page_title: John Tyler
section_title: Vice presidency
hierarchical_section_title: John Tyler / Vice presidency
caption_attribution_description: English: Scene of messenger, with letter in hand announcing death of President Harrison, approaching Vice President Tyler on the porch of his home in Williamsburg, Virginia.
context_page_description: John Tyler was the tenth president of the United States from 1841 to 1845 after briefly serving as the tenth vice president in 1841; he was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig ticket with President William Henry Harrison. Tyler ascended to the presidency after Harrison's death in April 1841, only a month after the start of the new administration. He was a stalwart supporter and advocate of states' rights, and he adopted nationalistic policies as president only when they did not infringe on the powers of the states. His unexpected rise to the presidency posed a threat to the presidential ambitions of Henry Clay and other politicians, and left Tyler estranged from both major political parties.
  Tyler was born to a prominent Virginia family and became a national figure at a time of political upheaval. In the 1820s, the nation's only political party was the Democratic-Republican Party, and it split into factions. Tyler was initially a Democrat, but he opposed Andrew Jackson during the Nullification Crisis, seeing Jackson's actions as infringing on states' rights, and he criticized Jackson's expansion of executive power during the Bank War.
context_section_description: As vice president-elect, Tyler remained quietly at his home in Williamsburg. He privately expressed hopes that Harrison would prove decisive and not allow intrigue in the Cabinet, especially in the first days of the administration. Tyler did not participate in selecting the Cabinet, and did not recommend anyone for federal office in the new Whig administration. Harrison, beset by office seekers and the demands of Senator Clay, twice sent letters to Tyler asking his advice as to whether a Van Buren appointee should be dismissed. In both cases, Tyler recommended against, and Harrison wrote, "Mr. Tyler says they ought not to be removed, and I will not remove them." The two men met briefly in Richmond in February, and reviewed a parade together, though they did not discuss politics.
  Tyler was sworn in on March 4, 1841, in the Senate chamber, and delivered a three-minute speech about states' rights before swearing in the new senators and then attending Harrison's inauguration. Following the new president's two-hour speech before a large crowd in freezing weather, Tyler returned to the Senate to receive the president's Cabinet nominations, presiding over the confirmations the following day—a total of two hours as president of the Senate. Expecting few responsibilities, he then left Washington, quietly returning to his home in Williamsburg. Seager later wrote, "Had William Henry Harrison lived, John Tyler would undoubtedly have been as obscure as any vice-president in American history."
  Harrison, meanwhile, struggled to keep up with the demands of Henry Clay and others who sought offices and influence in his administration. Harrison's age and fading health were no secret during the campaign, and the question of the presidential succession was on every politician's mind. The first few weeks of the presidency took a toll on Harrison's health, and after being caught in a rainstorm in late March he came down with pneumonia and pleurisy. Secretary of State Daniel Webster sent word to Tyler of Harrison's illness on April 1; two days later, Richmond attorney James Lyons wrote with the news that the president had taken a turn for the worse, remarking that "I shall not be surprised to hear by tomorrow's mail that Gen'l Harrison is no more." Tyler decided not to travel to Washington, not wanting to appear unseemly in anticipating the president's death. At dawn on April 5, Webster's son Fletcher, chief clerk of the State Department, arrived at Tyler's plantation to officially inform Tyler of Harrison's death the morning before.
caption: 1888 illustration of President Tyler receiving the news of President Harrison's death from Chief Clerk of the State Department Fletcher Webster
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