Part 10 of My Presidential Review Series
Reaching the milestone 10th article, it is time for John Tyler. Tyler was the first Vice President to succeed to the presidency. Tyler was never elected in his own right, as his opposition to Whig policies, despite being a Whig, cost him the presidential nomination in 1844. He was the first president to serve without a Vice President. Tyler served April 6, 1841 to March 3, 1845.
As the first Vice President to become president because of the death of a president, Tyler began his term amid controversy. The Constitution was vague on succession. Some interpreted to mean that the duties of the president, but not the presidency, fell to the Vice President, which would mean he was only acting president. Tyler flatly rejected this idea, and returned unread all letters addressed to acting president to illustrate his point. His actions led to the precedent of vice presidential succession.
Congressional Whigs created a bill to ressurect the Bank of the United States, destroyed by Andrew Jackson. Tyler refused to comply, and vetoed 2 bills attempting to create it. Both vetoes were sustained. To protest the president's abandonment of a cornerstone of Whig principles, the entire Cabinet, except Secretary of State Daniel Webster, resigned in September 1841. The walkout was a political victory for Henry Clay and left Tyler a man without a party.
Tyler signed into law the Preemption Act, which entitled those who settled on and improved unsurveyed land first-purchase rights of 160 acres of their property at $1.25 an acre.
The Webster-Ashburton Treaty between the United States and Great Britain fixed the present boundary between Maine and New Brunswick, resolving a dispute that had erupted during the Van Buren presidency. The U.S. obtained 7,000 of the 12,000 disputed square miles. The treaty also made minor adjustments to complete the present border from the East Coast to the Rockies, leaving the Oregon question to be settled later. In addition, the treaty established extradition procedures between the two countries for most crimes of violence as well as for forgery and called for a cooperative effort to supress the slave trade. The treaty was negotiated by Secretary of State Daniel Webster and Alexander Baring, First Lord Ashburton.
On February 28, 1844, Tyler and other dignitaries inspected the USS Princeton, an advanced warship, the first steamer to be driven by a screw propeller. They planned to sail down the Potomac and back. The highlight of the trip was to be the firing of the "Peacemaker," the ship's principal weapon and the world's largest naval gun. The gun was succesfully test fired and twice thrilled the party. But on the 3rd firing, the "Peacemaker" exploded, killing and injuring those around it. Fortunately, Tyler and his future wife were below deck and as such managed to avoid injury. Those killed were Secretary of State Abel P. Usher, Secretary of the Navy Thomas W. Gilmer, David Gardiner, father of the president's future wife, an American diplomat, a naval officer, and the president's valet.
Under the Treaty of Wanghia, the U.S. gained access to Chinese ports and won the right of exemption from Chinese law in China. Negotiators of the treaty were Caleb Cushing, the first U.S. commisioner to China, and Ch'i-ying, envoy of the Emperor of China.
In April 1844 Tyler approved a treaty for the annexation of Texas, but the Senate refused to ratify it. With the election of James Knox Polk on a proannexation platform, public opinion proved to be in favor of acceptance of Texas to the Union, which forced Congress to pass a joint resolution to accomplish that. 3 days before his term ended, Tyler signed the bill; it is the first instance in history of an international agreement being brought into effect by a joint congressional resolution instead of a treaty. Under its terms, Texas became a slave state, made official in December 1845.
I think I can safely say that Tyler did almost nothing for America. Practically everything that happened during his term he had little or nothing to do with. He did nothing bad for America, but nothing that good either. That is to be expected, considering that Tyler lacked support from both Whigs and Democrats, but his performance will always be marked below average.
Overall Ranking: 34
"Patronage is the sword and cannon by which war may be made on the liberty of the human race...Give the president control over the purse - the power to place the immense revenues of the country into any hands he may please, and I care not what you call him, he is 'every inch a king.'"