TYLER 



TYLER 



John Tyler was born at Greenway, Charles 

 City County, Virginia, on March 29, 1790. His 

 father, Judge John Tyler, was a distinguished 

 Virginian, who was at various times speaker of 

 the Virginia house of delegates, governor of 

 Virginia, and a judge on the state and Federal 

 benches. After attending John McMurdo's 

 school, young Tyler entered William and Mary 

 College, where he showed a strong interest in 

 ancient history. He was also fond of poetry, 

 and like another great Virginian, Thomas Jef- 

 ferson, was an excellent amateur violinist. 



At his graduation from college Tyler was 

 seventeen years old; at nineteen he began to 

 practice law, and at twenty-one he began his 

 public career as a member of the Virginia legis- 

 lature. In that body he served until 1816, dur- 

 ing this period being a conspicuous defender 

 of President Madison's policies during the War 

 of 1812. Tyler was married in 1813, on the 

 anniversary of his birthday, and a few weeks 

 later was called into service to head a militia 

 company for the defense of Richmond, which 

 was then threatened by the British. Tyler's 

 company, however, did not get into action, and 

 it disbanded after a month. 



In November, 1816, he was elected to fill a 

 vacancy in the Federal House of Representa- 

 tives. At the next regular election, when he 

 was chosen for the full term, he received every 

 vote but one cast in Charles City County. In 

 Congress he quickly displayed his characteristic 

 independence. He was a strict constructionist, 

 and he opposed measures, no matter what their 

 origin, which involved a liberal interpretation 

 of the Constitution. Thus he voted against 

 Calhoun's bill providing for internal improve- 

 ments, opposed a national bankruptcy act, con- 

 demned Andrew Jackson's course in Florida 

 and denounced the Bank of the United States. 

 His course certainly met the approval of his 

 constituents, for in 1819 he was unanimously 

 reflected, although he had made no effort to 

 influence the voters except to send them copies 

 of his principal speech against the Bank. In 

 the next Congress, in which the extension of 

 slavery was the chief subject for discussion, 

 Tyler argued that Congress had no right to 

 restrict the extension of slavery, and he voted 

 against the Missouri Compromise, but at the 

 same time he insisted that he was personally 

 opposed to the perpetuation of that institution. 



In 1821, feeling that his health was impaired, 

 he refused to serve longer, and for two years 

 held no public office. In 1823, however, he 

 was again elected to the Virginia legislature, 



and in the next year was an unsuccessful candi- 

 date for the United States. Senate. From De- 

 cember, 1825, to the same month of 1826, he 

 was governor of Virginia. At this time political 

 parties in the United States were undergoing a 

 transition. The Democratic party in Virginia 

 became divided into two groups, one of which 

 was led by John Randolph, an ardent sup- 

 porter of Jackson. The other group, including 

 Tyler, also opposed the policies of Adams's 

 administration, but maintained a certain inde- 

 pendence of the Jackson men. In 1826, in fact. 

 the independent Democrats in the Virginia 

 legislature, with the assistance of the Clay and 

 Adams supporters, elected Tyler to the United 

 States Senate. 



In that body Tyler quickly displayed his 

 strongest characteristic independence. He op- 

 posed the "Tariff of Abominations" of 1828, 



JOHN TYLER 



The first man to become President of the United 

 States without election, by the electoral college. 



although it was supported by the administra- 

 tion. On the other hand, he voted to confirm 

 Jackson's appointment of Van Buren as minis- 

 ter to Great Britain. He disapproved of nulli- 

 fication and strongly condemned the attitude of 

 Calhoun and South Carolina as both unconsti- 

 tutional and impolitic, but at the same time he 

 was bitter against Jackson for his coercive 

 policy. In 1833, when the Force Bill came to a 

 vote, some of its opponents in the Senate made 

 it a point to be absent, and others left the 

 chamber while the balloting was in progress. 

 When the vote was recorded, it stood: yeas, 

 thirty-two; nay, John Tyler. 



