The Final Link to a 19th-Century President Has Vanished—What This Century-Old Legacy Really Means for America Today
“[I]t does get very confusing,” Harrison Tyler remarked of his sprawling family tree to New York Magazine. “I really do not know — it’s amazing how families drift apart. When I was a child, I did know most of the descendants, but as you get more generations down the line, it’s hard to keep track of everybody.”
The same could be said of John Tyler, who, in the long line of American presidents, is often forgotten.
John Tyler, The President Called ‘His Accidency’
Though many Americans may have forgotten John Tyler, he had one of the most unusual presidencies in U.S. history. In 1840, he was elected as vice president alongside William Henry Harrison. But just one month after Harrison became president in March 1841, he died of pneumonia.
No president had died in office before, and many politicians argued about the best way forward. Some thought that John Tyler should be the “acting” president, serving in a caretaking role until another election could be held. But Tyler quickly and forcefully assumed the role of president, an important moment in American history that set a crucial succession precedent. However, some continued to refer to Tyler as “His Accidency.”
Public DomainJohn Tyler played a small but important role in American history, though he’s been largely forgotten today.
As president, Tyler’s fierce embrace of state’s rights led to a schism between him and his party, the Whigs. They not only attempted to impeach him but later expelled him from the party. His most important achievement in office was the annexation of Texas in 1845, but, as a politician in exile, Tyler lost his race for reelection while running on a third-party ticket.
Post Comment