John Tyler: Encyclopedia II - John Tyler - Biography

John Tyler - Biography

John Tyler was born the son of John Tyler, Sr. (1747-1813) and Mary Armistead. He was educated at the College of William and Mary and went on to study law with his father, who became Governor of Virginia (1808-1811), and followed his father as governor (1825-1827) after a stint in the United States House of Representatives. During his time as U.S. Senator, Tyler, who had begun as a strict state-rights Democrat, grew increasingly alienated from the Jacksonian Democrats, especially by Jackson's aggressive handling of the South Carolina nullification issue.

Drawn into the newly-organized Whig Party, Tyler was elected Vice President in 1840 as running mate to William Henry Harrison. Their campaign slogans of "Log Cabins and Hard Cider" and "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" are among the most famous in American politics. He assumed the presidency upon Harrison's death a month into his term.

Tyler was the first Vice President to assume the Presidency in this manner. He acceded to the Presidency upon the death of President Harrison on April 4, 1841, and took the Presidential oath of office as specified by the Constitution on April 6. The Cabinet and U.S. Congress agreed with Tyler that he was President and not merely Acting President, and as the Constitution was not explicit on that aspect of succession (until the 1967 ratification of the 25th Amendment), both the House and Senate passed resolutions recognizing Tyler as President.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Biography", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki