Analysing the life of the Presidents (Part 10) John Tyler, His Accidency
John Tyler was born on March 29 1790 (…..today) to a slave-owning family in Virginia in Charles City County.
His dad John Tyler Sr “Judge Tyler” was a personal/political friend and college roommate of Thomas Jefferson (and future Governor and was in the Virginia House of Delegates with Benjamin Harrison V), his mom was Mary Marot Armistead was the daughter of a prominent New Kent County plantation owner and one-term delegate, he had 5 siblings of which none of them are important.
They were cared for on the Greenway Plantation,a 1200 acre estate (slaves were unfortunately used a lot there), Tyler Sr paid a lot of money for tutors to teach his children but Tyler was in frail health, thin and had diarrhea a lot.
Tragedy struck in 1797 when Mary died of a stroke, in 1802, John entered the preparatory branch of the College of William and Mary, Bishop James Madison (No,not that one) the college’s president was his mentor/ second father by the time he graduated in 1807.
After graduation, he read the law with Tyler Sr (a state judge by then) and Edmund Randolph (Washington’s Secretary of State), he was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1809 (yes at 19 but the admitting judge didn’t ask for his age) by then his dad was Governor of Virginia.
In 1813, when Tyler Sr died, he purchased Woodburn plantation (where he lived until 1821) by 1820, he arleady had 24 slaves (13 inherited from Sr and 11 brought on his own).
He was elected to the House of Delegates for Charles City Count in 1811, there he defended states’ rights and hated the idea of a national bank, he even supported the censure of some senators that voted for the First Bank of the United States.
During the War of 1812, he organised a militia and acted as its captain……. no attack ever came.
He married Letitia Christian on March 29 1813, they had 9 children (Mary,Robert who joined the Confederacy, John III, Letitia Jr who joined the Confederacy, Elizabeth, Alice, Tazwell, Anne who died in infacy in 1825 and an unnamed child that died at birth).
In 1816,he got elected to Congress (sworn on December 17 1816, as a Democratic Republican) there he: Supported states’ rights, rejected infrastructure plans as he wanted every state to built on their own and basically didn’t want Virgina to be looked at pitiful.
In 1818, he rejected the charter of a Second Bank of the US on the basis of “corruption” (there wasn’t any) he then clashed with General Andrew Jackson after he invaded Florida (still praised his character) cause two British soldiers were killed (good on Tyler…..very rare for me to say this) he believed that Congress did not have the power to abolish slavery and even wanted to expand it west (so….. that there would be fewer in the East so that Virginia will abolish it? You share your thoughts on how stupid of a plan that was), he declined re-nomination in 1820 and on March 3 1821, he left office.
Tyler sought election to the House of Delegates in 1823 and was elected easily that April, he supported William Crawford in 1824.
In December 1825, he became Governor of Virginia he did nothing but deliver the funeral address for Thomas Jefferson (after the latter died on July 4 1826) and promote states’ rights and left office (by resigning to become a Senator) in March 1827.
In 1829 he was elected as a delegate to the Virgina Constitutional Convention (alongside Madison, Monroe and John Marshall).
In 1828,he joined the Democratic Party (even though he disagreed with some of Jackson’s ideas later on), a good thing that he did was not vote for patronage appointments that Jackson famously did a lot (this is the only the SECOND good thing Tyler made so far), in 1832 he supported Jackson’s veto of the re-charter Second Bank of the US.
Back to bad things:
During the Nullification Crisis, he SYMPATHISED with South Carolina and denied Jackson’s potential use of the force by denying the Force Bill (at least he supported Clay’s compromise bill), in 1834, he left the Democratic Party after some more disagreements with Jackson.
He resigned in February 1836 and that year (he joined the Whigs by this time) he ran as running mate for TWO Whig Candidates (Hugh White and Willie P Mangum) they lost, but in 1840, he was put again on the ticket but as William Henry Harrison’s running mate (cause he was a slave owner and balanced the ticket since they feared that Harrison would be seen as an abolitionist, even if he had himself slaves) they won.
On March 4 1841,he became the 10th Vice President,on April 5 1841,Fletcher Webster (Daniel Webster’s son and chief clerk of the State Department) came to inform him that Harrison died on April 4 1841, first incumbent to die in office, he arrived in DC on April 6 1841.
No one really knew what to do cause this never happened before so a GOOD thing that Tyler did was making it clear that the VP becomes president and despite many not liking it, on April 6 1841, he was sworn in as the 10th President, and his presidency would go downhill pretty fast:
Most of his cabinet resigned and the Whigs expelled him,why?
Cause he destroyed their agenda and vetoed like everything that they proposed.
THE ONLY CABINET MEMBER that remained was Daniel Webster (who in 1842, did the Webster Ashburton treaty that while good,it was mainly Webster who did it and Tyler had little hand in it).
The Tariff of 1842 was TERRIBLE.
Tragedy came when Letitia died on September 10 1842, while sad, it didn’t affect Tyler that much considering he married Julia Gardner on June 26 1844,after her dad died in the Princeton Explosion (a cannon exploded) on February 28 1844, it almost killed Tyler but it killed Upshur, and Gilmer (Secretary of State) and wanna know who he appointed as Secretary of State? CALHOUN.
They would have 7 children (Lyon,who has a living son even today, John who went to Europe, David, a Confederate, Julia Jr, Robert,Lachlan,Pearl who lived to see Harry S Truman as President).
He became the first President to have talks of impeachment (that never went through).
He gave his “Tyler Doctrine” revolving Hawaii (began a process that eventually led to the US annexing Hawaii) by basically said that the US will meddle in Hawaii’s business to “protect it from Britain” (Britain did nothing there….).
The Treaty of Wanghia was a win but again Tyler had little hand in it, it was mostly Upshur (his new Secretary of State after even Webster left in 1843).
Called for Indian Removal (despicable).
Refused to help the Dorr Rebellion.
He was not nominated in 1844 as everyone (thankfully) hated him.
On March 3 1845,his last full day in office,he signed a law to annex Texas which while good, he was also setting the US on path to Mexico and not even preparing it, he left office on March 4 1845.
He went to Sherwood Forest,named after Robin Hood cause he considered himself an “outlaw” to the Whigs (dared to say that they were in the wrong), in 1847, his Whig neighbours mocked him by making him “overseer of roads” but he took it seriously and you may say “that’s a good thing” no it wasn’t cause he told them to have slaves fix the roads constantly.
In 1859, after John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry, he was chosen to lead a milita (no battle ensued).
In February 1861, he went to the Washington Peace Conference, he rejected final results saying that the free states did not protect the rights of the slave owners.
When the Civil War broke out in April 1861 out of all living ex presidents (Van Buren, Fillmore , Pierce and Buchanan) it was HIM who went to the Confederate’s side (by the way he voted for Secession at the Virginia Secession Convention on April 4 1861).
On June 14 1861, he signed the Ordinance of Secession and on June 21, he was elected to the Provisional Confederate Congress, on August 1 1861, he was seated in the Confederate Congress.
In November 1861, he was elected to the Confederate Congress but would never serve,why?
Let me answer:
John Tyler died at 71 on January 18 1862 in his room at the Exchange Hotel in Richmond most likely due to a stroke, before he died, he drank brandy and said to the doctor “Doctor, I am going” the doctor said “I hope not, Sir” then Tyler said “Perhaps it is best” yes it was.
Abraham Lincoln (thankfully) gave him NO honours but Jefferson Davis did a grand and politically pointed funeral for him and made him a hero (unfortunately but traitors love traitors).
He was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond Virginia,Julia joined him after she died on July 10 1889 (she was also a traitor).
John Tyler is as his nickname says “His Accidency”: An accidental president, an accidental politician (only got in cause his dad was a big politician) but what he wasn’t was an accidental traitor cause he became a traitor by wanting to be one , he wanted to be a “Southern Gentleman” yet the only thing that he was a Southern Traitor.
John Tyler was born on March 29 1790 (…..today) to a slave-owning family in Virginia in Charles City County.
His dad John Tyler Sr “Judge Tyler” was a personal/political friend and college roommate of Thomas Jefferson (and future Governor and was in the Virginia House of Delegates with Benjamin Harrison V), his mom was Mary Marot Armistead was the daughter of a prominent New Kent County plantation owner and one-term delegate, he had 5 siblings of which none of them are important.
They were cared for on the Greenway Plantation,a 1200 acre estate (slaves were unfortunately used a lot there), Tyler Sr paid a lot of money for tutors to teach his children but Tyler was in frail health, thin and had diarrhea a lot.
Tragedy struck in 1797 when Mary died of a stroke, in 1802, John entered the preparatory branch of the College of William and Mary, Bishop James Madison (No,not that one) the college’s president was his mentor/ second father by the time he graduated in 1807.
After graduation, he read the law with Tyler Sr (a state judge by then) and Edmund Randolph (Washington’s Secretary of State), he was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1809 (yes at 19 but the admitting judge didn’t ask for his age) by then his dad was Governor of Virginia.
In 1813, when Tyler Sr died, he purchased Woodburn plantation (where he lived until 1821) by 1820, he arleady had 24 slaves (13 inherited from Sr and 11 brought on his own).
He was elected to the House of Delegates for Charles City Count in 1811, there he defended states’ rights and hated the idea of a national bank, he even supported the censure of some senators that voted for the First Bank of the United States.
During the War of 1812, he organised a militia and acted as its captain……. no attack ever came.
He married Letitia Christian on March 29 1813, they had 9 children (Mary,Robert who joined the Confederacy, John III, Letitia Jr who joined the Confederacy, Elizabeth, Alice, Tazwell, Anne who died in infacy in 1825 and an unnamed child that died at birth).
In 1816,he got elected to Congress (sworn on December 17 1816, as a Democratic Republican) there he: Supported states’ rights, rejected infrastructure plans as he wanted every state to built on their own and basically didn’t want Virgina to be looked at pitiful.
In 1818, he rejected the charter of a Second Bank of the US on the basis of “corruption” (there wasn’t any) he then clashed with General Andrew Jackson after he invaded Florida (still praised his character) cause two British soldiers were killed (good on Tyler…..very rare for me to say this) he believed that Congress did not have the power to abolish slavery and even wanted to expand it west (so….. that there would be fewer in the East so that Virginia will abolish it? You share your thoughts on how stupid of a plan that was), he declined re-nomination in 1820 and on March 3 1821, he left office.
Tyler sought election to the House of Delegates in 1823 and was elected easily that April, he supported William Crawford in 1824.
In December 1825, he became Governor of Virginia he did nothing but deliver the funeral address for Thomas Jefferson (after the latter died on July 4 1826) and promote states’ rights and left office (by resigning to become a Senator) in March 1827.
In 1829 he was elected as a delegate to the Virgina Constitutional Convention (alongside Madison, Monroe and John Marshall).
In 1828,he joined the Democratic Party (even though he disagreed with some of Jackson’s ideas later on), a good thing that he did was not vote for patronage appointments that Jackson famously did a lot (this is the only the SECOND good thing Tyler made so far), in 1832 he supported Jackson’s veto of the re-charter Second Bank of the US.
Back to bad things:
During the Nullification Crisis, he SYMPATHISED with South Carolina and denied Jackson’s potential use of the force by denying the Force Bill (at least he supported Clay’s compromise bill), in 1834, he left the Democratic Party after some more disagreements with Jackson.
He resigned in February 1836 and that year (he joined the Whigs by this time) he ran as running mate for TWO Whig Candidates (Hugh White and Willie P Mangum) they lost, but in 1840, he was put again on the ticket but as William Henry Harrison’s running mate (cause he was a slave owner and balanced the ticket since they feared that Harrison would be seen as an abolitionist, even if he had himself slaves) they won.
On March 4 1841,he became the 10th Vice President,on April 5 1841,Fletcher Webster (Daniel Webster’s son and chief clerk of the State Department) came to inform him that Harrison died on April 4 1841, first incumbent to die in office, he arrived in DC on April 6 1841.
No one really knew what to do cause this never happened before so a GOOD thing that Tyler did was making it clear that the VP becomes president and despite many not liking it, on April 6 1841, he was sworn in as the 10th President, and his presidency would go downhill pretty fast:
Most of his cabinet resigned and the Whigs expelled him,why?
Cause he destroyed their agenda and vetoed like everything that they proposed.
THE ONLY CABINET MEMBER that remained was Daniel Webster (who in 1842, did the Webster Ashburton treaty that while good,it was mainly Webster who did it and Tyler had little hand in it).
The Tariff of 1842 was TERRIBLE.
Tragedy came when Letitia died on September 10 1842, while sad, it didn’t affect Tyler that much considering he married Julia Gardner on June 26 1844,after her dad died in the Princeton Explosion (a cannon exploded) on February 28 1844, it almost killed Tyler but it killed Upshur, and Gilmer (Secretary of State) and wanna know who he appointed as Secretary of State? CALHOUN.
They would have 7 children (Lyon,who has a living son even today, John who went to Europe, David, a Confederate, Julia Jr, Robert,Lachlan,Pearl who lived to see Harry S Truman as President).
He became the first President to have talks of impeachment (that never went through).
He gave his “Tyler Doctrine” revolving Hawaii (began a process that eventually led to the US annexing Hawaii) by basically said that the US will meddle in Hawaii’s business to “protect it from Britain” (Britain did nothing there….).
The Treaty of Wanghia was a win but again Tyler had little hand in it, it was mostly Upshur (his new Secretary of State after even Webster left in 1843).
Called for Indian Removal (despicable).
Refused to help the Dorr Rebellion.
He was not nominated in 1844 as everyone (thankfully) hated him.
On March 3 1845,his last full day in office,he signed a law to annex Texas which while good, he was also setting the US on path to Mexico and not even preparing it, he left office on March 4 1845.
He went to Sherwood Forest,named after Robin Hood cause he considered himself an “outlaw” to the Whigs (dared to say that they were in the wrong), in 1847, his Whig neighbours mocked him by making him “overseer of roads” but he took it seriously and you may say “that’s a good thing” no it wasn’t cause he told them to have slaves fix the roads constantly.
In 1859, after John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry, he was chosen to lead a milita (no battle ensued).
In February 1861, he went to the Washington Peace Conference, he rejected final results saying that the free states did not protect the rights of the slave owners.
When the Civil War broke out in April 1861 out of all living ex presidents (Van Buren, Fillmore , Pierce and Buchanan) it was HIM who went to the Confederate’s side (by the way he voted for Secession at the Virginia Secession Convention on April 4 1861).
On June 14 1861, he signed the Ordinance of Secession and on June 21, he was elected to the Provisional Confederate Congress, on August 1 1861, he was seated in the Confederate Congress.
In November 1861, he was elected to the Confederate Congress but would never serve,why?
Let me answer:
John Tyler died at 71 on January 18 1862 in his room at the Exchange Hotel in Richmond most likely due to a stroke, before he died, he drank brandy and said to the doctor “Doctor, I am going” the doctor said “I hope not, Sir” then Tyler said “Perhaps it is best” yes it was.
Abraham Lincoln (thankfully) gave him NO honours but Jefferson Davis did a grand and politically pointed funeral for him and made him a hero (unfortunately but traitors love traitors).
He was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond Virginia,Julia joined him after she died on July 10 1889 (she was also a traitor).
John Tyler is as his nickname says “His Accidency”: An accidental president, an accidental politician (only got in cause his dad was a big politician) but what he wasn’t was an accidental traitor cause he became a traitor by wanting to be one , he wanted to be a “Southern Gentleman” yet the only thing that he was a Southern Traitor.