{"id":17932,"date":"2024-06-24T12:00:34","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T16:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=17932"},"modified":"2024-09-03T17:59:46","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T21:59:46","slug":"10-tyler-john","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=17932","title":{"rendered":"#10. Tyler, John"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Linda Lou Burton posting from Little Rock, Arkansas <\/em>\u2013John Tyler (March 29, 1790 \u2013 January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States (1841 to 1845). He was also the tenth vice-president, and the first president not to BE elected, which led to the nickname \u201cHis Accidency.\u201d He got himself sworn in pretty quickly while Congress was still scratching their heads over what to do when a president DIES, the rules weren\u2019t clear on that issue. Turmoil! He moved into the White House with one notion in his head: HE was supposed to make the rules, not Congress. He also didn\u2019t want his Cabinet to boss him around, or the Whigs that had fought so hard with those log cabin images to get the Harrison\/Tyler ticket ensconced in Washington. Very quickly the Cabinet resigned, and his own party kicked him out! Yes, he was \u201cparty-less\u201d which leads to a very bad joke before I ask if you\u2019d invite him to your party. You see, John\u2019s first wife, Letitia, had a stroke before the White House days, so was unable to take care of First Lady duties. Sadly, she died in the White House while all these other people were backing away from John; so John, being 54 at the time, did what you might expect \u2013 he married a young and pretty thing who LOVED to give elegant parties in the White House. The folktale (joke) is that John said: Now they can\u2019t call me a man without a party. <\/em>Do you believe he said that? Maybe it\u2019s just another Pet Alligator<\/em> or Cherry Tree<\/em> myth, but it could<\/em> have happened. Especially when you hear about Julia\u2019s parties; I find John\u2019s First Ladies are even more interesting than the politics of the day. Would I invite him to my party? I\u2019ll answer when I get to the end.<\/p>\n

Before I tell you how John\u2019s life began, there is one amazing thing about its ending that I want you to keep in mind. He is the only US President whose death was not officially recognized in Washington. When he was laid to rest in 1862, his coffin was draped in a Confederate flag.<\/p>\n

From There to the Beginning<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>John and his two brothers and five sisters grew up on Greenway Plantation, a 1,200-acre Virginia estate. His father John Sr was a college roommate of Thomas Jefferson at William & Mary and had several political appointments before becoming a Judge. He paid high wages for good tutors to challenge his children academically; he sent John to Prep School at William & Mary at the age of 12; John passed the Virginia Bar at the age of 19. By this time John Sr was Governor of Virginia, and John opened a law practice in Richmond. At the age of 23 he bought a plantation, settled down with his new wife Letitia Christian (1790-1842), and began raising a family. John and Letitia had eight children together; seven lived to adulthood. Letitia was from a prosperous family too; she was shy, quiet, and devoted to her family. Their 29-year marriage appears to have been a happy one. Letitia avoided the limelight during John\u2019s career and at the age of 49 suffered a paralytic stroke. As first lady, she remained in the upstairs living quarters of the White House, coming down only once to attend the wedding of daughter Elizabeth in January 1842. She died that September.<\/p>\n

Below you can see the work John was doing before, during, and after his marriage to Letitia, and then to Julia.<\/p>\n

Government Positions<\/strong><\/p>\n