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John Tyler: Champion of the Old South
Leather Binding on Spine and Corners with Golden Leaf Printing on round Spine (extra customization on request like complete leather, Golden Screen printing in Front, Color Leather, Colored book etc.) Reprinted in 2019 with the help of original edition published long back [1939]. This book is printed in black & white, sewing binding for longer life, printed on high quality Paper, re-sized as per Current standards, professionally processed without changing its contents. As these are old books, we processed each page manually and make them readable but in some cases some pages which are blur or missing or black spots. If it is multi volume set, then it is only single volume. We expect that you will understand our compulsion in these books. We found this book important for the readers who want to know more about our old treasure so we brought it back to the shelves. Hope you will like it and give your comments and suggestions. - English, Pages 518. COMPLETE LEATHER WILL COST YOU EXTRA US$ 25 APART FROM THE LEATHER BOUND BOOKS. {FOLIO EDITION IS ALSO AVAILABLE.} Complete John Tyler champion of the old South 1939 by Oliver Perry Chitwood [Leather Bound]
496 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1939
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April 19, 2023
Before I start my review, I want to note that - while reading this book - I wondered "Is it even fair to review a book this old?" I asked myself that because this biography was published in 1939, which means that Oliver Perry Chitwood was writing it in the late 1930s. Did he write it for someone in 2023 to read? No. Is it fair for me to critique something that was written for a different audience eighty-five years ago? I don't know the answer to that, or if there is even a satisfactory answer available. And if we apply some type of standard or age limit, then who decides the limit and what is it? If we are going to avoid reviewing Chitwood here, then I guess nobody should review any of Dickens' works (as an example) because they are even older! Ultimately for myself, I decided that yes it is fair, provided that I keep in mind the time in which the author was writing so as to apply some context to my thoughts. This is sort of like watching an old movie or TV show, where perhaps the casting was not diverse or some language was used or scenes were depicted in a way that might offend some people today. Does that make the show not worth watching? What if there are good parts of it as well? It seems foolish to me to dismiss something simply because it would not be made the same way today. And that's how I feel about Chitwood here: while some of his conclusions and views on matters are ones in which I disagree, I also can find value in his efforts at exploring the life of John Tyler.
First off, given the age of the book, some of the writing can be dated at times. While Chitwood manages to control mostly any flowery impulses, they do seep in here and there, especially when he writes about the Southern way of life and about Tyler's second (and much younger) wife Julia. It is also pretty obvious rather quickly that Chitwood likes Tyler and mostly admires him. For a brief moment I was worried that this would be a hagiography. Thankfully though it is not that at all. The best description that I can think of for how Chitwood treats Tyler is this: favorably but by no means uncritical. While overall he is friendly to Tyler, he repeatedly criticizes political decisions that he makes, and also occasionally takes jabs at Tyler's penchant for living in a dreamland about certain issues. Do I think that he could have and should have been more critical overall of Tyler? Yes. Do I think that his flaw kept him from attempting to objectively evaluate much of Tyler's career? No.
To get it out of the way, I will address how Chitwood handles Tyler as slaveowner first. The answer is not very well at all. One only has to make it to page 11 to read a reference to "obedient slaves". I must admit that one made me cringe. But Chitwood mostly handles this issue by ignoring it. He writes very little about Tyler owning other human beings. And this is probably for the best as when he does address the subject, it comes across as a weak justification. On page 143 he writes: "We have rather meager information regarding Tyler's treatment of his slaves. But from the few sources that are available and the inferences that may properly be drawn from them we can safely assume that he was a just and kind master." We can? Really? I hope that is true. I hope he was incredibly kind. And I guess that given the lack of evidence to the contrary, maybe we can infer that he wasn't vicious, or that he actually did care about those folks, unlike his successor as President, James Polk. But isn't it also possible that any records showing mistreatment may simply have been destroyed? Chitwood would have been better off saying that based on everything else that he knew about Tyler, and the absence of any records showing that slaves routinely were beaten or tried to escape, that he surmises that Tyler was not out there whipping people everyday. That I could have went with, but I certainly would not be "safely assuming" that it is true.
Chitwood also somewhat falls flat at the end, when Tyler becomes an ardent secessionist and helps lead Virginia into a rebellion against the country. While he himself does not excuse what Tyler did, he lets Tyler's own justifications do most of the talking. Tyler today has an extremely poor reputation, and one of the reasons for that is his vocal support of the Confederacy. Some of this stems from Tyler owning slaves himself. Most of it comes from his extreme state's rights views. Tyler was basically driven to distraction at times in his political career over state's rights. That was the single most important issue for him. He did not believe that the Federal government, unless it was explicitly, almost word-for-word, spelled out in the Constitution, could tell an individual state to do anything. This rigid adherence actually helped end his political career prematurely as I will note below.
Because Tyler joined the Confederate cause (he was even elected to the Confederate House of Representatives but died before he could take his seat) he is often considered today to be a traitor. I don't think that is wrong. He did turn against the Union in the final year of his life. He was against the North, and he was in the Southern camp all the way. Whatever opprobrium is dumped at his doorstep for that, he deserves. I do want to note, however, (and here is that context again) that prior to this he went to extreme efforts to avoid war and secession before it broke out. He was very involved in a Peace Convention set up by Virginia. He tried to promote peace in Virginia, and even went to Washington D.C. a few times, attempting to persuade both James Buchanan and Abraham Lincoln to consider Virginia's proposal. Now, the Convention's proposal was not very good: basically it wanted the South and the North to co-exist almost like separate countries except for trade and commerce. But the point is he tried. He thought a civil war would be bloody, and unfortunately he was proved correct. His first instinct was not to go to war, but to seek a peaceful solution. That still does not excuse his final actions. But I don't think it is quite accurate to just say "He became a traitor and joined the Confederacy." It is a bit more nuanced than that, even though he still comes across looking terrible in the end.
Before all of this, how did Tyler start out? He was born into wealth and privilege. In this respect he mirrors the other Virginian Presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe. He became a lawyer and built up a successful practice in the Tidewater area of the state. His father was the Governor at one point. So Tyler had it pretty easy growing up and getting going. He did work his way up in politics though, going from the House of Delegates, to the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate and he followed in his father's footsteps by becoming Governor. Tyler was a Democrat, but one whose orientation was dominated by state's rights, sometimes to the exclusion of all else.
He was a Senator when Andrew Jackson was President. But he was a maverick when it came to party discipline, and he quickly ran afoul of Jackson during the latter's war against the Bank of the United States. Jackson was one of those guys where you were either with him all of the time or you were an enemy. Tyler became the latter. He partially supported Jackson on the Bank war, and partially supported him when he quashed South Carolina's flirtation with secession in 1832 and 1833. He cast some votes against certain appointments and generally wafted back and forth between voting with the Whigs and voting with the Democrats. This not only upset Jackson but it angered the other Senate Democrats because they could not rely on his vote, and more importantly it inflamed the Virginia State Legislature (back during this time period state legislatures chose the Senators, and thus they wielded most of the power in telling a Senator how to vote). Eventually, after close to a decade in the Senate, Tyler resigned in a huff and switched parties to the Whigs. This both ended his career and helped him become President at the same time.
All this and we haven't gotten to his Presidency yet! Tyler tried unsuccessfully for the Whig Vice Presidential nomination in 1836. He was denied this at least partially by his arch nemesis Henry Clay. The Kentucky Senator spoiled Tyler's plans many times over the course of Tyler's career. Part of it was political philosophy (Tyler for instance hated Clay's plans for internal improvements). But a lot of it was they just did not like each other, despite sometimes fake protestations of friendship. Both men were extremely ambitious and both wanted the same job: President.
Tyler went back to the Virginia House of Delegates for a term in the late 1830s, and then tried for the Whig Vice Presidential nomination again in 1840, this time getting it. Why did Tyler get it? Because it was a dead end job so not a lot of people wanted it; General William Henry Harrison was the Presidential nominee and even though he too was originally from Virginia, he had spent his entire career in Indiana and Ohio so Tyler was considered the sectional balance on the ticket by representing the South. Nobody cared what Tyler thought because nobody thought he would have any power. So the Whig potentates were fine with nominating a former Democrat. And it probably would have been fine for them, except that Harrison died one month after taking office, thus elevating Tyler to the presidency.
But where did this leave Tyler? Initially, there was disagreement about whether he was just "acting President" or if he just became THE President. Tyler settled that himself by moving right in and taking over. If we have him to thank him for something, it should be for establishing that precedent. Now it seems like a given, but it really was not anything nearly so at that time, as the Constitution did not explicitly spell out what exactly was supposed to happen.
Unfortunately for Tyler, his own stubbornness and independent streak that helped get him into office helped neutralize him once there. Just as he did in the Senate, he voted his own conscience, sometimes for the Democrats, sometimes for the Whigs. He and Clay really went to battle over re-chartering the bank, with a couple of Tyler vetoes effectively resulting in his excommunication from the Whig Party. For almost all of his term, he was truly a President without a party. This greatly inhibited his ability to govern domestically as he now had no political base. Chitwood criticizes Tyler at length for being so foolish as to put himself out there on an island only because he was stubbornly clinging to his own principles. It quickly diminished his power and resulted in a lot of stalemate between himself and the Whig Congress.
Because the Constitution gives the President a much greater hand to play in foreign affairs, Tyler had more success in this area. Much of this realm was taken up by the attempted annexation of Texas. Amazingly, Tyler was able to pull this off almost as he was walking out the door to hand the reigns over to Polk. This is one area where Chitwood's book shows its age, by indicating that the U.S. was right to annex Texas and that Tyler did not do so simply to perpetuate slavery. It seemed to me that if slavery was not the single biggest issue, it was one of them, and Tyler was for no restrictions on it anywhere.
Despite not having a power base (all of his Cabinet at one point resigned except for Daniel Webster), Tyler foolishly tried to get re-nominated. Neither party wanted anything to do with him. He attempted to mount a third party candidacy but was finally convinced that he had no chance of winning. Tyler then was forced into retirement on his Virginia plantation with his new wife. Chitwood knocks Tyler for looking at his political fortunes through rose-colored glasses. It took the coming of the Civil War for politicians in Virginia to again turn to Tyler for leadership and assistance.
Unlike so many of these older biographies, Chitwood writes as much as he can about Tyler's personal life. His first wife was sickly and actually died of a stroke in the White House. Chitwood, incredibly, was able to interview one of Tyler's sons at length (the son died before the book was published - he came from Tyler's second marriage when Tyler was already in his fifties). That was one aspect that I appreciated about this book: Chitwood really dug into things and was able to talk to someone who actually knew Tyler personally. That chance was almost over then, and it is long gone now. Chitwood also writes about Tyler's post-presidency (aside from the very end as covered above) and what his life was like in the White House.
In the end, I came away enjoying this book. I didn't think that I would, and I still find some sections of it deeply flawed. But this was not a whitewash of Tyler. Chitwood examined the good and the bad. He gave an objective analysis of Tyler's political career. Does this read well if just applying 2023 standards to it? Probably not. But that's not the point. The point is that this was a well-researched, full biography of a largely forgotten (even by Chitwood's time) President. Even today there are few books about Tyler - I understand why, yet the fact remains. And any that came afterwards have surely used Chitwood's work to build up their own. I have read some bad presidential biographies; this is not one of them.
Grade (on a large curve!): B+
First off, given the age of the book, some of the writing can be dated at times. While Chitwood manages to control mostly any flowery impulses, they do seep in here and there, especially when he writes about the Southern way of life and about Tyler's second (and much younger) wife Julia. It is also pretty obvious rather quickly that Chitwood likes Tyler and mostly admires him. For a brief moment I was worried that this would be a hagiography. Thankfully though it is not that at all. The best description that I can think of for how Chitwood treats Tyler is this: favorably but by no means uncritical. While overall he is friendly to Tyler, he repeatedly criticizes political decisions that he makes, and also occasionally takes jabs at Tyler's penchant for living in a dreamland about certain issues. Do I think that he could have and should have been more critical overall of Tyler? Yes. Do I think that his flaw kept him from attempting to objectively evaluate much of Tyler's career? No.
To get it out of the way, I will address how Chitwood handles Tyler as slaveowner first. The answer is not very well at all. One only has to make it to page 11 to read a reference to "obedient slaves". I must admit that one made me cringe. But Chitwood mostly handles this issue by ignoring it. He writes very little about Tyler owning other human beings. And this is probably for the best as when he does address the subject, it comes across as a weak justification. On page 143 he writes: "We have rather meager information regarding Tyler's treatment of his slaves. But from the few sources that are available and the inferences that may properly be drawn from them we can safely assume that he was a just and kind master." We can? Really? I hope that is true. I hope he was incredibly kind. And I guess that given the lack of evidence to the contrary, maybe we can infer that he wasn't vicious, or that he actually did care about those folks, unlike his successor as President, James Polk. But isn't it also possible that any records showing mistreatment may simply have been destroyed? Chitwood would have been better off saying that based on everything else that he knew about Tyler, and the absence of any records showing that slaves routinely were beaten or tried to escape, that he surmises that Tyler was not out there whipping people everyday. That I could have went with, but I certainly would not be "safely assuming" that it is true.
Chitwood also somewhat falls flat at the end, when Tyler becomes an ardent secessionist and helps lead Virginia into a rebellion against the country. While he himself does not excuse what Tyler did, he lets Tyler's own justifications do most of the talking. Tyler today has an extremely poor reputation, and one of the reasons for that is his vocal support of the Confederacy. Some of this stems from Tyler owning slaves himself. Most of it comes from his extreme state's rights views. Tyler was basically driven to distraction at times in his political career over state's rights. That was the single most important issue for him. He did not believe that the Federal government, unless it was explicitly, almost word-for-word, spelled out in the Constitution, could tell an individual state to do anything. This rigid adherence actually helped end his political career prematurely as I will note below.
Because Tyler joined the Confederate cause (he was even elected to the Confederate House of Representatives but died before he could take his seat) he is often considered today to be a traitor. I don't think that is wrong. He did turn against the Union in the final year of his life. He was against the North, and he was in the Southern camp all the way. Whatever opprobrium is dumped at his doorstep for that, he deserves. I do want to note, however, (and here is that context again) that prior to this he went to extreme efforts to avoid war and secession before it broke out. He was very involved in a Peace Convention set up by Virginia. He tried to promote peace in Virginia, and even went to Washington D.C. a few times, attempting to persuade both James Buchanan and Abraham Lincoln to consider Virginia's proposal. Now, the Convention's proposal was not very good: basically it wanted the South and the North to co-exist almost like separate countries except for trade and commerce. But the point is he tried. He thought a civil war would be bloody, and unfortunately he was proved correct. His first instinct was not to go to war, but to seek a peaceful solution. That still does not excuse his final actions. But I don't think it is quite accurate to just say "He became a traitor and joined the Confederacy." It is a bit more nuanced than that, even though he still comes across looking terrible in the end.
Before all of this, how did Tyler start out? He was born into wealth and privilege. In this respect he mirrors the other Virginian Presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe. He became a lawyer and built up a successful practice in the Tidewater area of the state. His father was the Governor at one point. So Tyler had it pretty easy growing up and getting going. He did work his way up in politics though, going from the House of Delegates, to the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate and he followed in his father's footsteps by becoming Governor. Tyler was a Democrat, but one whose orientation was dominated by state's rights, sometimes to the exclusion of all else.
He was a Senator when Andrew Jackson was President. But he was a maverick when it came to party discipline, and he quickly ran afoul of Jackson during the latter's war against the Bank of the United States. Jackson was one of those guys where you were either with him all of the time or you were an enemy. Tyler became the latter. He partially supported Jackson on the Bank war, and partially supported him when he quashed South Carolina's flirtation with secession in 1832 and 1833. He cast some votes against certain appointments and generally wafted back and forth between voting with the Whigs and voting with the Democrats. This not only upset Jackson but it angered the other Senate Democrats because they could not rely on his vote, and more importantly it inflamed the Virginia State Legislature (back during this time period state legislatures chose the Senators, and thus they wielded most of the power in telling a Senator how to vote). Eventually, after close to a decade in the Senate, Tyler resigned in a huff and switched parties to the Whigs. This both ended his career and helped him become President at the same time.
All this and we haven't gotten to his Presidency yet! Tyler tried unsuccessfully for the Whig Vice Presidential nomination in 1836. He was denied this at least partially by his arch nemesis Henry Clay. The Kentucky Senator spoiled Tyler's plans many times over the course of Tyler's career. Part of it was political philosophy (Tyler for instance hated Clay's plans for internal improvements). But a lot of it was they just did not like each other, despite sometimes fake protestations of friendship. Both men were extremely ambitious and both wanted the same job: President.
Tyler went back to the Virginia House of Delegates for a term in the late 1830s, and then tried for the Whig Vice Presidential nomination again in 1840, this time getting it. Why did Tyler get it? Because it was a dead end job so not a lot of people wanted it; General William Henry Harrison was the Presidential nominee and even though he too was originally from Virginia, he had spent his entire career in Indiana and Ohio so Tyler was considered the sectional balance on the ticket by representing the South. Nobody cared what Tyler thought because nobody thought he would have any power. So the Whig potentates were fine with nominating a former Democrat. And it probably would have been fine for them, except that Harrison died one month after taking office, thus elevating Tyler to the presidency.
But where did this leave Tyler? Initially, there was disagreement about whether he was just "acting President" or if he just became THE President. Tyler settled that himself by moving right in and taking over. If we have him to thank him for something, it should be for establishing that precedent. Now it seems like a given, but it really was not anything nearly so at that time, as the Constitution did not explicitly spell out what exactly was supposed to happen.
Unfortunately for Tyler, his own stubbornness and independent streak that helped get him into office helped neutralize him once there. Just as he did in the Senate, he voted his own conscience, sometimes for the Democrats, sometimes for the Whigs. He and Clay really went to battle over re-chartering the bank, with a couple of Tyler vetoes effectively resulting in his excommunication from the Whig Party. For almost all of his term, he was truly a President without a party. This greatly inhibited his ability to govern domestically as he now had no political base. Chitwood criticizes Tyler at length for being so foolish as to put himself out there on an island only because he was stubbornly clinging to his own principles. It quickly diminished his power and resulted in a lot of stalemate between himself and the Whig Congress.
Because the Constitution gives the President a much greater hand to play in foreign affairs, Tyler had more success in this area. Much of this realm was taken up by the attempted annexation of Texas. Amazingly, Tyler was able to pull this off almost as he was walking out the door to hand the reigns over to Polk. This is one area where Chitwood's book shows its age, by indicating that the U.S. was right to annex Texas and that Tyler did not do so simply to perpetuate slavery. It seemed to me that if slavery was not the single biggest issue, it was one of them, and Tyler was for no restrictions on it anywhere.
Despite not having a power base (all of his Cabinet at one point resigned except for Daniel Webster), Tyler foolishly tried to get re-nominated. Neither party wanted anything to do with him. He attempted to mount a third party candidacy but was finally convinced that he had no chance of winning. Tyler then was forced into retirement on his Virginia plantation with his new wife. Chitwood knocks Tyler for looking at his political fortunes through rose-colored glasses. It took the coming of the Civil War for politicians in Virginia to again turn to Tyler for leadership and assistance.
Unlike so many of these older biographies, Chitwood writes as much as he can about Tyler's personal life. His first wife was sickly and actually died of a stroke in the White House. Chitwood, incredibly, was able to interview one of Tyler's sons at length (the son died before the book was published - he came from Tyler's second marriage when Tyler was already in his fifties). That was one aspect that I appreciated about this book: Chitwood really dug into things and was able to talk to someone who actually knew Tyler personally. That chance was almost over then, and it is long gone now. Chitwood also writes about Tyler's post-presidency (aside from the very end as covered above) and what his life was like in the White House.
In the end, I came away enjoying this book. I didn't think that I would, and I still find some sections of it deeply flawed. But this was not a whitewash of Tyler. Chitwood examined the good and the bad. He gave an objective analysis of Tyler's political career. Does this read well if just applying 2023 standards to it? Probably not. But that's not the point. The point is that this was a well-researched, full biography of a largely forgotten (even by Chitwood's time) President. Even today there are few books about Tyler - I understand why, yet the fact remains. And any that came afterwards have surely used Chitwood's work to build up their own. I have read some bad presidential biographies; this is not one of them.
Grade (on a large curve!): B+
March 4, 2016
I was mostly impressed with how many children this suave old coot fathered! Wow! Since this book was written in the 1930's the author didn't emphasize this fact. He DID spend a lot of time describing the interesting First Ladies, especially the second Mrs. Tyler, and I liked that. Truly a southern gentleman of his time. The author did a fine job of explaining the predicament of this "President without a Party".
July 22, 2016
I am on a roll with great presidential biographies. After “Old Tippecanoe,” I (naturally) enjoyed Tyler too through Oliver Chitwood’s 1939 biography “John Tyler: Champion of the Old South.” I am officially mired in that string of one term presidents between Jackson and Lincoln that mostly get glossed over in school and can even blend in together. (Truthfully, I often had trouble remembering which of Tyler and Taylor was named Zachary or John). This book did a great job of making an historical figure understandable, relatable and sympathetic despite having some questionable political views which certainly contributed to the eventual Civil War.
From the time he was thrust into head of the nation via the death of William Henry Harrison, “his accidency” (as his opponents would refer to him) was dealt a cabinet that was against him, a political party looking to replace him, and a platform he was elected to that he did not support. Throughout the remainder of his term and at times until the end of his life, he was the subject of ridicule for his handling of the office. Chitwood does a fantastic job in this book exploring the complaints against Tyler, as well as the available options to him and the rationale for his decisions. I came away with an understanding for nearly all of his decisions, and in terms of personality, Tyler even rivaled prior presidents Monroe and Washington for making the biography reader appreciate him as a person. Here’s how he stacks up in my presidential ratings module.
Born Into – Tyler was yet another aristocratic Virginian, whose F.F.C. family and political father allowed him to have an expedited route into office. In this way he is very comparable to Madison and Harrison. 1/5
Pre-President – Tyler was a farmer and a lawyer and held a number of state offices before becoming Vice President, including Governor, Senator and state representative. One particular issue as a Senator arose when his state’s instructions to him by ballot differed from his own political beliefs. Prior to becoming a Senator, he had called for the recall of elected officials who did not follow his state’s instructions. When the time came for him to decide how to use his authority, he ended up stepping down rather than go against his conscience. Moments like this led to his estrangement from the Democratic Party. The fledgling Whig Party utilized his name and geographical origin to put him on the Ballot with WHH for President. The catchiness of ‘Tippecanoe and Tyler too’ and the log cabin campaign were so popular with the voters that neither man really had to define his actual views on the campaign trail, leading to the major clash with the Henry Clay led Whigs once Tyler became president. 3/5
Presidential Career – The defining moment of Tyler’s Presidency occurred in the first year as congress tried to establish a 2nd national bank (the same bane of both Jackson and Van Buren’s presidencies). The first attempt was vetoed by Tyler (a staunch democrat against the bank his entire life) but it became more interesting as a second attempt was allegedly OKed by him verbally before he ultimately vetoed it again. Chitwood discusses several reasons for this, with the most likely being that the bank he would have allowed was different than the one he vetoes, but the effect of it was a mass resignation by his entire cabinet (save Daniel Webster) and the alienation of the entire Whig Party. As a result, Tyler’s accomplishments in office were mostly restricted to diplomatic achievements which he could coordinate through his secretary of states. These included settling the border between Canada and Maine/Massachusetts, opening up trade with China, and setting up Texas becoming part of the United States (which that old recurring rapscallion John Calhoun took credit for). Beyond that, his diplomacy helped avoid his own Civil War (through the Rhode Island Rebellion), and he also oversaw an economy that went from 17 million in debt to a surplus (though Chitwood does point out that was a result of American industry, as a gridlocked President and Congress took no real action to improve the situation). Because I blame most of Tyler’s problems on Henry Clay, I’ll give him a 3.5/5
Vice President – I had to verify it on Wikipedia, but I don’t believe anybody replaced Tyler as Vice President. No mention of this was in the biography, and the next V.P. after Tyler is listed as Polk’s. 0/5
First Lady – Tyler had TWO first ladies. The first (Letitia Tyler) had suffered a stroke 2 years before he took office and was paralyzed as a result. She died two years after Tyler took office, and although she lived at the White House with him, her “duties” were attended to by Tyler’s daughters or daughters in law. She had seven children survive to adulthood. Julia Tyler was a woman Tyler met amid the destruction and grief from the Princeton ship incident. She was much more involved in the social aspects of the office, though she was criticized for appearing to elevate herself to a royalty-like position in her interaction with peers. Chitwood frequently pointed out how attractive Tyler’s wives were (and that Tyler was also attractive himself), looking at the limited evidence online he was likely judging on a curve compared to other first ladies. 2/5
Post Presidency – Tyler was a man without a party after leaving office. Politically he was certainly a democrat, but Polk had removed many of his people from office and there was no place for the ex-president in the ranks of the party. In 1856 and 1860 he spoke to close friends about the possibility of running for president again, but it appears his estimation of those chances were higher than any actual chance was. One of my favorite anecdotes however was when he retired to “Sherwood Forest” (his plantation) his political enemies were all his neighbors, and had elected him “Commissioner of Road repairs” as a last dig at his fall from grace. Rather than decline the position, Tyler took pride in it and even returned the favor by conscripting his neighbors into road repair service (particularly when it was time to plant new crops). Unfortunately for history, Tyler found his place in politics as a leading advocate for secession. He served as president of the Virginia Convention and was even elected to the Confederacy House of Representatives but died before he could take office. 2/5
Book itself – This is exactly what I want in a presidential biography. The facts all felt reliable, and any issues in dispute were fully examined with multiple reasons or explanations given, with the author explaining why certain possibilities (or accounts) were likely not to be trusted (such as the story of Tyler trying to flee the city when Polk took office). The author also pointed out when Tyler made poor decisions or was himself deluded. The only areas where it could have been better was more detail on his family relationships and their own courses in history, and at the times the 1930’s perspective was a bit too understanding in terms of the Confederacy’s position. Still one of the best books I’ve read so far through the first ten presidents. 5/5
From the time he was thrust into head of the nation via the death of William Henry Harrison, “his accidency” (as his opponents would refer to him) was dealt a cabinet that was against him, a political party looking to replace him, and a platform he was elected to that he did not support. Throughout the remainder of his term and at times until the end of his life, he was the subject of ridicule for his handling of the office. Chitwood does a fantastic job in this book exploring the complaints against Tyler, as well as the available options to him and the rationale for his decisions. I came away with an understanding for nearly all of his decisions, and in terms of personality, Tyler even rivaled prior presidents Monroe and Washington for making the biography reader appreciate him as a person. Here’s how he stacks up in my presidential ratings module.
Born Into – Tyler was yet another aristocratic Virginian, whose F.F.C. family and political father allowed him to have an expedited route into office. In this way he is very comparable to Madison and Harrison. 1/5
Pre-President – Tyler was a farmer and a lawyer and held a number of state offices before becoming Vice President, including Governor, Senator and state representative. One particular issue as a Senator arose when his state’s instructions to him by ballot differed from his own political beliefs. Prior to becoming a Senator, he had called for the recall of elected officials who did not follow his state’s instructions. When the time came for him to decide how to use his authority, he ended up stepping down rather than go against his conscience. Moments like this led to his estrangement from the Democratic Party. The fledgling Whig Party utilized his name and geographical origin to put him on the Ballot with WHH for President. The catchiness of ‘Tippecanoe and Tyler too’ and the log cabin campaign were so popular with the voters that neither man really had to define his actual views on the campaign trail, leading to the major clash with the Henry Clay led Whigs once Tyler became president. 3/5
Presidential Career – The defining moment of Tyler’s Presidency occurred in the first year as congress tried to establish a 2nd national bank (the same bane of both Jackson and Van Buren’s presidencies). The first attempt was vetoed by Tyler (a staunch democrat against the bank his entire life) but it became more interesting as a second attempt was allegedly OKed by him verbally before he ultimately vetoed it again. Chitwood discusses several reasons for this, with the most likely being that the bank he would have allowed was different than the one he vetoes, but the effect of it was a mass resignation by his entire cabinet (save Daniel Webster) and the alienation of the entire Whig Party. As a result, Tyler’s accomplishments in office were mostly restricted to diplomatic achievements which he could coordinate through his secretary of states. These included settling the border between Canada and Maine/Massachusetts, opening up trade with China, and setting up Texas becoming part of the United States (which that old recurring rapscallion John Calhoun took credit for). Beyond that, his diplomacy helped avoid his own Civil War (through the Rhode Island Rebellion), and he also oversaw an economy that went from 17 million in debt to a surplus (though Chitwood does point out that was a result of American industry, as a gridlocked President and Congress took no real action to improve the situation). Because I blame most of Tyler’s problems on Henry Clay, I’ll give him a 3.5/5
Vice President – I had to verify it on Wikipedia, but I don’t believe anybody replaced Tyler as Vice President. No mention of this was in the biography, and the next V.P. after Tyler is listed as Polk’s. 0/5
First Lady – Tyler had TWO first ladies. The first (Letitia Tyler) had suffered a stroke 2 years before he took office and was paralyzed as a result. She died two years after Tyler took office, and although she lived at the White House with him, her “duties” were attended to by Tyler’s daughters or daughters in law. She had seven children survive to adulthood. Julia Tyler was a woman Tyler met amid the destruction and grief from the Princeton ship incident. She was much more involved in the social aspects of the office, though she was criticized for appearing to elevate herself to a royalty-like position in her interaction with peers. Chitwood frequently pointed out how attractive Tyler’s wives were (and that Tyler was also attractive himself), looking at the limited evidence online he was likely judging on a curve compared to other first ladies. 2/5
Post Presidency – Tyler was a man without a party after leaving office. Politically he was certainly a democrat, but Polk had removed many of his people from office and there was no place for the ex-president in the ranks of the party. In 1856 and 1860 he spoke to close friends about the possibility of running for president again, but it appears his estimation of those chances were higher than any actual chance was. One of my favorite anecdotes however was when he retired to “Sherwood Forest” (his plantation) his political enemies were all his neighbors, and had elected him “Commissioner of Road repairs” as a last dig at his fall from grace. Rather than decline the position, Tyler took pride in it and even returned the favor by conscripting his neighbors into road repair service (particularly when it was time to plant new crops). Unfortunately for history, Tyler found his place in politics as a leading advocate for secession. He served as president of the Virginia Convention and was even elected to the Confederacy House of Representatives but died before he could take office. 2/5
Book itself – This is exactly what I want in a presidential biography. The facts all felt reliable, and any issues in dispute were fully examined with multiple reasons or explanations given, with the author explaining why certain possibilities (or accounts) were likely not to be trusted (such as the story of Tyler trying to flee the city when Polk took office). The author also pointed out when Tyler made poor decisions or was himself deluded. The only areas where it could have been better was more detail on his family relationships and their own courses in history, and at the times the 1930’s perspective was a bit too understanding in terms of the Confederacy’s position. Still one of the best books I’ve read so far through the first ten presidents. 5/5
December 26, 2013
http://bestpresidentialbios.com/2013/...
“John Tyler: Champion of the Old South” is Oliver Chitwood’s 1939 biography of our tenth president. Born during the Ulysses S. Grant presidency, Chitwood was an undergraduate at William and Mary College (nine decades after Tyler himself) and earned a PhD at Johns Hopkins. He spent nearly forty years as a professor of history at West Virginia University and was known as a leading authority on American colonial history. Chitwood died in 1971 at the age of ninety-six.
Chitwood’s biography has long been the go-to reference for readers seeking insight into John Tyler and his presidency. The biography was obviously very well-researched and quite carefully composed. Few comprehensive works on Tyler have been published in the last several decades and given the lack of excitement relating to Tyler’s presidency it seems a safe bet that Chitwood’s biography will long retain its position as a presidential “classic” – on this president at least.
With a bit less than five-hundred pages of text “John Tyler: Champion of the South” is perfectly-sized for a comprehensive but not exhausting biography and proves straightforward, interesting and almost…fun to read. This, despite the fact that Tyler himself generally seems humorless, dry, and not at all like the back-slapping politician you would want to find yourself drinking a beer with. But his life-story (like many of the early presidents) is quite compelling.
To the author’s credit he introduces most chapters with a paragraph of historical context appropriate to the topic of the moment. And rather than leaving key themes or conclusions to chance (not much of a risk since his writing style is so easy to digest) Chitwood liberally provides his own interpretation of the presented facts – often a summary of what he felt Tyler did right or wrong at some key moment in time.
That Chitwood is an advocate of John Tyler is immediately obvious, and never in doubt. He clearly wrote this biography hoping to reclaim some credit for (or at least soften history’s censure of) this former president. Many interpret his defense of Tyler as blatant pandering to a failed president who possessed critical intrinsic faults (he was a strong defender of slavery for starters). But much of Chitwood’s “defense” of Tyler is more enlightened and thoughtful than this and little about the book suggests the author is a reckless apologist.
At its core, Chitwood’s thesis centers on the opinion that throughout Tyler’s life he was nothing if not consistent in his core beliefs for states’ rights and his willingness to defend those beliefs both as a legislator and chief executive – even when it meant the Whig party he was tenuously affiliated with abandoned him and went to great lengths to destroy the remainder of his presidency. I believe history shows Tyler was less faithful to states’ rights than Chitwood argues, but there can be no doubt that he and the Whig party found themselves at war with each other, to no useful end for either.
I find it interesting that Chitwood chose to study a man whose impact as president fell so far short of his hopes, and his talents, and whose personality seems so mysteriously opaque. Few of Tyler’s personal letters survive and the impression we take from this biography is that Tyler was Virginia’s ascetic version of New England’s Puritan John Adams…except Adams occasionally found himself the life of the party (both figuratively and literally).
Overall, Chitwood does more with John Tyler’s life and legacy than I thought possible. In contrast to Freeman Cleaves’s contemporaneously published biography of William Harrison, Chitwood produced a very readable and fast-flowing biography. This is not merely a fuzzy blur of facts and circumstances, however, but is well-stocked with helpful observations and conclusions. Chitwood’s “John Tyler” nicely balances its author’s attempt to redeem Tyler’s presidential legacy while simultaneously demonstrating the significant extent of his foibles and failures.
Overall rating: 3¾ stars
“John Tyler: Champion of the Old South” is Oliver Chitwood’s 1939 biography of our tenth president. Born during the Ulysses S. Grant presidency, Chitwood was an undergraduate at William and Mary College (nine decades after Tyler himself) and earned a PhD at Johns Hopkins. He spent nearly forty years as a professor of history at West Virginia University and was known as a leading authority on American colonial history. Chitwood died in 1971 at the age of ninety-six.
Chitwood’s biography has long been the go-to reference for readers seeking insight into John Tyler and his presidency. The biography was obviously very well-researched and quite carefully composed. Few comprehensive works on Tyler have been published in the last several decades and given the lack of excitement relating to Tyler’s presidency it seems a safe bet that Chitwood’s biography will long retain its position as a presidential “classic” – on this president at least.
With a bit less than five-hundred pages of text “John Tyler: Champion of the South” is perfectly-sized for a comprehensive but not exhausting biography and proves straightforward, interesting and almost…fun to read. This, despite the fact that Tyler himself generally seems humorless, dry, and not at all like the back-slapping politician you would want to find yourself drinking a beer with. But his life-story (like many of the early presidents) is quite compelling.
To the author’s credit he introduces most chapters with a paragraph of historical context appropriate to the topic of the moment. And rather than leaving key themes or conclusions to chance (not much of a risk since his writing style is so easy to digest) Chitwood liberally provides his own interpretation of the presented facts – often a summary of what he felt Tyler did right or wrong at some key moment in time.
That Chitwood is an advocate of John Tyler is immediately obvious, and never in doubt. He clearly wrote this biography hoping to reclaim some credit for (or at least soften history’s censure of) this former president. Many interpret his defense of Tyler as blatant pandering to a failed president who possessed critical intrinsic faults (he was a strong defender of slavery for starters). But much of Chitwood’s “defense” of Tyler is more enlightened and thoughtful than this and little about the book suggests the author is a reckless apologist.
At its core, Chitwood’s thesis centers on the opinion that throughout Tyler’s life he was nothing if not consistent in his core beliefs for states’ rights and his willingness to defend those beliefs both as a legislator and chief executive – even when it meant the Whig party he was tenuously affiliated with abandoned him and went to great lengths to destroy the remainder of his presidency. I believe history shows Tyler was less faithful to states’ rights than Chitwood argues, but there can be no doubt that he and the Whig party found themselves at war with each other, to no useful end for either.
I find it interesting that Chitwood chose to study a man whose impact as president fell so far short of his hopes, and his talents, and whose personality seems so mysteriously opaque. Few of Tyler’s personal letters survive and the impression we take from this biography is that Tyler was Virginia’s ascetic version of New England’s Puritan John Adams…except Adams occasionally found himself the life of the party (both figuratively and literally).
Overall, Chitwood does more with John Tyler’s life and legacy than I thought possible. In contrast to Freeman Cleaves’s contemporaneously published biography of William Harrison, Chitwood produced a very readable and fast-flowing biography. This is not merely a fuzzy blur of facts and circumstances, however, but is well-stocked with helpful observations and conclusions. Chitwood’s “John Tyler” nicely balances its author’s attempt to redeem Tyler’s presidential legacy while simultaneously demonstrating the significant extent of his foibles and failures.
Overall rating: 3¾ stars
March 18, 2019
Any way you slice it John Tyler's is a key presidency. Provisions regarding presidential succession unused up to that time got trial tested because of the death of William Henry Harrison after one month in office. What Tyler did in interpreting the Constitution regarding Vice Presidents succeeding
would be what was done from then on.
Tyler was born to a prominent Virginia family and his dad also John Tyler was a messmate of Thomas
Jefferson at William and Mary College. At the ripe old age of 21 young John Tyler was elected to the
Virginia House of Delegates in 1811 and rose gradually up the ladder to be a Member of the House of
Representatives, Governor and US Senator from Virginia.
Tyler was a firm believer in states rights and in his lights tried to be consistent with that belief. He
supported Andrew Jackson in his fight against the National Bank, but he opposed him vigorously on
enforcing a high tariff law and punishing South Carolina because her champion statesman John C.
Calhoun advanced a theory of nullification. In 1835 as a matter of principle he resigned his seat
in the Senate because he could not support any form of coercion against a sovereign state.
By that time Tyler was in a cautious affiliation with the Whig Party in opposition to Jackson's successor Martin Van Buren. He was nominated for Vice President in 1840 to run with William
Henry Harrison against Van Buren. That campaign was the first one of mass ballyhoo and rallies.
Harrison and Tyler both coming from Virginia aristocracy were the candidates of the masses as
opposed to Van Buren who was addicted to fine wine and high living. In point of fact Van Buren
was the son of a tavern keeper who rose from a certain genteel poverty. Nevertheless the ballyhoo
worked together with a financial panic during the Van Buren presidency.
If anyone had an inkling that Harrison would die in office so soon no one spoke. No one certainly
would have made him Vice President despite that lovely alliteration of Harrison being the general
who won the Battle of Tippecanoe with Tyler. Tippecanoe and Tyler too swept the country.
So Harrison is sworn in on March 4 and dies April 4, 1841. Tyler upon notification decides to take
the oath of office as the president and from the start declares he is president, not acting president,
or temporary president, THE president. So have all the men who got to the White House that way
have since.
Senator Henry Clay who expected to control the Harrison administration had an ambitious program
he put through Congress that included rechartering a National Bank. Tyler vetoed said recharter
and split the Whig Party with the greater portion going to Clay. His cabinet with one exception
resigned on him. Tyler had a lot of problems replacing them and leaned heavily on his home state
of Virginia for members. For the next almost four years America had a curious fusion presidency
of Virginia States Right Democrats and Whig holdovers in lesser posts that Harrison had made.
Tyler tried to build a personal party of his own but with no success.
That being said the governance of the country had to go on. Both the author Oliver P. Chitwood
and your's truly give Tyler some high marks in foreign policy. The one Cabinet member who did
not resign was Daniel Webster as Secretary of State and he would not leave until completion of the
Webster-Ashburton Treaty which settled the final boundary of Maine with Canada. Webster did
resign and did resume his seat in the Senate, but with no ill will toward Tyler. Webster also authorized America's first mission to China and a treaty resulted from that. And on the last day
of his term in office, Texas was finally admitted to the Union.
As if the death of the president wasn't enough two cabinet members died and Tyler himself nearly
killed in an explosion aboard the USS Princeton naval vessel which was test firing a new cannon.
After a few successful firings the gun named the Peacemaker exploded killing several people around
it including Secretary of State Abel Upshur and Secretary of the Navy Thomas Gilmer both part of
Tyler's Virginia Mafia. Upshur was in negotiations to annex the Republic of Texas when he died
and Tyler got John C. Calhoun to take Upshur's place in the Cabinet and complete the work.
Tyler married twice. His first wife Letitia Christian was a frail woman in bad health who died in
1842. Tyler remarried the much younger Julia Gardiner whose father David Gardiner had been
killed in the Peacemaker explosion. She was 21 when she became first lady and in that last year
the Tyler presidency was a social success at least. Both wives bore him 7 children a presidential
record.
In retirement Tyler lived the full life of a Virginia aristocrat and as did his peers owned many
slaves. He was unapologetic in his defense of slavery his whole life.
Toward the end he was part of a peace commission from the south to try a last ditch attempt to
save the union. When it failed Tyler was elected to the Confederate Congress and then he died in
1862, technically a traitor. The only president up to now to be considered one.
Still the precedents he set in assuming office have guided this country to this day. For that reason
Tyler is a significant president.
would be what was done from then on.
Tyler was born to a prominent Virginia family and his dad also John Tyler was a messmate of Thomas
Jefferson at William and Mary College. At the ripe old age of 21 young John Tyler was elected to the
Virginia House of Delegates in 1811 and rose gradually up the ladder to be a Member of the House of
Representatives, Governor and US Senator from Virginia.
Tyler was a firm believer in states rights and in his lights tried to be consistent with that belief. He
supported Andrew Jackson in his fight against the National Bank, but he opposed him vigorously on
enforcing a high tariff law and punishing South Carolina because her champion statesman John C.
Calhoun advanced a theory of nullification. In 1835 as a matter of principle he resigned his seat
in the Senate because he could not support any form of coercion against a sovereign state.
By that time Tyler was in a cautious affiliation with the Whig Party in opposition to Jackson's successor Martin Van Buren. He was nominated for Vice President in 1840 to run with William
Henry Harrison against Van Buren. That campaign was the first one of mass ballyhoo and rallies.
Harrison and Tyler both coming from Virginia aristocracy were the candidates of the masses as
opposed to Van Buren who was addicted to fine wine and high living. In point of fact Van Buren
was the son of a tavern keeper who rose from a certain genteel poverty. Nevertheless the ballyhoo
worked together with a financial panic during the Van Buren presidency.
If anyone had an inkling that Harrison would die in office so soon no one spoke. No one certainly
would have made him Vice President despite that lovely alliteration of Harrison being the general
who won the Battle of Tippecanoe with Tyler. Tippecanoe and Tyler too swept the country.
So Harrison is sworn in on March 4 and dies April 4, 1841. Tyler upon notification decides to take
the oath of office as the president and from the start declares he is president, not acting president,
or temporary president, THE president. So have all the men who got to the White House that way
have since.
Senator Henry Clay who expected to control the Harrison administration had an ambitious program
he put through Congress that included rechartering a National Bank. Tyler vetoed said recharter
and split the Whig Party with the greater portion going to Clay. His cabinet with one exception
resigned on him. Tyler had a lot of problems replacing them and leaned heavily on his home state
of Virginia for members. For the next almost four years America had a curious fusion presidency
of Virginia States Right Democrats and Whig holdovers in lesser posts that Harrison had made.
Tyler tried to build a personal party of his own but with no success.
That being said the governance of the country had to go on. Both the author Oliver P. Chitwood
and your's truly give Tyler some high marks in foreign policy. The one Cabinet member who did
not resign was Daniel Webster as Secretary of State and he would not leave until completion of the
Webster-Ashburton Treaty which settled the final boundary of Maine with Canada. Webster did
resign and did resume his seat in the Senate, but with no ill will toward Tyler. Webster also authorized America's first mission to China and a treaty resulted from that. And on the last day
of his term in office, Texas was finally admitted to the Union.
As if the death of the president wasn't enough two cabinet members died and Tyler himself nearly
killed in an explosion aboard the USS Princeton naval vessel which was test firing a new cannon.
After a few successful firings the gun named the Peacemaker exploded killing several people around
it including Secretary of State Abel Upshur and Secretary of the Navy Thomas Gilmer both part of
Tyler's Virginia Mafia. Upshur was in negotiations to annex the Republic of Texas when he died
and Tyler got John C. Calhoun to take Upshur's place in the Cabinet and complete the work.
Tyler married twice. His first wife Letitia Christian was a frail woman in bad health who died in
1842. Tyler remarried the much younger Julia Gardiner whose father David Gardiner had been
killed in the Peacemaker explosion. She was 21 when she became first lady and in that last year
the Tyler presidency was a social success at least. Both wives bore him 7 children a presidential
record.
In retirement Tyler lived the full life of a Virginia aristocrat and as did his peers owned many
slaves. He was unapologetic in his defense of slavery his whole life.
Toward the end he was part of a peace commission from the south to try a last ditch attempt to
save the union. When it failed Tyler was elected to the Confederate Congress and then he died in
1862, technically a traitor. The only president up to now to be considered one.
Still the precedents he set in assuming office have guided this country to this day. For that reason
Tyler is a significant president.
December 12, 2012
Best new biography of my distant cousin. Paints a picture of a President who was more significant than commonly understood.
March 7, 2019
"With President Tyler, virtues have been so minimized and defects so magnified that the reputation of a refined and well-meaning gentleman has been handed down to us as that of wicked renegade," argues Chitwood in his final summation of the ex-President.
Often called the accidental President, for having achieved the rank due to the death of William Henry Harrison, Tyler is an often overlooked character in the history of the US.
Chitwood does an excellent job at analyzing the psychological character of Tyler, but at times can be overly enthusiastic as to not appreciate his shortcomings.
For one, Tyler in all sense of the word, was a traitor to the US, who had served the Confederacy as a politician. On the other hand, for Tyler, the concept of the confederacy agreed to his principles of Jeffersonian particularism and states rights, which was in conflict with the new government being created by President Lincoln. Unlike other Confederates, Tyler made an attempt at peace, which was disregarded by President Lincoln in the face of growing insurgency.
While in later years Tyler would return to the ideas or small government, as President he helped to expand the country and the Monroe document, and could arguably have paved the way for future US imperialism and the the Manifest Destiny.
Often called the accidental President, for having achieved the rank due to the death of William Henry Harrison, Tyler is an often overlooked character in the history of the US.
Chitwood does an excellent job at analyzing the psychological character of Tyler, but at times can be overly enthusiastic as to not appreciate his shortcomings.
For one, Tyler in all sense of the word, was a traitor to the US, who had served the Confederacy as a politician. On the other hand, for Tyler, the concept of the confederacy agreed to his principles of Jeffersonian particularism and states rights, which was in conflict with the new government being created by President Lincoln. Unlike other Confederates, Tyler made an attempt at peace, which was disregarded by President Lincoln in the face of growing insurgency.
While in later years Tyler would return to the ideas or small government, as President he helped to expand the country and the Monroe document, and could arguably have paved the way for future US imperialism and the the Manifest Destiny.
September 18, 2016
John Tyler: Champion of the Old South is Oliver Perry Chitwood's attempt to restore the reputation of the much maligned tenth President of the United States. Tyler, Chitwood contends, was a consistent defender of the principle of states' rights, a view that guided his decision-making throughout his public life. He was also, according to Chitwood, a cultured, well-mannered, sophisticate and all-around well-liked guy (at least, until he became president).
I wasn't a fan of this one. Chitwood is way too much of a cheerleader for Tyler throughout the book, at times heaping on (often unmerited) praise, at other points coming off as rather defensive. He also occasionally throws in random thoughts on what Tyler should have done, politically, and speaks very authoritatively on exactly how such a decision would have played out. Sure.
The author also assumes familiarity with the events going on. If you're the kind of person reading a biography of John Tyler, chances are that you have the requisite background knowledge (because you're either a pre-Civil War historian or on a mission to read bios of all of the U.S. Presidents), but in the off chance that a John Tyler biography is your first foray into 1840s American politics, this book is not for you.
The events in this book, particularly during Tyler's presidency, are not always presented chronologically. In some cases, that's fine, but when Chitwood repeatedly mentions the Princeton disaster, but does not bother getting into what exactly that disaster was until near the end of the book, it is annoying.
There are few bios of John Tyler out there, and none as comprehensive as this one. It has its flaws, though, and I can't really recommend it.
I wasn't a fan of this one. Chitwood is way too much of a cheerleader for Tyler throughout the book, at times heaping on (often unmerited) praise, at other points coming off as rather defensive. He also occasionally throws in random thoughts on what Tyler should have done, politically, and speaks very authoritatively on exactly how such a decision would have played out. Sure.
The author also assumes familiarity with the events going on. If you're the kind of person reading a biography of John Tyler, chances are that you have the requisite background knowledge (because you're either a pre-Civil War historian or on a mission to read bios of all of the U.S. Presidents), but in the off chance that a John Tyler biography is your first foray into 1840s American politics, this book is not for you.
The events in this book, particularly during Tyler's presidency, are not always presented chronologically. In some cases, that's fine, but when Chitwood repeatedly mentions the Princeton disaster, but does not bother getting into what exactly that disaster was until near the end of the book, it is annoying.
There are few bios of John Tyler out there, and none as comprehensive as this one. It has its flaws, though, and I can't really recommend it.
February 13, 2019
5 stars means essential reading—in this case, for those interested in presidential biographies. It was published in 1939 so it’s free from the bias and venom that so many of the current generation (1995-2019) of historians have for politicians of the old south. Modern day historians typically rank Mr Tyler toward the bottom of the list of presidents. His presidency failed because Henry Clay wanted to be the Whig candidate in 1844, so he and his accomplices in the Party and in the Press undermined Tyler’s program in its entirety; and they vilified and demagogued the President in a most unseemly and calumny like manner. Tyler was a man of strong principles and convictions that he held dear to his heart from which he rarely, if ever, wavered. You may or may not agree with his convictions, but it’s hard not to admire his integrity and courage in their application, frequently to his detriment. My congratulations and appreciation to Oliver Perry Chitwood for this splendid work.
January 15, 2017
Loved this one even though it was written in 1939 and the author unabashedly defends the President-turned-Confederate, even while bringing Abraham Lincoln down a peg. Tyler never wavered in his early-Jeffersonian convictions, at great personal and political sacrifice, remaining to the end in good company in seeking a gradual, negotiated and time-imposed end to slavery. Adequately presented are the tragic deaths of a President, his successor's wife, and two Cabinet members that Tyler faced in just four years. The author brilliantly (though perhaps unintentionally) closed the book by offering Charles Dickens' reference to Washington as the "City of Magnificent Intentions" followed by Tyler's own return to that city to try, unsuccessfully, to save the Union.
December 31, 2007
Interesting read. It is a tad dated in its language and point of view- but I learned a lot about President Tyler. I wish the author had spent a little more time on Tyler's life in the Confederacy, but there was some interesting facts.
February 11, 2011
Chitwood paints a sympathetic picture of His Accidency, the President without a party. The book strikes a good balance between the several factors that made Tyler who he was - his family history and his upbringing; his early career; and the major policies and events of the day.
May 16, 2017
States rights politician who turned his back on the Whigs after Harrison's death. Good story.
June 3, 2017
US President #10 - John Tyler is most known as being the first VP to take office after the death of a sitting president - in this case William Henry Harrison who lasted just 30 days. Beyond that he's known for the annexation of Texas into the union and little else. Known as his "Accidency" he was much maligned for most of his term but both Whig party that put him there and the Democrats. He was burned in effigy, made fun of in the press and generally everything he tried to do was met with scorn. Additionally his wife died 2 years in and he remarried a much younger woman by the end of his term.
Finding a bio on Tyler was tough and this was the only on in my library system that portrayed his whole life and not just the presidency. Chitwood's book, written in the 1930s, is a very classic old style bio - mostly a collection of well researched and cited facts with very little commentary or analysis. After reading the likes of McCoulloug on John Adams the bar is set pretty high. However it's a thorough book on Tyler and a great book to read on the years following Harrisons death. Interestingly though in stead of arranging the presidency by years and was more done by events...the annexation of Texas, his cabinet, even the death of his wife and his remarriage is at the very end of the book. In some ways this worked well but there were some events referenced in the early parts of the book not explained until later.
Finding a bio on Tyler was tough and this was the only on in my library system that portrayed his whole life and not just the presidency. Chitwood's book, written in the 1930s, is a very classic old style bio - mostly a collection of well researched and cited facts with very little commentary or analysis. After reading the likes of McCoulloug on John Adams the bar is set pretty high. However it's a thorough book on Tyler and a great book to read on the years following Harrisons death. Interestingly though in stead of arranging the presidency by years and was more done by events...the annexation of Texas, his cabinet, even the death of his wife and his remarriage is at the very end of the book. In some ways this worked well but there were some events referenced in the early parts of the book not explained until later.
May 4, 2020
A good book on a relatively unimpressive president.
June 30, 2011
John Tyler truly was the 'accidental president'. He went to sleep one night knowing as Vice President that his role in the government was pretty minimum and woke up the next morning to find out that Harrison had died and boom, Tyler was President.
Apparently there was some hemming and hawing from certain government leaders as well as the public thinking that maybe Tyler shouldn't be promoted to President upon the death of Harrison. As this was the first case of a President dying in office, there was some confusion as to how the Constitution dealt with the dilemma. Some thought the Constitution was too vague in its defining how a President that passes would be succeeded. Eventually though, the fuss died down and Tyler continued on as President.
This book gives the reader an opinion that Tyler had more enemies than friends in the government. He even was known a the president without a party because neither the Whigs or the Democrats wanted anything to do with him. It was almost as if he spent his entire Presidency fighting with all of Washington to be accepted.
Tyler's private life was not a big focus in this book. He did have a lot of kids. It looks like there might have been 7 children total. He was also married twice. The author did not give the reader any insight as to which wife had which kids. I am still not sure if the kids were all from his first marriage or if they are from both marriages combined. I would have liked to have learned a bit more about Tyler's private life.
Tyler was a man who did not write a lot of letters or keep a diary, unlike Adams or Jeffersn, so I can understand how writing a biography on him might be difficult. Because of this fact, I do appreciate the obstacles that the author must have been presented with to write this book. Granted the book is a bit dated as it was originally published in the 1930's, and it did skip around during Tyler's career which made it difficult to keep facts straight, but all and all it was an informative read on a little known president.
Apparently there was some hemming and hawing from certain government leaders as well as the public thinking that maybe Tyler shouldn't be promoted to President upon the death of Harrison. As this was the first case of a President dying in office, there was some confusion as to how the Constitution dealt with the dilemma. Some thought the Constitution was too vague in its defining how a President that passes would be succeeded. Eventually though, the fuss died down and Tyler continued on as President.
This book gives the reader an opinion that Tyler had more enemies than friends in the government. He even was known a the president without a party because neither the Whigs or the Democrats wanted anything to do with him. It was almost as if he spent his entire Presidency fighting with all of Washington to be accepted.
Tyler's private life was not a big focus in this book. He did have a lot of kids. It looks like there might have been 7 children total. He was also married twice. The author did not give the reader any insight as to which wife had which kids. I am still not sure if the kids were all from his first marriage or if they are from both marriages combined. I would have liked to have learned a bit more about Tyler's private life.
Tyler was a man who did not write a lot of letters or keep a diary, unlike Adams or Jeffersn, so I can understand how writing a biography on him might be difficult. Because of this fact, I do appreciate the obstacles that the author must have been presented with to write this book. Granted the book is a bit dated as it was originally published in the 1930's, and it did skip around during Tyler's career which made it difficult to keep facts straight, but all and all it was an informative read on a little known president.
August 30, 2010
This book is just a little too disjointed in the way it is put together for me to give it four stars, although I would say the author's research and historical knowledge and what I learned from it are worthy of four stars. The chapters focus on different issues, so you don't really go chronologically through his career/presidency at all. Instead, you do four years of national bank, then start back with 1840 and do four years of fight with Whigs, then four years of his personal life/remarrying 2nd wife, etc. It's really confusing because the author will drop in a random name or a fact like "Since Tyler was no longer a Whig" even though the rupture with the Whigs isn't explained until the next chapter.
All that being said, I learned a lot about Tyler and how important he was in many different issues. I consider this author a Tyler advocate, who drops in random effusive praise at time, but it is not unmerited...the research is thorough and I really came to like Tyler at parts, except the whole accepting slavery-as-part-of-the-South thing. As usual with pres bios, his slavery position and work he did on the issue were complex, but frustrating.
All in all I recommend it for learning about Tyler, but it's not the smoothest editorial sailing. Pretty interesting, though.
All that being said, I learned a lot about Tyler and how important he was in many different issues. I consider this author a Tyler advocate, who drops in random effusive praise at time, but it is not unmerited...the research is thorough and I really came to like Tyler at parts, except the whole accepting slavery-as-part-of-the-South thing. As usual with pres bios, his slavery position and work he did on the issue were complex, but frustrating.
All in all I recommend it for learning about Tyler, but it's not the smoothest editorial sailing. Pretty interesting, though.
February 24, 2011
This was probably the easiest read of any of the Presidential biographies I've read so far, except for John Adams by David McCullough. Chitwood does not spend too much time on the minutia and (usually) devotes at least a paragraph to the broader historical context. This latter point helps make the book more accessible and engaging. Another positive about Chitwood's style is that he does not stick to strict chronological order and instead will finish one topic before starting another.
However, this book is extremely pro-Tyler. So much so that I am somewhat skeptical of my understanding of the entire picture. Tyler was often in (what I would call) no-win situations. Instead of acknowledging that Tyler was going to look bad no matter what he did, Chitwood spends an exorbitant amount of time on a flimsy argument about how Tyler's virtues and wise decision making lead him to victory.
In the end, I'll give it five stars for the writing style and content, minus two stars for being so biased.
However, this book is extremely pro-Tyler. So much so that I am somewhat skeptical of my understanding of the entire picture. Tyler was often in (what I would call) no-win situations. Instead of acknowledging that Tyler was going to look bad no matter what he did, Chitwood spends an exorbitant amount of time on a flimsy argument about how Tyler's virtues and wise decision making lead him to victory.
In the end, I'll give it five stars for the writing style and content, minus two stars for being so biased.
September 7, 2010
Interesting account of an often overlooked President. This biography provides some good, valuable insight into Tyler's life and helps in understanding the turbulent era in which Tyler lived. Chitwood's writing style leaves a little to be desired as he had some sequencing problems (i.e. introducing a concept and then waiting until the next chapter to properly explain it or jumping back and forth in time from chapter to chapter), but overall I recommend this biography.
March 21, 2009
The author does a good job of characterizing Tyler's world-view which makes his behavior during and after his presidency understandable. See also comments on Crapol's Tyler biography.
April 21, 2015
Good history book.
February 2, 2017
A little long and a little too praiseworthy of Tyler, but a very informative read.
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