Saturday, April 02, 2005

POTUS 10: Pres. John Tyler - The First Accidental President


Click to enlarge.

John Tyler's detractors called him "His Accidency" because he was the first President to take office due to the death of his predecessor. When President Wm. Henry Harrison konked out, after one month in office, Tyler was sworn in. He finished the nearly four year term and did not run for re-election.

"Tyler Too" had troubles with the Whig party. When Tyler vetoed a banking bill, the Whigs retaliated by kicking him out of the party. All the Cabinet resigned except for Secretary of State Webster. A year later when Tyler vetoed a tariff bill, the first impeachment resolution against a President was introduced in the House of Representatives.

Years after leaving office, Tyler led a compromise movement when the first southern states seceded from The Union in 1861. The compromise failed. Former President Tyler then worked to create the Southern Confederacy. He died in 1862, a member of the Confederate House of Representatives.
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