Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/236

 TYLER

TYLER

was chosen a member of the liouse of delegates. where he proposeil resolutions disapproving of the conduct of the senators from Virginia in favor of a renewal of the charter of the Bank of the United States against instructions to the contrary. He was married, March 2'J, 1S13, to Letitia. daugliter of Robert and >hiry (Browne) Christian of New Kent county., Va. When the legislature of Virginia adjourned. May 2G, 1813. Tyler raised a company of riflemen for the de- fense of Richmond. He devised a system of drill for liis corps, and served with the 52d regiment of Virginia militia at Williamsburg, but his com- mand was not brouglit into action. He returned to the legislature and served by successive re- elections until 1S16, and during the session of 1815-16 was elected one of the executive coun- cil. In November, 1816, he was elected a repre- sentative in the 14th congress to fill a vacancy caused by the death of John Clopton. He was re- elected to the 15th and IGth congresses, 1817-21, wliere he favored the admission of Missouri with- out restriction, and opposed a protective tariff. He declined re-election in 1821, and returned to private life, having purchased the ancestral liomestead " Greenway," In 1823 he was elected to the house of delegates, and was defeated for U.S. senator by Littleton W. Tazewell in 1824. He opposed the removal of William and Mary college to Richmond; was made successively u J) <- » /J /f yi /I ^ r A

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rector and chancellor of the college; was elected governor of the state by a large majority in 182."), to succeed James Pleasants; unanimously re- elected in 1826. and served till March 3, 1827, when he was elected to the U.S. senate over John liandolph by a majority of five votes. In the senate he opposed the " tariff of abominations" of 1828, and the system of internal improve- ments; was a member of the Virginia convention for revising the state constitution, in February, 1830, and supported Andrew Jackson for Presi- dent in 1832. While he did not favor nullifi- cation, he condemned Jackson's proclamation against South Carolina, and was greatly instru- mental in influencing Henry Clay to introduce the compromise tariff, Feb. 12. 1833, and was the

only nay to thirty-two j-eas, when the force bill was put to vote on its tiiird reading and passage, Feb. 30, 1833. He was elected president j^''^^ tempore of the U.S. senate, March 3, 1835, and thougii opposed to the Bank of the United States, he disaiiproved of President Jackson's arbitrary method of dealing with tiie institution, and voted in the alFirmative to Henry Clay's motion to cen- sure the President. He was nominated for Vice- President on the States' Rights Whig ticket with Hugli L. White for President in 1836. Martin Van Buren, at the meeting of the electoral col- lege in 1837, was elected President, wlien Mr. Tyler received 47 votes for Vice-President. There being no choice for Vice-President, the election devolved upon the U.S. senate, who chose Rich- ard M. Johnson for the office. When Thomas H. Benton proposed his famous resolution '• expung- ing" Henry Clay's censure of President Jackson, Tyler, refusing to obey instructions from the state legislature to vote in the affirmative, re- signed his seat, Feb. 29, 1836, and returned home. He was chosen president of the Virginia African Colonization society at its seventh anniversary, Jan. 18, 1838, and in the same year was returned to the state legislature. In 1839 he was the can- didate for re-election to the U.S. senate, against William C. Rives, but the election was postponed on account of a deadlock. In the Whig conven- tion held at Harrislmrg, Dec. 4, 1839, William Henry Harrison was nominated for President, and John Tyler for Vice-President. The Whig party at this time was a union of factions op- posed to the Democrats, having no common party principles except the general one of reform. After an excitable campaign, popularly known as the '"Tippecanoe and Tyler too" campaign of 1840, Harrison and Tyler were elected, and one month after the inauguration, President Harrison died and Tyler succeeded to the office of Presi- dent. He retained the cabinet selected by Presi- dent Harrison, and friction was caused by the proposed establishment of a national bank by Henry Clay, and its opposition by the President, who in his message to congress reserved the ulti- mate power of rejecting any measure which he thought conflicted with the constitution, or jeop- ardized the prosperity of the country. Clay, however, disregarded this warning, and on June 7, 1841, proposed in the senate the establishment of a national bank. The bill abolishing Van Buren's sub-treasury system passed both houses, and was signed b\' the President, and until a sub- stitute could be provided the finances of the gov- ernment were left in the naked keeping of the President. The substitute provided by Mr. Clay, a bill establishing a Bank of the United States, passed both houses, but was vetoed by the Presi- dent, Aug. 16, 1841. Another bill, creating a