John Tyler: President without a Party
PragerU
The year was 1841. No president had ever before died in office. And then one did. Who would take over as chief executive? The Constitution was surprisingly vague on this question — until Vice President John Tyler took a firm stance. His actions changed the direction of American history. Jared Cohen, author of Accidental Presidents: Eight Men Who Changed America, tells Tyler’s little-known story.
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Script:
A loud, persistent rapping woke United States Vice President John Tyler out of a sound sleep.
Clad in his sleeping frock and a cloth hat, an irritated Tyler opened the door. Two young men stood before him.
One of them handed the Vice President a document.
Tyler broke the seal and read.
“My God, the President is dead.”
The president was William Henry Harrison. He had been in office for only 31 days.
In America’s short history, this had never happened before. And no one, including the Vice President, was quite sure what to do.
It was April, 1841.
John Tyler, tall, thin, with an aquiline nose and regal bearing, was the quintessential southern gentleman. A long-time fixture in Virginia politics, he had served both as governor and senator. When Harrison, who was looking for someone to shore up his Southern base, offered him the VP slot, Tyler felt duty bound to accept.
The two men rode to an easy victory on the catchy slogan — one of the most memorable in presidential politics — “Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.” (“Tippecanoe” referred to Harrison’s 1811 victory over hostile Indians at the Tippecanoe River in Indiana.)
On March 4, 1841, Harrison gave a rambling two-hour inauguration speech on a cold, rainy afternoon. Soon after, Tyler left town and returned to his plantation. He figured he could be vice president there just as well as he could in Washington, and a lot more comfortable.
It was at Tyler’s plantation that the messengers had delivered
