Tyler, John

Tyler, John, 1790–1862, 10th President of the United States, b. Charles City co., Va.

Early Career

Educated at the College of William and Mary, he studied law under his father, John Tyler (1747–1813), governor of Virginia from 1808 to 1811, and was admitted (1809) to the bar. A state legislator (1811–16, 1823–25) and U.S. Representative (1817–21), Tyler was an unswerving states' rights Democrat. He joined the condemnation of Andrew Jackson

Early Career

A child of the backwoods, he was left an orphan at 14.
..... 's actions in Florida and voted against the Missouri Compromise.

Governor of Virginia (1825–27) and a U.S. Senator (1827–36), Tyler reluctantly supported Jackson as the least objectionable of the presidential candidates in 1828 and 1832. Although he did not approve South Carolina's nullification act, he violently opposed Jackson's measures against it (see force bill). The President's fiscal policies further alienated him, so that he was eventually drawn to the new Whig party

Origins

As a party it did not exist before 1834, but its nucleus was formed in 1824 when the adherents of John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay
..... , joining its states' rights Southern wing, which differed with many of the nationalistic policies associated with the Clay leadership. He resigned from the Senate rather than abide by the instructions of the Virginia legislature to vote for the motion to expunge Henry Clay's censure of Jackson from the records.

Presidency

In 1840, Tyler was chosen running mate to the Whig presidential candidate, William Henry Harrison, and they waged their victorious "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" campaign. One month after his inauguration Harrison died, and on Apr. 4, 1841, Tyler became the first Vice President to succeed to the presidency. His antipathy toward many Whig policies soon became apparent (he had never concealed it), and a rift developed between him and Henry Clay

Early Career

His father died when he was four years old, and Clay's formal schooling was limited to three years.
..... , the party leader.

After his second veto of a measure creating a national bank with branches in the states (on the grounds that it violated the constitutional rights of the states), his cabinet, except for Daniel Webster

Early Career

He graduated (1801) from Dartmouth College, studied law, and, after an interval as a schoolmaster, was admitted (1805) to the
..... , resigned (Sept., 1841). Webster stayed on as Secretary of State until the negotiations for the Webster-Ashburton Treaty with the British were completed (May, 1843). Bitterly denounced by the Whigs and with few friends among the Democrats, Tyler became a President without a party.

Nevertheless he accomplished much toward the annexation of Texas. Abel P. Upshur, Webster's successor, was killed when a gun on the U.S.S. Princeton blew up, and John C. Calhoun continued Upshur's negotiations for a treaty with Texas. The treaty was rejected by the Senate. Tyler then supported a plan for a joint resolution to annex Texas and had the satisfaction of seeing it accepted by Texas just before he left office in 1845. The completion of annexation was brought about under James K. Polk, Tyler's Democratic successor.

Later Career

Tyler, nominated by a small Democratic faction, had withdrawn from the 1844 election. In Feb., 1861, he presided over the unsuccessful conference at Washington that attempted to find some last-minute solution to avert the Civil War. Later, he served in the provisional Confederate Congress and was elected to the permanent Confederate Congress, but he died before he could take his seat.

Bibliography

See L. G. Tyler (his son), Letters and Times of the Tylers (3 vol., 1884–96, repr. 1970); biography by O. P. Chitwood (1939, repr. 1964); studies by R. J. Morgan (1954) and N. L. Peterson (1989).

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Tyler, John

(born March 29, 1790, Charles City county, Va., U.S.—died Jan. 18, 1862, Richmond, Va.) 10th president of the U.S. (1841–45). He practiced law before serving in the Virginia legislature (1811–16, 1823–25, 1839) and as governor of Virginia (1825–27). In the U.S. House of Representatives (1817–21) and Senate (1827–36), he was a supporter of states' rights. Though a slaveholder, he sought to prohibit the slave trade in the District of Columbia, provided Maryland and Virginia concurred. He resigned from the Senate rather than acquiesce to state instructions to change his vote on a censure of Pres. Andrew Jackson. After breaking with the Democratic Party, he was nominated by the Whig Party for vice president under William H. Harrison. They won the 1840 election, carefully avoiding the issues and stressing party loyalty and the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler too!” Harrison died a month after taking office, and Tyler became the first to attain the presidency “by accident.” He vetoed a national bank bill supported by the Whigs, and all but one member of the cabinet resigned, leaving him without party support. Nonetheless, he reorganized the navy, settled the second of the Seminole Wars in Florida, and oversaw the annexation of Texas. He was nominated for reelection but withdrew in favour of James K. Polk and retired to his Virginia plantation. Committed to states' rights but opposed to secession, he organized the Washington Peace Conference (1861) to resolve sectional differences. When the Senate rejected a proposed compromise, Tyler urged Virginia to secede.

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Tyler, John (1790–1862) tenth U.S. president; born in Charles City County, Va. Trained as a lawyer, Tyler steadily ascended the political ladder, gaining the state legislature in 1811, the U.S. House of Representatives (1816–19), the Virginia governorship (1825–27), and the U.S. Senate (1827–36). Highly active as a senator, he maintained a states' rights position and resisted all attempts to regulate slavery; he resigned from the Senate to protest President Jackson's antinullification measures. Gravitating to the anti-Jackson Whigs, Tyler won election as Benjamin Harrison's vice-president in 1840, then ascended to the presidency on Harrison's death in April 1841. He soon alienated his Whig supporters by resisting a new national bank; at one point he had to lead the White House staff in holding off a violent mob, and in 1843 the Whigs even threatened to impeach him. Nonetheless, his term saw the Webster-Ashburton Treaty fixing the borders of the U.S. and Canada; he also encouraged the move to annex Texas. Long out of the public eye after failing to be nominated in 1844, Tyler headed a Southern peace mission to find a compromise to avoid splitting the Union in 1861. When that failed, he voted for Virginia to secede and was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives just before his death.