Lived

March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862

Home State

Virginia

Party

Whig (expelled); Unaffiliated

Vice President

None

John Tyler became the first Vice President elevated by the death of a President, and he insisted that he was President in full rather than merely acting. A states'-rights Virginian, he was expelled by the Whig Party after vetoing its banking program, and nearly his entire Cabinet resigned. In his final days in office he signed the joint resolution annexing Texas. Later he sided with the Confederacy and was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives, making him the only former President to take up arms against the Union. Virginia legislator, U.S. Representative, Governor of Virginia, U.S. Senator.

College of William & Mary, 1807.

Established the Tyler Precedent — that a Vice President becomes President, not merely Acting President. Signed the joint resolution annexing Texas in the final days of his term. Signed the Preemption Act of 1841 and the joint resolution for the Annexation of Texas (1845).

Vetoed the Whig program to re-charter a national bank; his entire Cabinet except Daniel Webster resigned; the Whigs expelled him. Later served in the Confederate Provisional Congress and was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives, dying before he could serve.