author
John Tyler
1790–1862
Thrown into the presidency by crisis, he became the first U.S. vice president to take over after a president’s death and helped define what that transfer of power would mean. His turbulent term mixed constitutional drama, party conflict, and the push to annex Texas.
1 Audiobook
State of the Union Addresses
by John Tyler
About the author
Born in Virginia in 1790, John Tyler studied at the College of William and Mary, trained as a lawyer, and built a long political career that included service in the Virginia legislature, the U.S. House of Representatives, the governorship of Virginia, and the U.S. Senate. A strong defender of states' rights and a strict reading of the Constitution, he often stood apart even from his own allies.
Tyler became the tenth president of the United States in 1841 after the death of William Henry Harrison, setting an important precedent by fully claiming the powers of the presidency rather than serving as a temporary stand-in. His time in office was stormy: he clashed with the Whig Party, was pushed out by many of its leaders, and relied heavily on veto power. Even so, his administration is closely linked with the annexation of Texas, one of the major events near the end of his term.
After leaving the White House, Tyler returned to Virginia. During the secession crisis, he sided with the Confederacy and later served in its provisional congress. He died in Richmond in 1862, a complicated and still debated figure whose life touched some of the biggest constitutional and political conflicts of nineteenth-century America.