John Tyler — Accidental or Manipulative President?
August 11, 2009 at 1:58 pm 2 comments
John Tyler is called the “Accidental President.” He’s the answer to the trivia question, “Who was the first Vice President to succeed a President who died in office?”
After reading Edward Crapol’s biography of America’s tenth President, I believe Tyler deserves to be called the “Manipulative President.” Nothing he did seemed to happen by chance.
- While he was campaigning with William Henry Harrison, he fully expected Old Tippecanoe to die while he was in office and schemed with Henry Clay and Daniel Webster to assume the presidency, even though this contingency was not spelled out by the US Constitution.
- Tyler pushed for the annexation of the Lone Star Republic (Texas) to further his pro-slavery agenda.
- He is the only President to become a traitor to his country (by joining the Confederacy during the Civil War).
Tyler’s successful gambit to become President is worth more than a chapter of his biography, because this set the precedent for future Vice Presidents to assume the executive office following the death of a President. (Apparently, Al Haig was not aware of this fact when President Ronald Reagon was shot by John Hinckley, Jr.)
Under the right story teller, Tyler’s tale could read like an epic American melodrama. Unfortunately, Crapol’s biography is a series of bland, occasionally apologetic, and sometimes contradictory, essays about the Tyler presidency.
The deeper I got into this book, the less I liked Tyler and the more frustrated I became with the author.
I’ve read many books about people I don’t necessarily admire (Adolph Hitler, Charles Manson and John Wilkes-Booth come to mind). While I don’t lump Tyler with those monsters, the authors of those books took the time to get inside the minds of their subjects. Crapol spends very little time writing about Tyler’s two wives or their children. We never understand the thinking that influenced Tyler’s decisions. We never learn what happens to his family after the Civil War.
Conveniently, Tyler died in early 1862, so he never had his day of reckoning for deserting the Union. A biography that had the potential to become a poignant study of one of the champions of the Old South instead reads like a boring grad school term paper on yet another Jeffersonian president.
My Take? The Accidental President can’t be the definitive biography of John Tyler. I am open to recommendations.
Entry filed under: Books. Tags: My take, president, vice president, William Henry Harrison.
1.
Mark Smith | August 11, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Interesting post, Mike. Tyler’s one of those presidents that escape scrutiny during Ameican History class, but I think he’s pretty underrated when it comes to conducting his presidency within the confines of the Constitution. Historian Ivan Eland in his book, “Recarving Rushmore,” ranks Tyler as one of the best presidents in U.S. history, based on Eland’s criteria of peace, prosperity and liberty. http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=77
The original wording of the Constitution, by the way, makes clear the succession of the VP to the presidency in the event of the president’s death, resignation, removal or inability to perform the functions of the office. (Art. 2, Sect. 1: In the case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duities of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President…)
Tyler’s first wife died in 1842. He married a woman 30 years younger than himself two years later (with whom he fathered seven children). First presidential trophy wife!
Tyler was from Virginia, so it is little surprise that he kept his allegiance with his home state when Virginia seceded.
As a libertarian myself and believer in the right to self-determination (which, politically, includes secession), I say hooray for John Tyler, who was among many early presidents including Jefferson who supported the people’s right to secede from the union. Secession is a topic for another conversation.
2.
Mike Nikolich | August 18, 2009 at 10:58 am
This link provides additional perspective on the 25th amendment and presidential succession.
http://members.mobar.org/civics/Pres%20Quals.htm
Since Tyler was well-schooled in Jeffersonian politics, he set the precedent for future Vice Presidents to replace a President who died in office.
My frustration with books about the four Jeffersonian Presidents is the authors’ emphasis on politics more than the individuals. I have not “gotten to know” Jefferson, Madison, Monroe or Tyler through their biographies (and I’ve read four about Jefferson). That’s the point I tried to emphasize in my review — frankly, Tyler seems like an interesting person but you’d never reach that conclusion from Crapol’s book.