RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) –
John Tyler was born on March 29, 1790, in Charles City, Virginia. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1807, then studied law under private tutors.
Tyler was elected to the Virginia legislature when he was only 21 years old—and later served as an elected representative for the Confederacy, a U.S. Congressman, the governor of Virginia, and then back to Washington as a U.S. Senator.
In 1840, Tyler was chosen by the Whig Party to be William Henry Harrison’s running mate in the presidential election. They won, and he served one term as vice president. But 32 days into his presidency, Harrison died from pneumonia he developed during his nearly 2-hour inaugural address on a cold and blustery day.
There was confusion about whether Tyler would be the next president since the Constitution was unclear about presidential succession. At 51, John Tyler, now nicknamed “Accendency,” was sworn into office on April 6, 1842. He was the youngest of the previous nine presidents. Tyler was a strong supporter of states’ rights and the Constitution.
During his presidency, he signed bills in 1845 making Texas and Florida states in the Union.
Tyler was married twice and he fathered 15 children, eight with his first wife, Letitia. She suffered a stroke and died in 1842. The first president’s wife to die while her husband was president. Tyler remarried and had seven children with Julia Gardiner, 30 years his junior. He would be a one-term president, losing his re-election bid to James K. Polk in 1844.
John Tyler died in 1862. He was 71 years old.>
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