(INTRO) The name of this episode is sort of peculiar, but relevant. John Tyler wasn’t supposed to become President. He should be written in history books today as only Vice President, but under the Harrison administration, an unprecedented event transpired. Causing a constitutional crisis and no one knew what to do. I’m Jeremiah Patterson and this is U.S Presidents. (MUSIC) He was born on his family’s plantation, in Greenway, located in Charles City County, Virginia. The year was 1790, and the date was March 29. His father was an affluent planter and a politician in Virginia. John Tyler graduated from the same college as President Thomas Jefferson, it was called the College of William and Mary, located in Williamsburg, Virginia. Thenceforth, in 1807, he studied law under private tutors, and later advanced his political career in 1811, when he was elected to the Virginia state legislature at the age of 21. Two years later, Tyler married the love of his life, Letitia Christian, and they would go on to have eight children. Subsequently, John Tyler served in the Virginia state legislature for 5 years and was also a member of the U.S House of Representatives from 1817–1821. He then returned to the Virginia legislature for 2 years and become the governor of Virginia from 1825–1827. While Tyler was governor of the state of Virginia, a heartbreaking tragedy happened. President Thomas Jefferson died. So, he delivered the state’s official eulogy for Jefferson, who died on July 4, 1826. (ANCHOR) Tyler represented his home state in the U.S Senate from 1827 to 1836. During his term, he grew upset with the policies of President Andrew Jackson. In 1834, the Senate censured Jackson over issues surrounding his removal of government funds form the Bank of the United States. Two years later, in 1836, John Tyler resigned from the Senate to avoid complying with the Virginia legislature’s instructions to reverse the censure vote. The former senator then became affiliated with the Whig Party. In 1839, Tyler’s wife Letitia suffered from a stroke, which left her partially paralyzed and incapable of handling the responsibilities as First Lady, when her husband became President. That would lead to her daughter in law, Priscilla Cooper Tyler, assuming the role of White House official hostess. In 1840, the Whigs nominated Ohio politician William Henry Harrison to run for President and choose Tyler as their vice-presidential nominee in an attempt to attract southern voters who believed in states rights. The Harrison Tyler ticket won the White House with an enormous elector vote, 234 to 60, an about 53 percent of the popular vote. On March 4, 1841, Harrison was sworn in as President. In 1842, John Tyler became a widower, when he lost his wife due to a second stroke. She was 51 years old, becoming the only First Lady to die in the White House. After two years of grief and heartbreak, Tyler married Julia Gardener, a wealthy New Yorker. And they would go on to have seven children. Tyler now has 15 children together; he was the only U.S President to marry in office and the only to father more children than any other. (BREAK) Here’s a video from the Business Insider YouTube Channel on the death of President William Henry Harrison. (CLIP) After Harrison died, there was lots of confusion and ambiguity about whether Tyler should become President or remain Vice President as acting President. The U.S Constitution was sort of unclear on the matter of presidential succession, which would be cleared up in the 1940’s, but Tyler just decided to move into The White House anyway, and was sworn in as President on April 6, at the age of 51. As President, Tyler soon found himself in opposition to the Whigs legislative agenda, which was his own party by the way. He had kept Harrison’s cabinet in place; however, after Harrison vetoed a bill that would create a new national bank, almost his entire cabinet resigned except for one person. History.com writes, “The President was disavowed by the Whigs.” In fact, the Whigs got so fed up with him, that they tried to do something almost unbelievable and that story is up next. (BREAK) Only July 22, 1842, Virginia Congressman John Minor Botts rose from his seat in the House of Representatives and introduced the first proposal in U.S history to impeach a sitting U.S President, and you know perhaps many people forget this part of history or aren’t aware After Congressman Botts, had stood up declaring impeachment. The Whig Party leader Henry Clay cautioned that impeachment my be to much or even to risky to counter the president’s bitter clashed with the Whig controlled congress. Clay said, “There is cause enough, God knows, but it is a novel proceeding, full of important consequences, present and future, and should not be commenced but upon full consideration.” In other words, we don’t have to it, but we can think about it. The Whigs who decided to form an investigative committee, which was by the way controlled by our nation’s sixth President John Quincy Adams. The Whigs decided to do this because President John Tyler kept vetoing bills. In fact, they got so infuriated, that they kicked him out of the party. Subsequent to that, mobs of Whigs protested outside in front of The White House, expressing their infuriation and aversion towards President Tyler. Then something else happened, here’s how The Washington Post, describes it, “The anger boiled over on the House floor, where Rep. Edward Stanly of North Carolina got into a fistfight with Tyler’s best friend, Rep. Henry wise of Virginia.” The whole rationale behind why those two men started literally fist fighting is because Rep. Stanly said, “He lies like a dog.” And that was referring to President Tyler, which I’m guessing his best friend Rep. Wise overheard an attacked Rep. Stanly. I’m not completely sure, but that’s how I picture it in my head. President Tyler was well aware of what had just transpired in Congress. Therefore, he wrote to a friend that night, not Representative Wise, but another one, he wrote, “I am told that one of the madcaps talks of impeachment. That madcap was Botts, who on July 11 gave notice of his plans, warning, “If the power of impeachment is not exercised by the House in less than six months, ten thousand bayonets will gleam Pennsylvania Avenue.” Eleven days after President Tyler wrote that letter, Botts formally introduced a petition to impeach the President, saying “on the grounds of his ignorance of the interest an true policy of this government, and want of qualification for the discharge of the important duties of President of the United States.” The House than voted to table the proposal for a while. But, Botts just wouldn’t give up, saying, “I charge him with the high crime and misdemeanor of endeavoring to excite a disorganizing and revolutionary spirit the country, by inviting a disregard of, and disobedience to a law of Congress.” He also then charged the President with, “abuse of the veto power, to gratify his personal and political resentment, utterly unworthy and unfit to have the destinies of this nation in his hands as chief magistrate.” One newspaper, called the Madisonian, attacked Botts writing, “The bastard son of Virginia has performed his foolish threat and produced article of impeachment against the President of the United States.” The Whigs were especially infuriated because Congress had failed to override any of the President’s vetoes, therefore, causing Tyler success. Ronald Shafer from The Washington Post writes “The Whigs were especially frustrated because Congress had failed to override any of Tyler’s vetoes. The clash hit a breaking point on Aug. 9 when Tyler vetoed a major tariff bill. Adams took to the House floor to declare that the president had put the legislative and executive branches “in a state of civil war.” On August 11, The United States House of Representatives authorized a 13-member select committee on the veto headed by Adams to investigate the president’s actions. Adams despised President Tyler because he was a slaveholder. The House’s majority reported accused Tyler of “gross abuse of constitutional power and bold assumptions of powers never vested in him by any law”, the report even said that Tyler had “strangled” the life out of Congress and committed, “offenses of gravest character.” Oh, and did I mention that the report also charged the President with obstruction of justice by withholding information from congress. So, yeah, this was, sort a big deal. But even though, they tried this whole effort to get Tyler office, it just didn’t work. The resolution failed, and the Whigs had lost control of congress in the 1842 election. But the Whigs finally got their revenge on the President final month in office, which was in March of 1845. They finally got to override a veto of a bill on building Marine service ships. And so that made Tyler, the first U.S President in history to have a veto been overridden by Congress. So, that’s the story of Congress’s failed goal to impeach the President. However, that’s not all that happened during his Presidency. (CLIP) I hope you enjoyed this episode of U.S Presidents. On this episode, I discussed the life and presidency of John Tyler, our nation’s 10th President. I also told a story about how congress failed to impeach him, and more. Make sure to share this podcast with your family and friends! Don’t forget to rate this podcast on Apple Podcast or send me a voice through anchor! If have any further questions, you can email me at uspresidentspodcast@gamil.com. With that said, thanks for listening to this episode of U.S Presidents, have a great day and see you Monday! (MUSIC)
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