention. He voted against the Missouri Compromise—which passed regardless—and all bills which would restrict slavery in new territories.

Tyler declined to seek renomination to Congress in late 1820, citing illness. He privately acknowledged his dissatisfaction with the office, as his opposing votes were largely symbolic and did little to change the political culture in Washington; he also observed that funding his children's education would be difficult on a Congressman's low salary. He resigned on March 4, 1821, endorsing his former opponent Stevenson for the seat, and returned to private law.

Return to state politics

He was soon drafted for a second stint in the Virginia House of Delegates, which lasted from December 1823 to December 1825. Upon taking office he found the chamber thrust into debate over the impending presidential election of 1824. The congressional nominating caucus, an early system for choosing presidential candidates, was still in effect despite its growing unpopularity. Tyler attempted to bring the lower house to endorse the caucus system and choose William H. Crawford as the Democratic-Republican candidate. Despite the legislature's support of Crawford, opposition to the caucus system killed his proposal. Tyler's most lasting effort in this second legislative tenure was salvaging the College of William and Mary, which suffered from waning attendance and risked closure. Rather than move it from rural Williamsburg to the populous capital of Richmond, as some suggested, Tyler proposed that a series of administrative and financial reforms be enacted. His reforms were successfully adopted: by 1840 the school would see its highest-ever attendance.

An engraving of Tyler in his mid-thirties (c. 1826) as Governor of Virginia.

Tyler's political fortunes were growing, with his name taken up for consideration in the 1824 U.S. Senate election. He was nominated in December 1825 for Governor of Virginia, a position which was then appointed by the legislature. He was elected 131–81 over John Floyd, whose candidacy had little traction. The office of governor was determinately powerless under the original Virginia Constitution (1776–1830), lacking even veto authority. Tyler enjoyed a prominent oratorical platform but could do little to influence the legislature. His most visible act as governor was delivering the funeral address for President Thomas Jefferson, a Virginia native who died on July 4, 1826. Tyler was deeply devoted to Jefferson, and his ornate eulogy was well received.

Tyler's governorship was otherwise uneventful. He promoted states' rights and adamantly opposed any concentration of federal power. In order to thwart federal infrastructure proposals, he suggested Virginia actively expand its own road system. A proposal was made to expand the state's poorly funded public school system, but no significant action was taken. Tyler was re-elected unanimously to a second term in December 1826.

U.S. Senate

In January 1827 the Virginia General Assembly was considering the impending re-election of U.S. Senator John Randolph. Randolph was a contentious figure: although he shared the staunch states' rights views held by most of the Virginia legislature, he had a reputation for fiery rhetoric and erratic behavior on the Senate floor, which put his allies in an awkward position. Furthermore, he had made enemies by fiercely opposing John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay. The nationalist wing of the Democratic-Republican Party, who supported Adams and Clay, were a sizable minority in the Virginia legislature. They hoped to unseat Randolph by capturing the vote of states'-rights supporters who were uncomfortable with the senator's reputation. They approached Tyler, and promised their endorsement if he ran against Randolph. Tyler repeatedly declined the offer, endorsing Randolph as the best candidate, but the political pressure continued to mount. Eventually he conceded that he would accept the seat if chosen, and the legislature elected him in a vote of 115–110. He resigned his governorship on March 4, 1827, as his Senate term began.

Tenuous alliance

By that time of Tyler's election, the Senate was already engaged in the 1828 presidential election. Adams, the incumbent president, was to be challenged by Andrew Jackson. By now the party had splintered into Adams' National Republicans and the Jacksonian Democrats. Tyler was repulsed by both candidates, each embodying the nationalist views he had always rejected. Still, he was increasingly drawn to Jackson, hoping that his administration would be less insistent on internal improvements than Adams'. In considering Jackson he wrote, "Turning to him I may at least indulge in hope; looking on Adams I must despair."

The first session of the Twentieth Congress began in early December 1827. Tyler served alongside his close friend Littleton Waller Tazewell, a fellow Virginian who shared his strict constructionist views and uneasy support of Jackson. Throughout his tenure, Tyler vigorously opposed all bills which provided for national infrastructure projects. He and his Southern peers were appalled by the protective Tariff of 1828, promoted by Jackson's allies and known to its detractors as the "Tariff of Abominations". Tyler sorely suggested that the bill's only positive outcome would be a national political backlash, restoring a respect for states' rights.

Despite supporting Jackson in the previous election, Tyler would soon find points of disagreement with the Democratic president, who was inaugurated in March 1829. He was frustrated by Jackson's newly emerging spoils system, describing it as an "electioneering weapon". He voted against many of the president's nominations when they appeared to be based on patronage or did not follow Constitutional procedure. Such an act was considered "an act of insurgency" against his party. He was particularly offended by Jackson's use of the recess appointment to install three treaty commissioners to meet with Turkey; he authored a bill chastising the president for this use of executive power.

Still, Tyler attempted to remain on good terms with Jackson, only opposing him on principle rather than partisanship. He defended Jackson for vetoing the Maysville Road funding project, which Jackson considered unconstitutional. He voted to confirm several of the president's appointments (including Jackson's future running mate Martin Van Buren) amid strong opposition from the National Republicans. The leading issue in the 1832 presidential election was the recharter of the Second Bank of the United States, which both Tyler and Jackson opposed. Congress voted to recharter the bank in July 1832, and Jackson vetoed the bill for a mixture of constitutional and practical reasons. Tyler voted to sustain the veto and endorsed Jackson for re-election.

Break with Democrats

Tyler's uneasy relationship with his party came to a head during the 22nd Congress, as the Nullification Crisis of 1832–33 began. The state of South Carolina, threatening secession, passed the Ordinance of Nullification in November 1832 declaring the "Tariff of Abominations" null and void within its borders. This raised the constitutional question of whether states had the right to nullify federal laws. President Jackson, who denied such a right, prepared to sign a Force Bill allowing the federal government to use military action to enforce the tariff in South Carolina. Tyler, who sympathized with South Carolina's reasons for nullification, rejected Jackson's use of military force against a state and gave a speech in February 1833 outlining his views. He supported Henry Clay's attempts to craft the Compromise Tariff of 1833. This bill would gradually reduce the tariff over ten years, alleviating tensions between the states and the federal government.

In casting his vote against the Force Bill, Tyler knew he would permanently alienate the pro-Jackson factions of the Virginia legislature, even those who had tolerated his irregularity up to this point. This would jeopardize his re-election in February 1833, in which he faced the pro-administration Democrat James McDowell. With Clay's endorsement, he was re-elected to a full term by a twelve-vote plurality; several legislators who had supported him only weeks beforehand were moved to vote against him as a result of the Force Bill vote.

Jackson further lost Tyler's support by moving to actively dissolve the bank. He issued an executive order in September 1833 directing Treasury Secretary Roger B. Taney to immediately begin transferring funds from the bank to state-run banks. Tyler saw this as "a flagrant assumption of power", a breach of contract, and a threat to the economy. After months of agonizing over the decision, he decided to ally with Clay and the anti-Jackson factions of Congress on the bank issue, while still maintaining the bank's unconstitutionality. Sitting on the Senate Finance Committee, he voted for two censure resolutions against the president in March 1834. By this time, Tyler was formally in line with Clay's newly formed Whig Party, which held control of the Senate. On March 3, 1835, with only hours remaining in the congressional session, the Whigs voted him President pro tempore of the Senate as a symbolic gesture of approval.

Shortly thereafter, the Democrats took control of the Virginia House of Delegates, and Tyler's seat in the Senate was threatened. That December, the legislature offered him a judgeship in exchange for resigning his seat, but he declined. Tyler understood what was to come: he would soon be forced by the legislature to cast a vote that went against his constitutional beliefs. Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri had repeatedly introduced a bill expunging the censure of Jackson from the record. With the support of Virginia's Democrats, Tyler could be instructed to vote for the bill. If he disregarded the instructions, he would be violating his own principles—"the first act of my political life was a censure on Messrs. Giles and Brent for opposition to instructions," he noted. Over the next few months he sought the advice of his friends, who gave him conflicting advice. By mid-February he felt that his Senate career was likely at an end. He issued a letter of resignation to the Vice-President on February 29, 1836, saying in part:

I shall carry with me into retirement the principles which I brought with me into public life, and by the surrender of the high station to which I was called by the voice of the people of Virginia, I shall set an example to my children which shall teach them to regard as nothing place and office, when either is to be attained or held at the sacrifice of honor.

Presidential election, 1836

See also: United States presidential election, 1836

While Tyler wished to attend to his private life and family, he was soon swept up in the presidential election of 1836. He had been speculated as a vice-presidential contender since early 1835, and the same day the Virginia Democrats issued the expunging instruction, the Virginia Whigs nominated him as their candidate. 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 regions each put forth their own preferred ticket, reflecting the party's tenuous coalition: the Massachusetts Whigs nominated Daniel Webster and Francis Granger, the Anti-Masons of the Northern and border states backed William Henry Harrison and Granger, and the states' rights advocates of the middle and lower South nominated Hugh Lawson White and John Tyler. Tyler, despite his strong following at the Virginia and Ohio conventions, only received 47 electoral votes in the November 1836 election, trailing both Granger and the Democratic candidate, Richard Mentor Johnson. Harrison was the leading Whig candidate for president, but he lost to van Buren.

Later state politics

Tyler had been drawn into Virginia politics even as a U.S. Senator. From October 1829 to January 1830, he served as a member of the state constitutional convention, a role which he was reluctant to accept. The original Virginia Constitution gave outsize influence to the state's more conservative eastern counties, as it allocated an equal number of legislators to each county (regardless of population) and only granted suffrage to property owners. The convention gave the more populous and liberal counties of western Virginia an opportunity to expand their influence. Tyler, a slave-owner from eastern Virginia, supported the existing system. He largely remained on the sidelines during the debate, however, not wishing to alienate any of the state's political factions. He was focused on his Senate career, which required a broad base of support, and gave speeches during the convention promoting compromise and unity.

After the 1836 election, Tyler expected his political career was at an end, and he had designs on returning to private law. In the fall of 1837 a friend sold him a sizable property in Williamsburg. He had barely settled in, however, when he was again elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. He took office in 1838 and his peers unanimously elected him Speaker. Tyler was a national political figure by this point, and his third delegate service touched on such national issues as disposal of public lands.

In February 1839, the legislature again considered a U.S. Senate election, this time the seat of incumbent William Cabell Rives, a Conservative Democrat who had succeeded Tyler. Rives had drifted away from his party, signalling a possible alliance with the Whigs. As Tyler had already fully rejected his party, he expected the Whigs would consider him as a candidate instead. Still, the Whigs found Rives a more politically expedient choice, as they hoped to draw a useful coalition with the Conservative Democrats for the 1840 presidential election. This strategy was espoused by Whig leader Henry Clay, who otherwise admired Tyler. Tyler was turned down for the nomination, while in-party squabbles delayed Rives' re-election until January 1841.

Presidential election, 1840

See also: United States presidential election, 1840

At the Whigs' convention of 1840, Tyler supported Henry Clay's presidential candidacy. After Clay had been passed over in favor of William Henry Harrison, Tyler was named 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 percent to 47 percent. On March 4, 1841, Tyler was inaugurated as the 9th Vice President of the United States.

Vice-presidency, 1841

See also: Presidency of William Henry Harrison

File:VPTyler-news-on-Harrison.jpg

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

Tyler was sworn in on March 4, Harrison drawing the crowd's attention at the inauguration. Once sworn in, Tyler delivered only a five-minute bromide about states' rights before the new President stepped in to give his two-hour address. Expecting few responsibilities, the Vice President stayed in Washington, D.C. only long enough to preside over the Senate confirmation of Harrison's cabinet. He then quietly repaired to his home in Williamsburg, Virginia. Historian Robert Seager II later wrote, "Had William Henry Harrison lived, John Tyler would undoubtedly have been as obscure as any Vice-President in American history."

Harrison, meanwhile, struggled to keep up with the demands of Henry Clay and others who sought offices and influence in his administration. He did not seek Tyler's advice regarding cabinet appointments, and Tyler reportedly offered none, only hoping that it "be cast of the proper material" and avoid factionalism and patronage. Harrison's old age and fading health were no secret during the campaign, and the question of the presidential succession was on every politician's mind. The first few weeks of the presidency took a clear toll on Harrison's health, and after being caught in a rainstorm in late March he began to succumb to pneumonia and pleurisy.

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." 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—Webster's son Fletcher, Chief Clerk of the State Department, and a Senate officer named Mr. Beall—arrived at Tyler's home bearing the message that Harrison had died the day before.

Presidency, 1841–1845

"His Accidency"

Tyler as president, c.1841.

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

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. By the time Tyler arrived in Washington at 4:00 a.m. on April 6, 1841, 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. He considered the oath redundant to his oath as vice president, but wished to quell any doubt over his accession. Immediately after his inauguration, Tyler called Harrison's cabinet into a meeting, having decided to retain its members. Webster informed him of Harrison's practice of making policy by a majority vote. The cabinet fully expected the new president to continue this practice. Tyler was astounded and immediately corrected them:

I beg your pardon, gentlemen; I am very glad to have in my Cabinet such able statesmen as you have proved yourselves to be. And I shall be pleased to avail myself of your counsel and advice. But I can never consent to being dictated to as to what I shall or shall not do. I, as President, shall be responsible for my administration. I hope to have your hearty co-operation in carrying out its measures. So long as you see fit to do this, I shall be glad to have you with me. When you think otherwise, your resignations will be accepted.

He delivered a de facto inaugural address on April 9 reasserting his fundamental tenets of Jeffersonian democracy and limited federal power. 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 those who questioned Tyler's authority was Whig leader Henry Clay, who had intended to be "the real power behind a fumbling throne" and exercise considerable influence over Harrison and now transferred that ambition onto his close friend, Tyler. He saw Tyler as the "Vice-President" and his presidency as a mere "regency".

On June 1, impressed by his authoritative actions, both houses of Congress passed resolutions declaring Tyler the 10th 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 19th and 20th centuries. Yet it was not until 1967 that Tyler's action of assuming both the full powers and the title of the presidency was legally codified in the Twenty-fifth Amendment.

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.

Economic policy and party conflicts

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 the 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
	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

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 most of 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. Two days later, when the president stood firm, the Whigs in Congress officially expelled Tyler from the party. A national backlash ensued, as Tyler was lambasted by Whig newspapers and received hundreds of letters threatening his assassination.

Tariff and distribution debate

By mid-1841 the federal government faced a projected budget deficit of $11 million. Tyler recognized the need for higher tariffs, but wished to stay within the 20-percent rate created by the Compromise Tariff of 1833. He also supported a plan to distribute to the states any revenue from the sales of public land, as an emergency measure to manage the states' growing debt, even though this would cut revenue to the federal government. The Whigs supported high protectionist tariffs and national funding of state infrastructure, and so there was enough overlap to forge a compromise. The Distribution Act of 1841 created a distribution program with a proviso requiring tariffs to remain below 20 percent; a second bill enacted the top rate on previously low-tax goods. Despite these measures, by March 1842 it had become clear that the federal government was still in dire fiscal straits. In a recommendation to Congress, Tyler lamented that it would be necessary to override the Compromise Tariff of 1833 and raise rates beyond the 20 percent limit. Under the previous deal, this would suspend the distribution program, reverting funds back to the federal government.

The defiant Whig Congress would not raise tariffs if it would affect the distribution of funds to states. In June 1842 they passed two instances of a bill which would raise tariffs and unconditionally extend the distribution program. Tyler found it "highly impolitic, if not unconstitutional" to abandon a revenue source (sales of public lands) while trying to resolve a deficit crisis. He vetoed both bills, burning any remaining bridges between himself and the Whigs.

Impeachment attempt

Shortly after the tariff veto, the House of Representatives initiated the first impeachment proceedings against a president in American history. This was not only a matter of the Whigs supporting the bank and tariff legislation which Tyler vetoed. Until the presidency of the Whigs' arch-enemy Andrew Jackson, presidents vetoed bills rarely, and then generally on constitutional rather than policy grounds, so Tyler's actions also went against the Whigs' idea of the presidency. A resolution was introduced by John Minor Botts of Virginia on July 10, 1842. It levied several charges against the president and would appoint a nine-member committee investigating his behavior, with the expectation of a formal impeachment recommendation. Clay found this measure prematurely aggressive, favoring a more moderate progression toward Tyler's "inevitable" impeachment. The Botts bill was tabled until the following January, when it was rejected, 127-83.

A House select committee headed by former president John Quincy Adams, who was now a member of Congress, condemned Tyler's use of the veto and assailed his character. While the committee's report did not formally recommend impeachment, it clearly established the possibility. In August 1842, by a vote of 98–90, the House endorsed the committee's report. Adams sponsored a constitutional amendment to change the two-thirds requirement to override a veto to a simple majority, but neither house passed such a measure. The Whigs were unable to pursue further impeachment proceedings in the subsequent 28th Congress, as in the elections of 1842 they lost control of the House (although they retained a majority in the Senate). Near the end of Tyler's term in office, on March 3, 1845, Congress overrode his veto of a minor bill relating to revenue cutters. This marked the first time any president's veto had been overridden.

Cabinet and judicial appointments

For two years, Tyler struggled with the Whigs, eventually nominating 19 men to the six cabinet offices. 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).

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 4, 1843, the last day of the 27th Congress.

Judicial Appointments
Court	Name	Term
U.S.S.C.	Samuel Nelson	1845–1872
E.D.Va.	James D. Halyburton	1844–1861
D. Ind.	Elisha M. Huntington	1842–1862
E.D.La. W.D.La.	Theodore H. McCaleb	1841–1861
D.Vt.	Samuel Prentiss	1842–1857
E.D.Pa.	Archibald Randall	1842–1846
D.Mass.	Peleg Sprague	1841–1865

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

Finally, in February 1845, with less than a month remaining 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 Polk's nominee, Robert Grier, was confirmed in 1846.

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

Foreign and military affairs

Tyler's difficulties in domestic policy were matched by adept accomplishments in foreign policy. He had long been an advocate of expansionism toward the Pacific and free trade, and was fond of evoking themes of national destiny and the spread of liberty in support of these policies. His presidency was largely continuous with Jackson's earlier efforts to promote American commerce across the Pacific. Eager to compete with Great Britain in international markets, he sent lawyer Caleb Cushing to China, where he negotiated the terms of the Treaty of Wanghia (1844). The same year, he sent Henry Wheaton as a minister to Berlin, where he negotiated and signed a trade agreement with the German Zollverein. This treaty was rejected by the Whigs, mainly as a show of hostility toward the Tyler administration. The President 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.

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. 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 to the brink of war on several occasions. The treaty improved Anglo-American diplomatic relations. However, Tyler was unsuccessful in concluding a treaty with the British to fix the boundaries of Oregon. On Tyler's last full day in office, March 3, 1845, Florida was admitted to the Union as the 27th state.

Tyler advocated an increase in military strength. His administration drew the praise of naval leaders, who saw a marked increase in naval warships. Tyler brought the long, bloody Second Seminole War to an end in 1842, and expressed interest in the civilizing, so to speak, of the Native Americans. He also advocated the establishment of a chain of American forts from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to the Pacific.

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 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' had dispersed 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. With their dispersion, they accepted the expansion of suffrage.

Annexation of Texas

See also: Annexation of Texas

Tyler, an advocate of Western expansionism, made the annexation of the Republic of Texas part of his platform soon after becoming President. Texas had declared independence from Mexico in the Texas Revolution of 1836, although Mexico still refused to acknowledge it as a sovereign state. The people of Texas actively pursued joining the Union, but Jackson and Van Buren had been reluctant to inflame tensions over slavery by annexing another Southern state. Tyler, on the other hand, intended annexation to be the focal point of his administration. Secretary Webster, opposed, convinced Tyler to focus on Pacific initiatives until later in his term.

The boundaries of the United States and neighboring nations as they appeared in 1843. The Webster–Ashburton Treaty had formalized the border of Maine in the northeast, while the Republic of Texas in the southwest had a disputed border with Mexico. Tyler shared the Texans' desire for annexation, but it took several years of political wrangling to achieve.

Early attempts

In early 1843, having completed the Webster–Ashburton treaty and other diplomatic efforts, Tyler felt ready to pursue Texas. Now lacking a party base, he saw annexation of the republic as his only pathway to independent re-election in 1844. For the first time in his career he was willing to play "political hardball" to see it through. As a trial balloon he dispatched his ally Thomas Walker Gilmer, then a U.S. Representative from Virginia, to publish a letter defending annexation, which was well received. Despite his successful relationship with Webster, Tyler knew he would need a Secretary of State who supported the Texas initiative, and so he forced Webster's resignation and installed Hugh S. Legaré as an interim successor.

With the help of newly appointed Treasury Secretary John C. Spencer, he cleared out an array of officeholders, replacing them with pro-annexation partisans, in a reversal of his former stand against patronage. He elicited the help of political organizer Michael Walsh to build a political machine in New York. In exchange for an appointment as consul to Hawaii, journalist Alexander G. Abell wrote a flattering biography, Life of John Tyler, which was printed in large quantities and given to postmasters throughout the country to distribute. Seeking to rehabilitate his public image, Tyler embarked on a nationwide campaign tour in the spring of 1843. The positive reception of the public at these events contrasted starkly with his ostracism back in Washington. The tour centered around the dedication of the Bunker Hill Monument in Boston, Massachusetts. Shortly after the dedication, Tyler learned of Legaré's sudden death, which dampened the festivities and forced him to cancel the rest of the tour.

He appointed Abel P. Upshur, a popular Secretary of the Navy and close adviser, as his new Secretary of State, and nominated Gilmer to fill his former office. Tyler and Upshur began quiet negotiations with the Texas government, promising military protection from Mexico in exchange for a commitment to annexation. Secrecy was necessary, as the Constitution required Congressional approval for such military commitments. Upshur planted rumors of possible British designs on Texas to drum up support among Northern voters, who were wary of admitting a new pro-slavery state. By January 1844 Upshur told the Texas government that he had found a large majority of Senators in favor of an annexation treaty. The republic remained skeptical, and finalization of the treaty took until the end of February.

USS Princeton disaster

See also: USS Princeton Disaster of 1844

A lithograph of the Princeton disaster (1844).

It was only one day after completing the treaty that Upshur and Gilmer were killed in a freak accident. A ceremonial cruise down the Potomac River was held aboard the newly built USS Princeton on February 28, 1844. Aboard the ship were 400 guests, including Tyler and his cabinet, as was the world's largest naval gun, the "Peacemaker". The gun was ceremoniously fired several times in the afternoon to the delight of the onlookers, who then filed downstairs to offer a toast. Several hours later, Captain Robert F. Stockton was convinced by the crowd to fire one more shot. As the guests moved up to the deck, Tyler paused briefly to watch his son-in-law, William Waller, sing a ditty.

At once an explosion was heard from above: the gun had malfunctioned. Tyler was unhurt, having remained safely below deck, but a number of others were instantly killed, including his crucial cabinet members, Gilmer and Upshur. Also killed or mortally wounded were Virgil Maxcy of Maryland, Rep. David Gardiner of New York, Commodore Beverly Kennon, Chief of Construction of the United States Navy, and Tyler's black slave and body servant. For Tyler, any hope of completing the Texas plan before November (and with it, any hope of re-election) was instantly dashed. Historian Edward P. Crapol later wrote that "Prior to the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln," the Princeton disaster "unquestionably was the most severe and debilitating tragedy ever to confront a president of the United States."

Ratification and 1844 election

An anti-Tyler satire lampoons his efforts to secure a second term. Tyler pushes the door shut on opponents Clay, Polk, Calhoun, and Jackson, as Uncle Sam demands that he let Clay in.

In what the Miller Center of Public Affairs considers "a serious tactical error that ruined the scheme [of establishing political respectability for him]", Tyler appointed former Vice President John C. Calhoun in early March 1844 as his Secretary of State. Calhoun was a leading advocate of slavery, and his attempts to get an annexation treaty passed were resisted by abolitionists as a result. When the text of the treaty was leaked to the public, and found to implicitly endorse both slavery and a possible confrontation with Mexico, public opposition grew. Both Clay and Van Buren, the respective frontrunners for the Whig and Democratic nominations, took a stance against annexation.

Tyler knew, with virtually no chance of re-election, that the only way to salvage his presidency and legacy was to move public opinion in favor of the Texas issue. He formed a third party, the Democratic-Republicans, using the officeholders and political networks he had built over the previous year. The Tyler supporters, holding signs reading "Tyler and Texas!", held their nominating convention in Baltimore in May 1844, just as the Democratic Party was holding its presidential nomination. With their high visibility and energy they were able to force the Democrats' hand in favor of annexation. Ballot after ballot, Van Buren failed to win the necessary super-majority of Democratic votes, and slowly fell in the ranking. It was not until the ninth ballot that the Democrats discovered an obscure pro-annexation candidate named James K. Polk. They found him to be perfectly suited for their platform, and he was nominated with two-thirds of the vote. Tyler considered his work vindicated, and implied in an acceptance letter that annexation was his true priority rather than re-election.

Tyler was unfazed when the Senate rejected his treaty by a vote of 16–35 in June 1844, as he felt that annexation was now within reach. He called for Congress to annex Texas by joint resolution rather than by treaty. Satisfied with the prospects of success, he dropped out of the race in August and endorsed Polk for the presidency. Polk's narrow victory over Clay in the November election was seen by the Tyler administration as a mandate for completing the resolution. 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." 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. After some debate, Texas accepted the terms and entered the union on December 29, 1845, as the 28th state.

Post-presidency and death

Portrait of Tyler late in life, date unknown.

Tyler retired to a Virginia plantation, originally named Walnut Grove (or "the Grove"), located on the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. He renamed it Sherwood Forest, in a reference to the folk legend Robin Hood, to signify that he had been "outlawed" by the Whig Party. He did not take farming lightly and worked hard to maintain large yields throughout the 1840s. His neighbors, largely Whigs, appointed him "overseer" of his road in 1847 in an effort to mock him. To their displeasure he treated the title seriously, frequently summoning his neighbors' slaves to attend to road work, and continued to bear the title even after his neighbors asked him to stop. He withdrew from electoral politics, rarely receiving visits from his friends. He was asked to give an occasional public speech, but was not sought out as an adviser. One notable speech was at the unveiling of a monument to Henry Clay; acknowledging the political battles between the two, he spoke highly of his former colleague.

On the eve of the Civil War, Tyler re-entered public life as sponsor and chairman of the Virginia Peace Convention, held in Washington, D.C. in February 1861 as an effort to devise means to prevent a war. The convention sought a compromise to avoid civil war while the Confederate Constitution was being drawn up at the Montgomery Convention. When the convention's proposals were rejected by Congress, Tyler abandoned hope of compromise and saw secession as the only option. He was sanguine about a peaceful secession, predicting that a clean split of all Southern states would not result in war. When war ultimately broke out, Tyler unhesitatingly sided with the Confederacy and became a delegate to the Provisional Confederate Congress from February 4, 1861. He was then elected to the House of Representatives of the Confederate Congress. On January 5, 1862, he left for Richmond, Virginia in anticipation of his congressional service, but he would not live to see the opening sessions.

Throughout Tyler's life, he suffered from poor health. As he aged, he suffered more frequently from colds during the winter. After his exit from the White House, he fell victim to repeated cases of dysentery. He had many aches and pains in the last eight years of his life. On January 12, 1862, after complaining of chills and dizziness, he vomited and collapsed. He was revived, yet the next day he admitted to the same symptoms. He was treated for the rest of the week, but his health did not improve, and he made plans to return to Sherwood Forest on the 18th. As he lay in bed the previous night he began suffocating, and Julia summoned his doctor. Just after midnight, Tyler took a last sip of brandy, and told his doctor, "I am going. Perhaps it is best." It is believed that he had suffered a stroke. Tyler is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, by the side of former President James Monroe.

Tyler's death was the only one in presidential history not to be officially recognized in Washington, because of his allegiance to the Confederacy. He had requested a simple burial, but Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his fellows delivered a grand, politically pointed funeral, painting Tyler as a hero to the Confederacy. Tyler's favorite horse named "The General" is buried at his Sherwood Forest Plantation with a gravestone which reads,

Here lie the bones of my old horse, "General,"

Who served his master faithfully for twenty-one years,
And never made a blunder.

Would that his master could say the same!

Marriage and family

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

1. Mary Tyler (1815–47)
2. Robert Tyler (1816–77)
3. John Tyler, Jr. (1819–96)
4. Letitia Tyler Semple (1821–1907)
5. Elizabeth Tyler (1823–50)
6. Anne Contesse Tyler (1825)
7. Alice Tyler (1827–54)
8. Tazewell Tyler (1830–74)

Tyler's wife Letitia died in the White House in September 1842.

Tyler's second wife, Julia Gardiner Tyler.

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

1. David Gardiner Tyler (1846–1927)
2. John Alexander Tyler (1848–83)
3. Julia Gardiner Tyler Spencer (1849–71)
4. Lachlan Tyler (1851–1902)
5. Lyon Gardiner Tyler (1853–1935)
6. Robert Fitzwalter Tyler (1856–1927)
7. Pearl Tyler (1860–1947)

Tyler was a slaveholder for his entire life. Early in his presidency, he was attacked by abolitionist publisher Joshua Leavitt, who alleged that Tyler had fathered (and sold) several sons with his slaves, prompting a response from the Tyler administration–linked newspaper The Madisonian. A number of African American families today have an oral tradition of descent from Tyler, but no evidence of such a link has ever surfaced.

As of August 2011, 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. Harrison Tyler maintains the family home, "Sherwood Forest."

Legacy

Tyler's grave at Hollywood Cemetery.

According to the White House's biography of him, Tyler "strengthened the Presidency," but also "increased sectional cleavage that led toward civil war." 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," established a precedent for future Presidents of the United States. 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." The city of Tyler, Texas is named after him. The personal papers of the Tyler family, including John Tyler, can be found at the Special Collections Research Center at the College of William and Mary.

See also

• Second Party System
• Dorr Rebellion
• U.S. presidential election, 1840
• Sherwood Forest Plantation
• List of Presidents of the United States
• US Presidents on US postage stamps

Ancestors

Family of John Tyler

16. --- 8. John Tyler 17. Elizabeth Chiles 4. John Tyler 18. John Jarrett 9. Elizabeth Jarrett 19. Joanna Lowe 2. John Tyler, Sr. 20. 10. Louis Contesse 21. 5. Anne Contesse 22. 11. Mary Morris 23. 1. John Tyler 24. Robert Armistead 12. Ellyson Armistead 25. --- Booth 6. Robert Booth Armistead 26. Charles Anderson 13. Jane Anderson 27. Frances 3. Mary Marot Armistead 28. 14. 29. 7. Anne Shields 30. 15. 31.

Sources

Books

• Chitwood, Oliver Perry (1964) [Orig. 1939, Appleton-Century]. John Tyler, Champion of the Old South. Russell & Russell.
• Crapol, Edward P. (2006). John Tyler, the Accidental President. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-3041-3.
• Kruman, Marc W.; Brinkley, Alan (eds.) (2004). The Reader's Companion to the American Presidency: John Tyler. Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 978-0-395-78889-9. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
• Lambert, Oscar D. (1936). Presidential Politics in the United States, 1841–1844. Durham: Duke University Press.
• Macmahon, Edward B.; Curry, Leonard (1987). Medical Cover-Ups in the White House. Farragut Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-918535-01-6.
• Morgan, Robert J. (1954). A Whig Embattled: The Presidency Under John Tyler. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
• Monroe, Dan (2003). The Republican Vision of John Tyler. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 1-58544-216-X.
• Peterson, Norma Lois (1989). The Presidencies of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-0400-5.
• Roseboom, Eugene H. (1970). A History of Presidential Elections. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 9780026048903.
• Schouler, James (1917). History of the United States of America: Under the Constitution vol. 4. 1831–1847. Democrats and Whigs. New York City: Dodd, Mead and Company. (online edition)
• Seager, Robert, II (1963). And Tyler Too: A Biography of John and Julia Gardiner Tyler. New York: McGraw-Hill.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Wise, Henry A. (1872). Seven Decades of the Union: The Humanities and Materialism Illustrated by a Memoir of John Tyler, with Reminiscences of Some of his Great Contemporaries. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co.

Articles

• "The Presidents: John Tyler". The White House.
• Crapol, Edward P. (1997). "John Tyler and the Pursuit of National Destiny". Journal of the Early Republic. 17 (3): 467–491. doi:10.2307/3123944. ISSN 0275-1275.
• Freehling, William W. (cons. ed.). American President: John Tyler. Miller Center of Public Affairs (University of Virginia). Retrieved November 16, 2008.

External links

• John Tyler from the White House
• John Tyler: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress
• Template:Worldcat id
• Biography by Appleton's and Stanley L. Klos
• U.S. Senate Historian's Office: Vice Presidents of the United States—John Tyler
• John Tyler in Union or Secession: Virginians Decide at the Library of Virginia
• POTUS - John Tyler
• Tyler's letters refusing government intervention, April and May 1842
• United States Congress. "John Tyler (id: T000450)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Works by John Tyler at 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
• Hollywood Cemetery - John Tyler's final resting place
• John Tyler's Grandson Still Does Tours in the Old Tyler Home
• Extensive essay on John Tyler and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
• Finding aid of the Tyler Family Papers, Group A
• A Guide to the Governor John Tyler Executive Papers, 1825-1827 at The Library of Virginia