John Tyler’s presidency was a unique one that challenged the
young democracy and the resiliency of its Constitution. Tyler assumed the
presidency in 1841 following the death of William Henry Harrison, 126 years
before the adoption of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which
would spell out the order of succession to the Presidency. Upon Tyler’s
ascendency to the executive there were some, most notably Henry Clay, who
asserted that Tyler was acting president only, devoid of authority to serve out
Harrison’s term. Tyler rejected this idea and was ultimately granted legitimacy
by Congress. The Tyler Precedent would define presidential succession until the
Cold War.
In a time of bitter partisanship and splintering political
parties, Tyler’s politics didn’t fit neatly in either of the major political
parties of the day. The early part of his political career as a member of the
House of Representatives, Virginia House of Delegates, Governor of Virginia,
and the US Senate Tyler was a Democrat. Despite his party affiliation, Tyler
often found himself at odds with the preeminent Democrat of the day, Andrew
Jackson. Like Jackson, Tyler did not support the Bank of the US, however he
didn’t agree with Jackson’s decision to strip the bank of its deposits. He also
agreed with Jackson that South Carolina should not nullify Federal Law, however
Tyler was a strict believer in state’s rights and the force with which Jackson
came down on South Carolina didn’t sit well with Tyler. Tyler would fall
in
with the nascent Whig party, found his way onto the Whig ticket in the 1840
Presidential election as William Henry Harrison’s running mate, and was
President of the United States upon Harrison’s death shortly thereafter.
The Tyler / Whig love affair was short lived. Before his
first year in office ended Tyler had vetoed two banking bills favored by Henry
Clay and the congressional Whigs. All but one of his cabinet members resigned
and Clay dubbed him “The President without a party.” Whig newspapers heaped
vitriol on Tyler for the duration of his presidency.
The legacy of Tyler’s presidency is the annexation of Texas.
Tyler worked hard to shepherd annexation legislation through congress and
coordinate with the Texan government. This work was disrupted by the USS Princeton disaster wherein the newly
built ship’s main gun backfired during a celebratory cruise down the Potomac.
Thomas Gilmer and Abel Upshur, Tyler’s secretaries of the Navy and State,
respectively died along with four others in the disaster. Both Gilmer and
Upshur had been key players in annexation effort. Despite their differences,
Tyler appointed John Calhoun to fill the position at State, and Calhoun helped
devise a joint resolution of congress to back annexation just before Tyler left
office.
Tyler once again identified as a Democrat after his break
with the Whigs. He agreed, for the sake of the party, not to seek reelection
and back James Polk. Polk angered Tyler by never living up to the unspoken agreement
to repay some Tyler men through patronage.
Tyler is not highly regarded by historians. To his
supporters he was unwavering supporter of state’s rights, however in the mid-19th
century supporting state’s rights was a euphemism for supporting slavery and
when the Civil War came around Tyler ended up on the wrong side of history.
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| Photo of Tyler and Monroe's gravesite, courtesy of http://www.presidentsgraves.com |
In retirement, Tyler initially opposed war. He presided over
the “Peace Convention” which proposed to President James Buchanan that slavery
be prohibited in the North, that slavery be continued in the South, that
questions involving slavery in the South be resolved by Federal courts
according to common law, and that any new states decide on slavery themselves. Tyler
changed his tack after the Senate overwhelmingly rejected these proposals. He
now believed that if the South presented a united front, by seceding from the
union, war would be avoided. He was wrong. Tyler lived long enough to see shots
ring out at Fort Sumter, his home state of Virginia secede, and the Confederates
triumph at Bull Run. Tyler likely died believing that the South could defeat
the Union troops. Interestingly, Tyler is the only US president who was not
buried under the American flag. In an attempt to galvanize Southerners,
Jefferson Davis ordered a grand burial for Tyler, under the Confederate flag,
next to James Monroe’s grave.