John Tyler: A Rare Career

This book describes the life of the tenth president, John Tyler, who evoked mixed feelings amongst the public as to his competency and administrative judgements. He was believed by some to be of talents not above 'mediocrity' and rooted in passions and vices of slavery while others believed him to be unaffected and dedicated to the needs of the country. When President Harrison died suddenly of pneumonia Tyler became the first president ever to come to office by constitutional succession without exhibiting any deep allegiance to the principles of the Whigs' 1840 campaign. Tyler was no 'party animal' and believed in making decisions based on a idea's merit and impact on what he perceived to be the nation's best interests, without regard to politics. The Whigs had no control over the man they had put in the White House, and it came as no surprise when they failed to re-nominate him 1844. President Tyler decided to withdraw from the race before election and left office a President without a party -- the only president every to have had that dubious distinction. This book is an interesting portrait of a somewhat orthodox man who to some seemed too 'ordinary' and his popularity was a divided one.