John Tyler

John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) is the tenth President of the United States (1841–1845).

A native of Virginia, Tyler serves as a state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator before being elected Vice President in 1840.

He is the first to succeed to the office of President on the death of the incumbent, succeeding William Henry Harrison.

Tyler's opposition to nationalism and emphatic support of states' rights endears him to his fellow Virginians but alienates him from most of the political allies that had brought him to power in Washington.

His presidency is crippled by opposition from both parties, and near the end of his life he will side with the South in its secession from the United States.

Tyler was born to an aristocratic Virginia family of English descent, and comes to national prominence at a time of political upheaval.

In the 1820s, the nation's only political party, the Democratic-Republicans, splits into factions, most of which do not share Tyler's strict constructionist ideals.

Though initially a Democrat, his opposition to Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren leads him to alliance with the Whig Party; he is elected Vice President in 1840 on the Whig ticket.

Upon the death of President William Henry Harrison on 4 April 1841, only a month after his inauguration, a short Constitutional crisis arises over the succession process.

Tyler immediately moves into the White House, takes the oath of office, and assumes full presidential powers, a precedent that will govern future successions and eventually be codified in the Twenty-fifth Amendment.

As President, Tyler opposes the Whig platform and vetoes several of their proposals.

As a result, most of his cabinet resigns, and the Whigs, dubbing him His Accidency, expel him from the party.

While he faces a stalemate on domestic policy, he still has several foreign policy achievements, including the Webster–Ashburton Treaty with Britain and the Treaty of Wanghia with Qing China.

Tyler dedicates his last two years in office to the annexation of Texas.

He seeks re-election to a full term, but he has alienated Whigs and the Democrats won't have him back.

His efforts to form a new party come to nothing.

However, in the last days of his term, Congress passes the resolution authorizing annexation, which is carried out by Tyler's successor as President, James K. Polk.

Tyler essentially retires from electoral politics until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.

He sides with the Confederate government, and wins election to the Confederate House of Representatives shortly before his death.

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.

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