John Tyler – 10
John Tyler was the 10th President of the United States of America. He is famous for having served as the President for nearly four years without being elected to the office.
He was the Vice President when President Harrison died and so became the next President without an election. He favored the rights of the states against a strong federal government.
When and where was he born?
President John Tyler was born in Charles City County, Virginia on March 29, 1790.
Early Life
John Tyler was born in a wealthy family and his father had a background in politics. He gained formal education at an early age and later went to pursue further studies at the College of William and Mary.
He graduated from the college in 1807. He later studied law and became a practicing lawyer in 1809. At the same time, he developed an interest in politics.
Life in Politics
John Tyler was elected as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1811. He was only 21 at the time. Later, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representative and was eventually appointed as the Governor of Virginia.
He later became the U.S. Senator from Virginia. Initially, Tyler was a member of the Democrat Party but he eventually joined the Whig Party.
When William Henry Harrison of the Whig Party ran for Presidency in 1840, the party chose John Tyler as the candidate for Vice Presidency. Their ticket won and John Tyler became the Vice President of President Harrison.
Life as the President
Within 32 days of being elected the President, William Henry Harrison died. This was the first time a serving President of USA died, so no one had any idea what to do and the Constitution had no law regarding the situation.
John Tyler decided to become the President himself and gained all the powers of the Presidency. Later, he also introduced the 25th amendment into the U.S. Constitution according to which the Vice President would become the President if the serving President died.
During his Presidency, John Tyler was considered a strong President. He developed severe disagreements with his party, The Whigs, and continued to serve as President despite no support from the Whigs.
Tyler was strongly pro-states, which means that he supported the rights of the states to make most of their laws. This put him at odds with most of the Congress which had pro-federal opinions. His pro-states policy somewhat contributed to the American Civil War.
Later Life and Death
After completing his term as the President, John Tyler returned to his native state, Virginia. By the end of his presidency, the disagreements between the northern and southern states had grown to be quite severe.
Tyler once expressed his opinion that the South should separate from the North. When this actually happened during the American Civil War, Tyler joined the Confederacy and became a member of the Confederate Congress.
He died on January 18, 1862 in Richmond, Virginia while the Civil War was still going on.
Read More about American President John Tyler at Wikipedia
- American Presidents List
- Abraham Lincoln -16
- Andrew Jackson – 7
- Barack Obama – 44
- Benjamin Harrison – 23
- Bill Clinton – 42nd
- Calvin Coolidge – 30
- Chester A. Arthur – 21
- Donald Trump – 45
- Dwight D. Eisenhower – 34
- Franklin D. Roosevelt – 32
- Franklin Pierce – 14
- George H. W. Bush – 41
- George W. Bush – 43
- George Washington – 1
- Gerald R. Ford Jr – 38
- Grover Cleveland – 22 & 24
- Harry S. Truman – 33
- Herbert Hoover – 31
- James A Garfield – 20
- James Buchanan – 15
- James K Polk – 11
- James Monroe – 5
- Jimmy E. Carter – 39
- Joe Biden – 46th (Current)
- John Adams – 2
- John F. Kennedy – 35
- John Quincy Adams – 6
- John Tyler – 10
- Lyndon B. Johnson – 36
- Martin Van Buren – 8
- Millard Fillmore – 13
- Richard M. Nixon – 37
- Ronald W. Reagan – 40
- Rutherford B. Hayes – 19
- Theodore Roosevelt – 26
- Thomas Jefferson – 3
- Warren G. Harding – 29
- William Henry Harrison – 9
- William McKinley – 25
- William Taft – 27
- Woodrow Wilson – 28
- Zachary Taylor – 12
- James Madison – 4
- Andrew Johnson – 17
