John Tyler John Tyler ( March 29 , 1790 – January 18 , 1862 ) was the tenth President of the United States ( 1841 – 1845 ) . A native of Virginia , Tyler served as a state legislator , governor , U . S . representative , and U . S . senator before winning election as Vice President in 1840 . Although he was a Democrat , he ran on the Whig ticket with William Henry Harrison . He became president on the death of Harrison in April 1841 . A firm believer in American exceptionalism and national destiny , President Tyler sought to strengthen and preserve the Union through territorial expansion , most famously the annexation of the independent Republic of Texas in his last days in office . Tyler became the first to succeed to the office of President on the death of the incumbent . He was also the first person to serve as President without ever being elected to that office . Tyler ' s opposition to federalism and emphatic support of states ' rights endeared him to his fellow Virginians but alienated him from most of the political allies who brought him to power in Washington . Opposition from both the Democratic and the Whig parties crippled his presidency . Near the end of his life he would side with the South in its secession from the United States . Tyler , born to an aristocratic Virginia family of English descent , came to national prominence at a time of political upheaval . In the 1820s , the nation ' s only political party , the Democratic - Republicans , split into factions , most of which did not share Tyler ' s strict constructionist ideals . Though initially a Democrat , his opposition to Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren led him to alliance with the Whig Party . He was put on the ticket to attract disaffected Democrats . Upon the death of President Harrison on April 4 , 1841 , only a month after his inauguration , a short Constitutional crisis arose over the succession process . Tyler immediately moved into the White House , took the oath of office , and assumed full presidential powers , a precedent that would govern future successions and eventually become codified in the Twenty - fifth Amendment . As President , Tyler opposed the Whig platform and vetoed several Whig party proposals . As a result , most of his cabinet resigned , and the Whigs , dubbing him " His Accidency " , expelled him from the party . While he faced a stalemate on domestic policy , he still had several foreign - policy achievements , including the Webster – Ashburton Treaty with Britain and the Treaty of Wanghia with Qing China . Tyler dedicated his last two years in office to the annexation of Texas . He sought election to a full term , but he had alienated both Whigs and Democrats and his efforts to form a new party came to nothing . In the last days of his term , Congress passed the resolution authorizing the Texas annexation , which was carried out by Tyler ' s successor as President , James K . Polk . Tyler essentially retired from electoral politics until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 . He sided with the Confederate government , and won election to the Confederate House of Representatives shortly before his death . Although some have praised Tyler ' s political resolve , historians generally hold his presidency in low esteem ; 21st - century Americans considered him an obscure president , with little presence in the American cultural memory . Early life and law career . John Tyler was born on March 29 , 1790 , the first President to be born after the adoption of the Constitution . From birth he was politically tied to his future running mate William Henry Harrison : both were born in Charles City County , Virginia , and descended from aristocratic and politically entrenched families . The Tyler family proudly traced its lineage to colonial Williamsburg in the 17th century . JohnTyler , Sr . , popularly known as Judge Tyler , was a friend and college roommate of Thomas Jefferson and served in the Virginia House of Delegates alongside William ' s father Benjamin Harrison V . Judge Tyler served four years as Virginia Speaker of the House before becoming a state court judge . He would later serve as governor and as a judge on the U . S . District Court at Richmond . His wife , Mary Marot ( Armistead ) , was the daughter of a prominent plantation owner , Robert Booth Armistead . She died of a stroke when her son John was seven years old . The young Tyler was raised with his two brothers and five sisters on Greenway Plantation , a estate with a six - room mansion his father had built . Various crops including wheat , corn , and tobacco were grown at Greenway by the Tylers ' forty slaves . Tyler was an unhealthy child , very thin and prone to chronic diarrhea . Such afflictions would continue to burden him throughout his life . At the age of twelve , he entered the preparatory branch of the elite College of William and Mary , continuing the Tyler family ' s tradition of attending the college . Tyler graduated from the school ' s collegiate branch in 1807 , at age seventeen . Among the books that informed his economic views was Adam Smith ' s " The Wealth of Nations " . His political views were deeply shaped by Bishop James Madison , the college ' s president , who served as a second father and mentor to him . After graduation Tyler went on to study law with his father , who was a state judge at the time . Tyler was admitted to the bar at the age of 19 , in violation of bar regulations : the judge who administered the bar exam neglected to inquire about his age . By this time his father had become Governor of Virginia ( 1808 – 1811 ) , and the young Tyler started a practice in Richmond . In 1813 , he purchased Woodburn and resided there until 1821 . Early political career . Start in Virginia politics . At the age of 28 , Tyler was elected by his fellow Charles City County residents to the Virginia House of Delegates , the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly . He served five successive one - year terms ( and would return later in his career ) , seated on the Courts and Justice committee . The young politician ' s defining attributes were on display by the end of his first term : a strong support of states ' rights and opposition to a national bank . He joined fellow legislator , Benjamin W . Leigh , in pushing for the censure of U . S . Senators William Branch Giles and Richard Brent from Virginia , who had voted for the recharter of the First Bank of the United States against the legislature ' s instructions . In addition to infighting over the national bank , the United States was facing ongoing hostilities with Britain in the War of 1812 . Tyler ' s education had impressed on him a strong sense of anti - British nationalism , and at the onset of the war he urged military action on the assembly floor . After the British capture of Hampton , Virginia in the summer of 1813 , Tyler eagerly organized a small militia company of county residents to defend Richmond , but no attack came their way and he dissolved the company two months later . That same year his father died , and Tyler inherited thirteen slaves along with his father ' s estate . In 1816 he resigned to serve on the Governor ' s Council of State , a group of eight advisers elected by the legislature . U . S . House of Representatives . Tyler ' s three terms in the United States House of Representatives would be his foray into national politics . The death of U . S . Representative John Clopton in the fall of 1816 left a vacancy in the 23rd district which Tyler was well positioned to fill . He faced his friend and political ally Andrew Stevenson , then Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates , in the congressional election . The race was amicable despite the high political stakes . Tyler ' s political connections and campaigning skills won him the election by a slim margin . He was sworn in as a Democratic - Republican to the Fourteenth Congress on December 17 , 1816 , to complete Clopton ' s term . He was re - elected to a full term the following spring . While the Democratic - Republicans had a historical platform of states ' rights , they had begun to adopt nationalist tendencies . In the wake of the War of 1812 , Congress was pushing to fund the states ' reconstruction and infrastructure projects . Tyler held fast to his strict constructionist beliefs , rejecting such proposals on both constitutional and personal grounds . Virginia was not " in so poor a condition as to require a " charitable " donation from Congress , " he contended . He was chosen to participate in an audit of the Second Bank of the United States in 1818 as part of a five - person committee , and was appalled by perceived corruption within the bank . He argued for the annulment of the bank charter , although Congress rejected any such proposal . His first clash with then - General Andrew Jackson followed Jackson ' s 1818 invasion of Florida during the First Seminole War . While praising Jackson ' s character , Tyler condemned the general ' s zealous behavior and his execution of two British subjects . Tyler was re - elected without opposition in early 1819 . The defining issue of the Sixteenth Congress ( 1819 – 21 ) was the admission of Missouri to the Union , and whether slavery would be permitted in the new state . Tyler was a slaveholder for his entire life , at one point keeping forty slaves at Greenway . While he regarded slavery as an evil , and never attempted to justify it , he never agreed with national emancipation , and never freed any of his slaves even at the dawn of the Civil War . The living conditions of his slaves are not well documented , but historians agree that he cared for their well - being and abstained from physical violence against them . Tyler was a leader in opposing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 , which would for the first time establish national boundaries for the establishment of slavery . In his view , the compromise served only to diminish and divide the states , while unnecessarily expanding federal authority . Acknowledging the ills of slavery , he argued that allowing it in Missouri would attract existing slave - owners from Southern states , dissipating the population of slaves and reducing each state ' s reliance on the practice . Thus , in his view , emancipation would occur organically at the state level without federal intervention . He voted against the Missouri Compromise — which passed regardless — and all bills which would restrict slavery in new territories . Tyler declined to seek renomination to Congress in late 1820 , citing illness . He privately acknowledged his dissatisfaction with the office , as his opposing votes were largely symbolic and did little to change the political culture in Washington ; he also observed that funding his children ' s education would be difficult on a Congressman ' s low salary . He left office on March 4 , 1821 , endorsing his former opponent Stevenson for the seat , and returned to private law . Return to state politics . He was soon drafted for a second stint in the Virginia House of Delegates , which lasted from December 1823 to December 1825 . Upon taking office he found the chamber thrust into debate over the impending presidential election of 1824 . The congressional nominating caucus , an early system for choosing presidential candidates , was still in effect despite its growing unpopularity . Tyler attempted to bring the lower house to endorse the caucus system and choose William H . Crawford as the Democratic - Republican candidate . Despite the legislature ' s support of Crawford , opposition to the caucus system killed his proposal . Tyler ' s most lasting effort in this second legislative tenure was salvaging the College of William and Mary , which suffered from waning attendance and risked closure . Rather than move it from rural Williamsburg to the populous capital of Richmond , as some suggested , Tyler proposed that a series of administrative and financial reforms be enacted . His reforms were successfully adopted : by 1840 the school would see its highest - ever attendance . Tyler ' s political fortunes were growing , with his name taken up for consideration in the 1824 U . S . Senate election . He was nominated in December 1825 for Governor of Virginia , a position which was then appointed by the legislature . He was elected 131 – 81 over John Floyd , whose candidacy had little traction . The office of governor was determinately powerless under the original Virginia Constitution ( 1776 – 1830 ) , lacking even veto authority . Tyler enjoyed a prominent oratorical platform but could do little to influence the legislature . His most visible act as governor was delivering the funeral address for President Thomas Jefferson , a Virginia native who died on July 4 , 1826 . Tyler was deeply devoted to Jefferson , and his ornate eulogy was well received . Tyler ' s governorship was otherwise uneventful . He promoted states ' rights and adamantly opposed any concentration of federal power . In order to thwart federal infrastructure proposals , he suggested Virginia actively expand its own road system . A proposal was made to expand the state ' s poorly funded public school system , but no significant action was taken . Tyler was re - elected unanimously to a second term in December 1826 . U . S . Senate . In January 1827 , the Virginia General Assembly was considering the impending re - election of U . S . Senator John Randolph . Randolph was a contentious figure : although he shared the staunch states ' rights views held by most of the Virginia legislature , he had a reputation for fiery rhetoric and erratic behavior on the Senate floor , which put his allies in an awkward position . Furthermore , he had made enemies by fiercely opposing John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay . The nationalist wing of the Democratic – Republican Party , who supported Adams and Clay , were a sizable minority in the Virginia legislature . They hoped to unseat Randolph by capturing the vote of states ' - rights supporters who were uncomfortable with the senator ' s reputation . They approached Tyler , and promised their endorsement if he ran against Randolph . Tyler repeatedly declined the offer , endorsing Randolph as the best candidate , but the political pressure continued to mount . Eventually he conceded that he would accept the seat if chosen , and the legislature elected him in a vote of 115 — 110 . He resigned his governorship on March 4 , 1827 , as his Senate term began . Tenuous alliance . By that time of Tyler ' s election to the Senate , the 1828 presidential election was in progress . Adams , the incumbent President , was challenged by Andrew Jackson . The Democratic - Republicans had splintered into Adams ' National Republicans and the Jacksonian Democrats . Tyler was repulsed by both candidates , each embodying the nationalist views he had always rejected . Still , he was increasingly drawn to Jackson , hoping that he would be less insistent on internal improvements than Adams . In considering Jackson he wrote , " Turning to him I may at least indulge in hope ; looking on Adams I must despair . " The first session of the Twentieth Congress began in early December 1827 . Tyler served alongside his close friend Littleton Waller Tazewell , a fellow Virginian who shared his strict constructionist views and uneasy support of Jackson . Throughout his Senate service , Tyler vigorously opposed all bills which provided for national infrastructure projects . He and his Southern colleagues were appalled by the protectionist Tariff of 1828 , known to its detractors as the " Tariff of Abominations " . Tyler suggested that the Tariff ' s only positive outcome would be a national political backlash , restoring a respect for states ' rights . Despite supporting Jackson in the 1828 election , Tyler soon found points of disagreement with the President . He was frustrated by Jackson ' s newly emerging spoils system , describing it as an " electioneering weapon " . He voted against many of the President ' s nominations when they appeared to be based on patronage or did not follow Constitutional procedure . Such an act was considered " an act of insurgency " against his party . He was particularly offended by Jackson ' s use of the recess appointment power to name three treaty commissioners to meet with Turkey ; he authored a bill chastising the President for this use of executive power . Still , Tyler attempted to remain on good terms with Jackson , only opposing him on principle rather than partisanship . He defended Jackson for vetoing the Maysville Road funding project , which Jackson considered unconstitutional . He voted to confirm several of the President ' s appointments ( including Jackson ' s future running mate Martin Van Buren ) despite strong opposition from the National Republicans . The leading issue in the 1832 presidential election was the recharter of the Second Bank of the United States , which both Tyler and Jackson opposed . Congress voted to recharter the bank in July 1832 , and Jackson vetoed the bill for a mixture of constitutional and practical reasons . Tyler voted to sustain the veto and endorsed Jackson for re - election . Break with Democrats . Tyler ' s uneasy relationship with his party came to a head during the 22nd Congress , as the Nullification Crisis of 1832 – 33 began . The state of South Carolina , threatening secession , passed the Ordinance of Nullification in November 1832 , declaring the " Tariff of Abominations " null and void within its borders . This raised the constitutional question of whether states had the right to nullify federal laws . President Jackson , who denied such a right , prepared to sign a Force Bill allowing the federal government to use military action to enforce the tariff in South Carolina . Tyler , who sympathized with South Carolina ' s reasons for nullification , rejected Jackson ' s use of military force against a state and gave a speech in February 1833 outlining his views . He supported Henry Clay ' s attempts to craft the Compromise Tariff of 1833 . This bill would gradually reduce the tariff over ten years , alleviating tensions between the states and the federal government . In voting against the Force Bill , Tyler knew he would permanently alienate the pro - Jackson faction of the Virginia legislature , even those who had tolerated his irregularity up to this point . This would jeopardize his re - election in February 1833 , in which he faced the pro - administration Democrat James McDowell . With Clay ' s endorsement , Tyler was re - elected to a full term by a twelve - vote plurality ; several legislators who had supported him only weeks beforehand were moved to vote against him as a result of the Force Bill vote . Jackson further offended Tyler by moving to dissolve the Bank by executive fiat . In September 1833 , Jackson issued an executive order directing Treasury Secretary Roger B . Taney to transfer federal funds from the Bank to state - run banks immediately . Tyler saw this as " a flagrant assumption of power " , a breach of contract , and a threat to the economy . After months of agonizing , he decided to ally with Clay and the anti - Jackson factions of Congress on the bank issue , while still maintaining the Bank ' s unconstitutionality . Sitting on the Senate Finance Committee , he voted for two censure resolutions against the President in March 1834 . By this time , Tyler was formally in line with Clay ' s newly formed Whig Party , which held control of the Senate . On March 3 , 1835 , with only hours remaining in the congressional session , the Whigs voted him President " pro tempore " of the Senate as a symbolic gesture of approval . He is the only U . S . President to have held this office . Shortly thereafter , the Democrats took control of the Virginia House of Delegates , and Tyler ' s seat in the Senate was threatened . That December , the legislature offered him a judgeship in exchange for resigning his seat , but he declined . Tyler understood what was to come : he would soon be forced by the legislature to cast a vote that went against his constitutional beliefs . Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri had repeatedly introduced a bill expunging the censure of Jackson from the record . With the support of Virginia ' s Democrats , Tyler could be instructed to vote for the bill . If he disregarded the instructions , he would be violating his own principles : " the first act of my political life was a censure on Messrs . Giles and Brent for opposition to instructions , " he noted . Over the next few months he sought the counsel of his friends , who gave him conflicting advice . By mid - February he felt that his Senate career was likely at an end . He issued a letter of resignation to the Vice - President on February 29 , 1836 , saying in part : Presidential election , 1836 . While Tyler wished to attend to his private life and family , he was soon swept up in the presidential election of 1836 . He had been suggested as a Vice Presidential candidate since early 1835 , and the same day the Virginia Democrats issued the expunging instruction , the Virginia Whigs nominated him as their candidate . The new Whig Party was not organized enough to hold a national convention and name a single ticket against Jackson ' s chosen successor , Martin Van Buren . Instead , Whigs in various regions each put forth their own preferred ticket , reflecting the party ' s tenuous coalition : the Massachusetts Whigs nominated Daniel Webster and Francis Granger , the Anti - Masons of the Northern and border states backed William Henry Harrison and Granger , and the states ' rights advocates of the middle and lower South nominated Hugh Lawson White and John Tyler . Tyler , despite his strong following in the Virginia and Ohio conventions , only received 47 electoral votes in the November 1836 election , trailing both Granger and the Democratic candidate , Richard Mentor Johnson . Harrison was the leading Whig candidate for president , but he lost to van Buren . Later state politics . Tyler had been drawn into Virginia politics even as a U . S . Senator . From October 1829 to January 1830 , he served as a member of the state , a role which he was reluctant to accept . The original Virginia Constitution gave outsize influence to the state ' s more conservative eastern counties , as it allocated an equal number of legislators to each county ( regardless of population ) and only granted suffrage to property owners . The convention gave the more populous and liberal counties of western Virginia an opportunity to expand their influence . Tyler , a slave - owner from eastern Virginia , supported the existing system . He largely remained on the sidelines during the debate , however , not wishing to alienate any of the state ' s political factions . He was focused on his Senate career , which required a broad base of support , and gave speeches during the convention promoting compromise and unity . After the 1836 election , Tyler thought his political career was at an end , and planned to return to private law practice . In the fall of 1837 a friend sold him a sizable property in Williamsburg . He had barely settled in , however , when he was again elected to the Virginia House of Delegates . He took office in 1838 and his peers unanimously elected him Speaker . Tyler was a national political figure by this point , and his third delegate service touched on such national issues as disposal of public lands . In February 1839 , the legislature again considered a U . S . Senate election , this time the seat of incumbent William Cabell Rives , a Conservative Democrat who had succeeded Tyler . Rives had drifted away from his party , signalling a possible alliance with the Whigs . As Tyler had already fully rejected his party , he expected the Whigs would consider him as a candidate instead . Still , the Whigs found Rives a more politically expedient choice , as they hoped to draw a useful coalition with the Conservative Democrats for the 1840 presidential election . This strategy was espoused by Whig leader Henry Clay , who otherwise admired Tyler . Tyler was turned down for the nomination , while in - party squabbles delayed Rives ' re - election until January 1841 . Presidential election , 1840 . At the Whig convention of 1840 , Tyler supported Henry Clay for Presidential candidacy . After Clay had been passed over in favor of William Henry Harrison , Tyler was named Harrison ' s running mate . Although this was ostensibly to balance the ticket by placing the Virginian , Tyler , with Harrison , who now resided in Ohio , Harrison originally came from a plantation along the same stretch of road in Charles City County , Virginia as Tyler . The union of the Whigs in this year was a coalition of diverse elements joined to defeat their common opponent , the Democratic incumbent Martin Van Buren . This combination included both southern states ' rights men such as Tyler , who had long opposed a national bank and unrestricted federal power , and economic nationalists such as Clay , whose " American system " called for a national bank , protective tariff , and federally financed internal improvements . To win the election , these differences were downplayed , in favor of portraying Harrison as hardy western frontiersman and Van Buren as an effete easterner . The Whig slogan was " Tippecanoe and Tyler too " – among the most famous in American politics . But these differences reappeared later , dividing Tyler and the Whig Party after he succeeded Harrison as President . Harrison and Tyler won the election by an electoral vote of 234 – 60 and a popular vote of 53 percent to 47 percent , and the Whigs gained control of both houses of Congress . Vice - presidency , 1841 . Tyler was sworn in on March 4 , 1841 , in the Senate chamber , and delivered a three - minute tirade about states ' rights before swearing in the new senators and attending with them to President Harrison ' s inauguration . Following the ceremony , the Vice President returned to the Senate to receive the president ' s cabinet appointments , returning the following day to preside over their confirmations — a total of two hours as President of the Senate . Expecting few responsibilities , he then left Washington , quietly repairing to his home in Williamsburg . Historian Robert Seager II 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 . He did not seek Tyler ' s advice regarding appointments , and Tyler reportedly offered none , only hoping that it " be cast of the proper material " and avoid factionalism and patronage . Harrison ' s old 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 clear 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 determined not to travel to Washington , not wanting to appear unseemly in anticipating the President ' s death . However , at dawn on April 5 , two couriers ( Webster ' s son Fletcher , Chief Clerk of the State Department , and Senate assistant doorkeeper Robert Beale ) arrived at Tyler ' s plantation with a letter from Webster , informing the Vice President of Harrison ' s death the morning before . Presidency , 1841 – 1845 . " His Accidency " . Harrison ' s unprecedented death in office caused considerable disarray regarding his successor . The Constitution of the United States stated only that : In Case of the Removal of the President from Office , or of his Death , Resignation , or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office , the same shall devolve on the Vice President . This led to the question of whether the actual office of President " devolved " upon Vice President Tyler , or merely its powers and duties . By the time Tyler arrived in Washington at 4 : 00 a . m . on April 6 , 1841 , he had firmly resolved that he was now , in name and fact , the President of the United States , and acted on this determination by taking the oath of office in his hotel room . He considered the oath redundant to his oath as Vice President , but wished to quell any doubt over his accession . Immediately after his inauguration , Tyler called Harrison ' s cabinet into a meeting , having decided to retain its members . Webster informed him of Harrison ' s practice of making policy by a majority vote . The cabinet fully expected the new President to continue this practice . Tyler was astounded and immediately corrected them : I beg your pardon , gentlemen ; I am very glad to have in my Cabinet such able statesmen as you have proved yourselves to be . And I shall be pleased to avail myself of your counsel and advice . But I can never consent to being dictated to as to what I shall or shall not do . I , as President , shall be responsible for my administration . I hope to have your hearty co - operation in carrying out its measures . So long as you see fit to do this , I shall be glad to have you with me . When you think otherwise , your resignations will be accepted . He delivered a " de facto " inaugural address on April 9 reasserting his fundamental tenets of Jeffersonian democracy and limited federal power . Tyler ' s claim was not immediately accepted by opposition members in Congress such as John Quincy Adams , who argued for Tyler to assume a role as a caretaker under the title of " Acting President " , or remain Vice President in name . Among those who questioned Tyler ' s authority was Whig leader Henry Clay , who had intended to be " the real power behind a fumbling throne " and exercise considerable influence over Harrison , and who now transferred that ambition onto his close friend , Tyler . He saw Tyler as the " Vice - President " and his presidency as a mere " regency " . On June 1 , impressed by his authoritative actions , both houses of Congress passed resolutions declaring Tyler the 10th President of the United States . Tyler had thus become the first U . S . Vice President to assume the office of President upon the death of the incumbent , establishing a precedent that would be followed seven times in the 19th and 20th centuries . Yet it was not until 1967 that Tyler ' s action of assuming both the full powers and the title of the presidency was legally codified in the Twenty - fifth Amendment . Although his accession was given approval by both the Cabinet and , later , the Senate and House , Tyler ' s detractors ( who , ironically , would eventually include many of the Cabinet members and members of Congress who had legitimized his presidency ) never fully accepted him as President . He was referred to by many nicknames , including " His Accidency , " a reference to his having become President , not through election , but by the accidental circumstances regarding his nomination and Harrison ' s death . However , Tyler never wavered from his conviction that he was the rightful President ; when his political opponents sent correspondence to the White House addressed to the " Vice President " or " Acting President , " Tyler had it returned unopened . Economic policy and party conflicts . Harrison had been expected to adhere closely to Whig Party policies and to work closely with Whig leaders , particularly Clay . When Tyler succeeded him , he at first was in accord with the new Whig Congress in signing into law such measures as a pre - emption bill granting " squatters ' sovereignty " to settlers on public land , a Distribution Act , discussed below , a new bankruptcy law , and the repeal of the Independent Treasury enacted under Van Buren . But when it came to the great banking question , the former Democratic President was at odds with the Congressional Whigs . Twice he vetoed Clay ' s legislation for a national banking act following the Panic of 1837 . Although the second bill supposedly had been tailored to meet his stated objections in the first veto , its final version was not . This practice , designed to protect Clay from having a successful incumbent President as a rival in the next election , became known as " heading Captain Tyler , " a term coined by Whig Representative John Minor Botts of Virginia . Tyler proposed an alternative fiscal plan to be known as the " Exchequer , " but Clay ' s friends , who controlled the Congress , would have none of it . On September 11 , 1841 , following the second bank veto , members of the cabinet entered Tyler ' s office one by one and resigned – an orchestration by Clay to force Tyler ' s resignation ( and place his own lieutenant , Senate President Pro Tempore Samuel L . Southard , in the White House ) . The exception was Secretary of State Webster who remained to finalize what became the 1842 Webster - Ashburton Treaty , as well as to demonstrate his independence from Clay . Two days later , when the President stood firm , the Whigs in Congress officially expelled Tyler from the party . A national backlash ensued , as Tyler was lambasted by Whig newspapers and received hundreds of letters threatening his assassination . Tariff and distribution debate . By mid - 1841 , the federal government faced a projected budget deficit of $ 11 million . Tyler recognized the need for higher tariffs , but wished to stay within the 20 - percent rate created by the Compromise Tariff of 1833 . He also supported a plan to distribute to the states any revenue from the sales of public land , as an emergency measure to manage the states ' growing debt , even though this would cut federal revenue . The Whigs supported high protectionist tariffs and national funding of state infrastructure , and so there was enough overlap to forge a compromise . The Distribution Act of 1841 created a distribution program with a proviso requiring tariffs to remain below 20 percent ; a second bill enacted the top rate on previously low - tax goods . Despite these measures , by March 1842 it had become clear that the federal government was still in dire fiscal straits . In a recommendation to Congress , Tyler lamented that it would be necessary to override the Compromise Tariff of 1833 and raise rates beyond the 20 percent limit . Under the previous deal , this would suspend the distribution program , reverting funds back to the federal government . The defiant Whig Congress would not raise tariffs if it would affect the distribution of funds to states . In June 1842 they passed two bills that would raise tariffs and unconditionally extend the distribution program . Believing it improper to continue distribution at a time when federal revenue shortage necessitated increasing the tariff , Tyler vetoed both bills , burning any remaining bridges between himself and the Whigs . His firm resolve finally prompted the Whig - controlled Congress to pass the Tariff of 1842 , which he signed into law , increasing import duties without extending distribution . Impeachment attempt . Shortly after the tariff veto , Whigs in the House of Representatives initiated the first impeachment proceedings against a President in American history . This was not only a matter of the Whigs supporting the Bank and tariff legislation which Tyler vetoed . Until the presidency of the Whigs ' arch - enemy Andrew Jackson , Presidents vetoed bills rarely , and then generally on constitutional rather than policy grounds . So Tyler ' s actions also went against the Whigs ' idea of the presidency . John Minor Botts of Virginia , who had been Tyler ' s greatest reviler , introduced a resolution on July 10 , 1842 . It levied several charges against the President and called for a nine - member committee to investigate his behavior , with the expectation of a formal impeachment recommendation . Clay found this measure prematurely aggressive , favoring a more moderate progression toward Tyler ' s " inevitable " impeachment . The Botts bill was tabled until the following January , when it was rejected , 127 - 83 . A House select committee headed by former President John Quincy Adams , who was now a member of Congress , condemned Tyler ' s use of the veto and assailed his character . Adams , an ardent abolitionist , disliked the President for being a slaveholder . While the committee ' s report did not formally recommend impeachment , it clearly established the possibility . In August 1842 , by a vote of 98 – 90 , the House endorsed the committee ' s report . Adams sponsored a constitutional amendment to change the two - thirds requirement to override a veto to a simple majority , but neither house passed such a measure . The Whigs were unable to pursue further impeachment proceedings in the subsequent 28th Congress , as in the elections of 1842 they lost control of the House ( although they retained a majority in the Senate ) . Near the end of Tyler ' s term in office , on March 3 , 1845 , Congress overrode his veto of a minor bill relating to revenue cutters . This marked the first time any president ' s veto had been overridden . Administration and cabinet . For two years , Tyler struggled with the Whigs , eventually nominating 19 men to the six cabinet offices . When he nominated John C . Calhoun in 1844 as Secretary of State , to reform the Democrats , the gravitational swing of the Whigs to identify with " the North " and the Democrats as the party of " the South " led the way to the sectional party politics of the next decade . Tyler ' s final Cabinet consisted of five Southerners and one Northerner ( William Wilkins , Secretary of War ) . Four of Tyler ' s Cabinet nominees were rejected , the most of any president . These were Caleb Cushing ( Treasury ) , David Henshaw ( Navy ) James Porter ( War ) , and James S . Green ( Treasury ) . Henshaw and Porter served as recess appointees before their rejections . Tyler aggravated this problem when he repeatedly renominated Cushing . As a result , Cushing was rejected three times in one day , March 4 , 1843 , the last day of the 27th Congress . Foreign and military affairs . Tyler ' s difficulties in domestic policy were matched by adept accomplishments in foreign policy . He had long been an advocate of expansionism toward the Pacific and free trade , and was fond of evoking themes of national destiny and the spread of liberty in support of these policies . His presidency was largely continuous with Jackson ' s earlier efforts to promote American commerce across the Pacific . Eager to compete with Great Britain in international markets , he sent lawyer Caleb Cushing to China , where he negotiated the terms of the Treaty of Wanghia ( 1844 ) . The same year , he sent Henry Wheaton as a minister to Berlin , where he negotiated and signed a trade agreement with the German " Zollverein " . This treaty was rejected by the Whigs , mainly as a show of hostility toward the Tyler administration . The President also applied the Monroe Doctrine to Hawaii , told Britain not to interfere there , and began the process towards the eventual annexation of Hawaii by the United States . In 1842 , the Secretary of State , Daniel Webster , negotiated the Webster – Ashburton Treaty with Britain which concluded where the border between Maine and Canada lay . The issue of where the border lay had caused tension between the United States and Britain for a notable amount of time and had brought the two countries to the brink of war on several occasions . The treaty improved Anglo - American diplomatic relations . However , Tyler was unsuccessful in concluding a treaty with the British to fix the boundaries of Oregon . On Tyler ' s last full day in office , March 3 , 1845 , Florida was admitted to the Union as the 27th state . Tyler advocated an increase in military strength . His administration drew the praise of naval leaders , who saw a marked increase in naval warships . Tyler brought the long , bloody Second Seminole War to an end in 1842 , and expressed interest in the forced cultural assimilation of the Native Americans . He also advocated the establishment of a chain of American forts from Council Bluffs , Iowa , to the Pacific . In May 1842 , when the Dorr Rebellion in Rhode Island came to a head , Tyler pondered the request of the governor and legislature to send federal troops to help it suppress the Dorrite insurgents . The insurgents under Thomas Dorr had armed themselves and proposed to install a new state constitution . Before such acts , Rhode Island had been following the same constitutional structure that was established in 1663 . Tyler called for calm on both sides , and recommended the governor enlarge the franchise to let most men vote . Tyler promised that in case an actual insurrection should break out in Rhode Island he would employ force to aid the regular , or Charter , government . He made it clear that federal assistance would be given , not to prevent , but only to put down insurrection , and would not be available until violence had been committed . After listening to reports from his confidential agents , Tyler decided that the ' lawless assemblages ' had dispersed and expressed his confidence in a " temper of conciliation as well as of energy and decision . " He did not send any federal forces . The rebels fled the state when the state militia marched against them . With their dispersion , they accepted the expansion of suffrage . Judicial appointments . Two vacancies occurred on the Supreme Court during Tyler ' s presidency , as Justices Smith Thompson and Henry Baldwin died in 1843 and 1844 , respectively . Tyler , ever at odds with Congress – including the Whig - controlled Senate – nominated several men to the Supreme Court to fill these seats . However , the Senate successively voted against confirming John Canfield Spencer , Reuben Walworth , Edward King and John M . Read ( King was rejected twice ) . One reason cited for the Senate ' s actions was the hope that Whig Henry Clay would fill the vacancies after winning the 1844 presidential election . Tyler ' s four unsuccessful nominees are the most by a president . Finally , in February 1845 , with less than a month remaining in his term , Tyler ' s nomination of Samuel Nelson to Thompson ' s seat was confirmed by the Senate . Nelson ' s successful confirmation was a surprise . Nelson , although a Democrat , had a reputation as a careful and noncontroversial jurist . Baldwin ' s seat remained vacant until Polk ' s nominee , Robert Grier , was confirmed in 1846 . Tyler was able to appoint only six other federal judges , all to United States district courts . Annexation of Texas . Tyler , an advocate of Western expansionism , made the annexation of the Republic of Texas part of his platform soon after becoming President . Texas had declared independence from Mexico in the Texas Revolution of 1836 , although Mexico still refused to acknowledge it as a sovereign state . The people of Texas actively pursued joining the Union , but Jackson and Van Buren had been reluctant to inflame tensions over slavery by annexing another Southern state . Tyler , on the other hand , intended annexation to be the focal point of his administration . Secretary Webster , opposed , convinced Tyler to focus on Pacific initiatives until later in his term . Early attempts . In early 1843 , having completed the Webster – Ashburton treaty and other diplomatic efforts , Tyler felt ready to pursue Texas . Now lacking a party base , he saw annexation of the republic as his only pathway to independent re - election in 1844 . For the first time in his career he was willing to play " political hardball " to see it through . As a trial balloon he dispatched his ally Thomas Walker Gilmer , then a U . S . Representative from Virginia , to publish a letter defending annexation , which was well received . Despite his successful relationship with Webster , Tyler knew he would need a Secretary of State who supported the Texas initiative , and so he forced Webster ' s resignation and installed Hugh S . Legaré of South Carolina as an interim successor . With the help of newly appointed Treasury Secretary John C . Spencer , he cleared out an array of officeholders , replacing them with pro - annexation partisans , in a reversal of his former stand against patronage . He elicited the help of political organizer Michael Walsh to build a political machine in New York . In exchange for an appointment as consul to Hawaii , journalist Alexander G . Abell wrote a flattering biography , " Life of John Tyler " , which was printed in large quantities and given to postmasters throughout the country to distribute . Seeking to rehabilitate his public image , Tyler embarked on a nationwide campaign tour in the spring of 1843 . The positive reception of the public at these events contrasted starkly with his ostracism back in Washington . The tour centered around the dedication of the Bunker Hill Monument in Boston , Massachusetts . Shortly after the dedication , Tyler learned of Legaré ' s sudden death , which dampened the festivities and forced him to cancel the rest of the tour . He appointed Abel P . Upshur , a popular Secretary of the Navy and close adviser , as his new Secretary of State , and nominated Gilmer to fill his former office . Tyler and Upshur began quiet negotiations with the Texas government , promising military protection from Mexico in exchange for a commitment to annexation . Secrecy was necessary , as the Constitution required Congressional approval for such military commitments . Upshur planted rumors of possible British designs on Texas to drum up support among Northern voters , who were wary of admitting a new pro - slavery state . By January 1844 Upshur told the Texas government that he had found a large majority of Senators in favor of an annexation treaty . The republic remained skeptical , and finalization of the treaty took until the end of February . USS " Princeton " disaster . It was only one day after completing the treaty that Upshur and Gilmer were killed in an accident . A ceremonial cruise down the Potomac River was held aboard the newly built USS " Princeton " on February 28 , 1844 . Aboard the ship were 400 guests , including Tyler and his cabinet , as was the world ' s largest naval gun , the " Peacemaker " . The gun was ceremonially fired several times in the afternoon to the great delight of the onlookers , who then filed downstairs to offer a toast . Several hours later , Captain Robert F . Stockton was convinced by the crowd to fire one more shot . As the guests moved up to the deck , Tyler paused briefly to watch his son - in - law , William Waller , sing a ditty . At once an explosion was heard from above : the gun had malfunctioned . Tyler was unhurt , having remained safely below deck , but a number of others were killed instantly , including his crucial cabinet members , Gilmer and Upshur . Also killed or mortally wounded were Virgil Maxcy of Maryland , Rep . David Gardiner of New York , Commodore Beverly Kennon , Chief of Construction of the United States Navy and Tyler ' s black slave and body servant . The death of David Gardiner had a devastating effect on Gardiner ' s daughter , Julia , who fainted and was carried to safety by the President himself . Julia later recovered from her grief and married President Tyler . For Tyler , any hope of completing the Texas plan before November ( and with it , any hope of re - election ) was instantly dashed . Historian Edward P . Crapol later wrote that " Prior to the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln , " the " Princeton " disaster " unquestionably was the most severe and debilitating tragedy ever to confront a President of the United States . " Ratification and 1844 election . In what the Miller Center of Public Affairs considers " a serious tactical error that ruined the scheme [ of establishing political respectability for him ] " , Tyler appointed former Vice President John C . Calhoun in early March 1844 as his Secretary of State . Tyler ' s good friend , Virginia Representative Henry A . Wise , wrote that following the " Princeton " disaster , he went on his own to extend Calhoun the position through a colleague , who assumed that the offer came from the president . When Wise went to tell Tyler what he had done , the President was angry but felt that the action now had to stand . Calhoun was a leading advocate of slavery , and his attempts to get an annexation treaty passed were resisted by abolitionists as a result . When the text of the treaty was leaked to the public , it met political opposition from the Whigs , who would oppose anything that might enhance Tyler ' s status , as well as from foes of slavery and those who feared a confrontation with Mexico , which had announced that it would view annexation as a hostile act by the United States . Both Clay and Van Buren , the respective frontrunners for the Whig and Democratic nominations , decided in a private meeting at Van Buren ' s home to come out against annexation . Tyler sent the treaty to the Senate for ratification , accompanied by a message that extolled the benefits of annexation to the country and contained no mention of slavery . Following Tyler ' s break with the Whigs in 1841 , he had begun to shift back to his old Democratic party , but its members , especially the followers of Van Buren , were not ready to receive him . He knew that with little chance of election , the only way to salvage his presidency and legacy was to move public opinion in favor of the Texas issue . He formed a third party , the Democratic - Republicans , using the officeholders and political networks he had built over the previous year . A chain of pro - Tyler newspapers across the country put out editorials promoting his candidacy throughout the early months of 1844 . Reports of Tyler meetings held throughout the country suggest that support for the President was not limited to officeholders , as is often inferred . The Tyler supporters , holding signs reading " Tyler and Texas ! " , held their nominating convention in Baltimore in May 1844 , just as the Democratic Party was holding its presidential nomination . With their high visibility and energy they were able to force the Democrats ' hand in favor of annexation . Ballot after ballot , Van Buren failed to win the necessary super - majority of Democratic votes , and slowly fell in the ranking . It was not until the ninth ballot that the Democrats discovered an obscure pro - annexation candidate named James K . Polk . They found him to be perfectly suited for their platform , and he was nominated with two - thirds of the vote . Tyler considered his work vindicated , and implied in an acceptance letter that annexation was his true priority rather than election . Tyler was unfazed when the Whig - controlled Senate rejected his treaty by a vote of 16 – 35 in June 1844 , as he felt that annexation was now within reach . He called for Congress to annex Texas by joint resolution rather than by treaty . Former President Andrew Jackson , a staunch supporter of annexation , persuaded Polk to welcome Tyler back into the Democratic party and ordered Democratic editors to cease their attacks on him . Satisfied by these developments , Tyler dropped out of the race in August and endorsed Polk for the presidency . Polk ' s narrow victory over Clay in the November election was seen by the Tyler administration as a mandate for completing the resolution . Tyler announced in his annual message to Congress that " a controlling majority of the people and a large majority of the states have declared in favor of immediate annexation . " In late February 1845 , the House by a substantial margin and the Senate by a bare 27 – 25 majority approved a joint resolution offering terms of annexation to Texas . On March 1 , three days before the end of his term , Tyler signed the bill into law . After some debate , Texas accepted the terms and entered the union on December 29 , 1845 , as the 28th state . Post - presidency and death . Tyler retired to a Virginia plantation , originally named Walnut Grove ( or " the Grove " ) , located on the James River in Charles City County , Virginia . He renamed it Sherwood Forest , in a reference to the folk legend Robin Hood , to signify that he had been " outlawed " by the Whig Party . He did not take farming lightly and worked hard to maintain large yields throughout the 1840s . His neighbors , largely Whigs , appointed him " overseer " of his road in 1847 in an effort to mock him . To their displeasure he treated the title seriously , frequently summoning his neighbors ' slaves to attend to road work , and continued to bear the title even after his neighbors asked him to stop . He withdrew from electoral politics , rarely receiving visits from his friends . He was asked to give an occasional public speech , but was not sought out as an adviser . One notable speech was at the unveiling of a monument to Henry Clay ; acknowledging the political battles between the two , he spoke highly of his former colleague , whom he had always admired for bringing about the Compromise Tariff of 1833 . On the eve of the Civil War , Tyler re - entered public life as sponsor and chairman of the Virginia Peace Convention , held in Washington , D . C . , in February 1861 as an effort to devise means to prevent a war . The convention sought a compromise to avoid civil war while the Confederate Constitution was being drawn up at the Montgomery Convention . When the convention ' s proposals were rejected by Congress , Tyler abandoned hope of compromise and saw secession as the only option . He was sanguine about a peaceful secession , predicting that a clean split of all Southern states would not result in war . When war ultimately broke out , Tyler unhesitatingly sided with the Confederacy and became a delegate to the Provisional Confederate Congress from February 4 , 1861 . He was then elected to the House of Representatives of the Confederate Congress . On January 5 , 1862 , he left for Richmond , Virginia , in anticipation of his congressional service , but he would not live to see the opening sessions . Throughout Tyler ' s life , he suffered from poor health . As he aged , he suffered more frequently from colds during the winter . After his exit from the White House , he fell victim to repeated cases of dysentery . He had many aches and pains in the last eight years of his life . On January 12 , 1862 , after complaining of chills and dizziness , he vomited and collapsed . He was revived , yet the next day he admitted to the same symptoms . He was treated for the rest of the week , but his health did not improve , and he made plans to return to Sherwood Forest on the 18th . As he lay in bed the previous night he began suffocating , and Julia summoned his doctor . Just after midnight , Tyler took a last sip of brandy , and told his doctor , " I am going . Perhaps it is best . " It is believed that he had suffered a stroke . Tyler is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond , Virginia , in front of the gravesite of former President James Monroe , the black structure visible in the illustration behind the left side of Tyler ' s obelisk . Tyler ' s death was the only one in presidential history not to be officially recognized in Washington , because of his allegiance to the Confederacy . He had requested a simple burial , but Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his fellows delivered a grand , politically pointed funeral , painting Tyler as a hero to the Confederacy . Accordingly , the coffin of the tenth president of the United States was draped at the funeral with a Confederate flag . Tyler ' s favorite horse named " The General " is buried at his Sherwood Forest Plantation with a gravestone which reads , Here lie the bones of my old horse , " General , " Who served his master faithfully for twenty - one years , And never made a blunder . Would that his master could say the same ! Family and personal life . Tyler fathered more children than any other President in history . His first wife was Letitia Christian Tyler ( November 12 , 1790 – September 10 , 1842 ) , with whom he had eight children : Early in his presidency , Tyler was attacked by abolitionist publisher Joshua Leavitt , who alleged that Tyler had fathered ( and sold ) several sons with his slaves , prompting a response from the Tyler administration – linked newspaper " The Madisonian " . A number of African American families today have an oral tradition of descent from Tyler , but no evidence of such a link has ever surfaced . As of January 2012 , Tyler has two living grandsons through his son Lyon Gardiner Tyler . Lyon Gardiner Tyler , Jr . , was born in 1924 , and Harrison Ruffin Tyler was born in 1928 . Harrison Tyler maintains the family home , " Sherwood Forest . " Tyler is the oldest former president with living grandchildren , and none of the succeeding presidents have living grandchildren until James A . Garfield , who served forty years after Tyler , with Abraham Lincoln and lifelong bachelor James Buchanan each having no living descendants of any kind . Legacy . The Tyler presidency is generally held in low esteem by historians . Edward P . Crapol began his biography " John Tyler , the Accidental President " ( 2006 ) by noting : " Other biographers and historians have argued that John Tyler was a hapless and inept chief executive whose presidency was seriously flawed . " In " The Republican Vision of John Tyler " ( 2003 ) , Dan Monroe observed that the Tyler presidency " is generally ranked as one of the least successful " . Robert Seager II wrote in " And Tyler Too : A Biography of John and Julia Gardiner Tyler " ( 1963 ) that Tyler " was neither a great President nor a great intellectual , " adding that despite a few achievements , " his administration has been and must be counted an unsuccessful one by any modern measure of accomplishment " . A survey of 65 historians , conducted by C - SPAN in 2009 , ranked Tyler as 35th of 42 men to hold the office . Some have argued that Tyler ' s accomplishments and political resolve warrant a more favorable treatment . Tyler ' s assumption of complete presidential powers " set a hugely important precedent " , according to a biographical sketch by the University of Virginia ' s Miller Center of Public Affairs . The article also noted that " Tyler could claim an ambitious , successful foreign policy presidency , due largely to the efforts of Secretary of State Webster . " Monroe credits Tyler with " achievements like the Webster – Ashburton treaty which heralded the prospect of improved relations with Great Britain , and the annexation of Texas , which added millions of acres to the national domain . " Crapol argued that Tyler " was a stronger and more effective President than generally remembered , " while Seager wrote , " I find him to be a courageous , principled man , a fair and honest fighter for his beliefs . He was a President without a party . " The book " Recarving Rushmore " ( 2009 ) , which rated Presidents in terms of peace , prosperity , and liberty , ranked John Tyler as the best President of all time . At three years , 11 months , Tyler served the longest tenure of any President who was never elected to the office . Tyler has been the namesake of several U . S . locations , including the city of Tyler , Texas and one of its schools , John Tyler High School , along with John Tyler Community College in Virginia , located near Tyler ' s home . While academics have both praised and criticized Tyler , the general American public has little awareness of him at all . Several writers have noted that Tyler is among the nation ' s most obscure presidents . As Seager remarked , " His countrymen generally remember him , if they have heard of him at all , as the rhyming end of a catchy campaign slogan . " Ancestors . < ! - - Table from