John Tyler
10th President of the United States
(April 6, 1841 to March 3, 1845)
Nicknames: "Accidental President"; "His Accidency"
Born: March 29, 1790, in Greenway, Virginia
Died: January 18, 1862, in Richmond, Virginia
Father: John Tyler
Mother: Mary Marot Armistead Tyler
Married: Letitia Chrisitan (1790-1842), on March 29, 1813; Julia Gardiner (1820-1889), on June 26, 1844
Children: Mary Tyler (1815-48); Robert Tyler (1816-77); John Tyler (1819-96); Letitia Tyler (1821-1907); Elizabeth Tyler (1823-50); Anne Contesse Tyler (1825); Alice Tyler (1827-54); Tazewell Tyler (1830-74); David Gardiner Tyler (1846-1927); John Alexander Tyler (1848-83); Julia Gardiner Tyler (1849-71); Lachlan Tyler (1851-1902); Lyon Gardiner Tyler (1853-1935); Robert Fitzwalter Tyler (1856-1927); Pearl Tyler (1860-1947)
Religion: Episcopalian
Education: Graduated from the College of William and Mary (1807)
Occupation: Lawyer
Political Party: Whig
Other Government Positions:
- Member of Virginia House of Delegates, 1811-16
- Member of U.S. House of Representatives, 1816-21
- Virginia State Legislator, 1823-25
- Governor of Virginia, 1825-26
- United States Senator, 1827-36
- Vice President, 1841 (under W. H. Harrison)
- Member of Confederate States Congress, 1861-62
Presidential Salary: $25,000/year
Vice President: None
Cabinet:
- Secretary of State
- Daniel Webster (1841-43)
- Abel P. Upshur (1843-44)
- John C. Calhoun (1844-45)
- Secretary of the Treasury
- Thomas Ewing (1841)
- Walter Forward (1841-43)
- John C. Spencer (1843-44)
- George M. Bibb (1844-45)
- Secretary of War
- John Bell (1841)
- John C. Spencer (1841-43)
- James M. Porter (1843-44)
- William Wilkins (1844-45)
- Attorney General
- John J. Crittenden (1841)
- Hugh S. Legare (1841-43)
- John Nelson (1843-45)
- Postmaster General
- Francis Granger (1841)
- Charles A. Wickliffe (1841-45)
- Secretary of the Navy
- George E. Badger (1841)
- Abel P. Upshur (1841-43)
- David Henshaw (1843-44)
- Thomas W. Gilmer (1844)
- John Y. Mason (1844-45)
- 1841
- Tyler's cabinet resigned after he vetoed banking bills supported by the Whigs.
- 1844
- Far East opened to U.S. traders after a treaty with China signed.
- 1845
- Texas annexed followed by war with Mexico.
- Tyler was the first president whose wife died while he was in office.
- Tyler was the only president to hold office in the Confederacy.
- Five years after leaving office, Tyler was so poor he was unable to pay a bill for $1.25 until he had sold his corn crop.
- The tradition of playing "Hail to the Chief" whenever a president appears at state functions was started by Tyler's second wife, Julia. For more on the origins of "Hail to the Chief," see C-SPAN's Vignette on The Origins Of "Hail To The Chief".
Biographies: