US Presidents · 19th century

John Tyler

1790–1862 · American

Whig (expelled from the party in 1841)

In office: 1841–1845

John Tyler, the 10th president, was the first vice president to succeed on a president's death, and his insistence that he was fully president, not merely acting president, set the "Tyler precedent". A states' rights Virginian, he vetoed his own party's bank bills and was expelled by the Whigs. He secured the annexation of Texas and later sided with the Confederacy.

How to spot them

▸'His Accidency'; the 'Tyler precedent' of presidential succession
▸Expelled by the Whigs; almost his entire cabinet resigned in 1841, except Daniel Webster
▸Fathered 15 children, more than any other president
▸Elected to the Confederate Congress, but died in 1862 before taking his seat

In office

The Tyler precedent of full succession to the presidency (1841)

Took the oath and claimed the full powers of the office after Harrison's death

Mass resignation of the cabinet after bank bill vetoes (1841)

All of Harrison's cabinet except Secretary of State Webster resigned

The Webster–Ashburton Treaty (1842)

Settled the Maine–New Brunswick border dispute with Britain

The USS Princeton explosion (1844)

A naval gun burst during a demonstration cruise, killing the Secretary of State and Secretary of the Navy

Joint resolution for the annexation of Texas (1845)

Signed days before leaving office

Quick-fire facts

•Born in Charles City County, Virginia; his home was Sherwood Forest Plantation
•First president to marry while in office (Julia Gardiner, 1844)
•Faced the first impeachment resolution against a president, rejected by the House in 1843
•Chaired the Washington Peace Conference of 1861 before backing Virginia's secession
•His death was not officially marked in Washington because of his Confederate allegiance
•His grandson Harrison Ruffin Tyler died in 2025, aged 96; he was the last surviving grandchild of the president, who was born in 1790

Drill it — 6 cards

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Sources

Miller Center, University of Virginia — John Tyler
Smithsonian Magazine — Last Surviving Grandson of President John Tyler, Who Took Office in 1841, Dies at 96