The Presidents #10: John Tyler

[Ardent15]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tyler

Discuss him and his Presidency.

[lazarus]

1. slow down!

Tyler established the precedent that a VP fully assumes the office of President upon the President's death. So he's noteworthy for that, at least.

[jody]

2. Of the first ten presidents, how many were practicing orthodox Christians in the Trinitarian

sense of theologies.

IMO Steiner's "The Religious Beliefs Of Our Presidents" is perhaps the most objective with an answer of "zero" with the qualification that Andrew Jackson became a member of the Presbyterian Church about a year after retiring as president.

[Arkana]

3. Precedent-setter.

Tyler was the first VP to succeed a dead/resigned/impeached President, so he had nothing to go on.

At the first cabinet meeting, Daniel Webster said to Tyler that the Cabinet would make all the executive decisions, effectively rendering Tyler a figurehead. His response? He told them that they'd cooperate or they'd all be out of jobs.

Of course, Tyler was a very unpopular guy by 1844--the Whigs had booted him out of the party and the Democrats wanted nothing to do with him (he hated Andrew Jackson).

[Alexander]

4. One of only three presidents who did not belong to a party.

He briefly ran as a third-party candidate in 1844, but dropped out during the summer.