whiskey. Outside the cabin was a "coon fastened by a chain." Immense meetings were held-bands of minstrels were formed to sing songs in honour of "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too." "

Issues did not exist in the Whig promotion, and their November 1840 victory was one of emotion and propaganda. "Never before in the United States and seldom since has a major political party taken such cynical advantage of the political naivete" of the people.8

Although Tyler's status as a leading opponent of Andrew Jackson had allowed him to join the Whigs in attacking executive despotism, he never pretended to be anything but a Democrat. The Whigs were not concerned. Tyler's position as vice president provided little opposition to their intended programs. During the patronage manipulations that attended the Whig triumph, the new vice president assumed a distant role at his home in Williamsburg, Virginia, traveling to Washington only long enough to be sworn in and to hear President Harrison's inaugural remarks. He left Washington unobtrusively a few hours later. That evening, at the inaugural celebration, he apparently was not even missed. His ceremonial duties in the Senate did not require his immediate return.

One month later, almost without warning, Tyler was thrust to the forefront of American politics. At thirty minutes past midnight on Sunday April 4, 1841, William Henry Harrison became the first president of the United States to die in office. Later that same day a depressed and voluble John Quincy Adams wrote that the "influence of this event upon the condition and history of the country can scarcely be foreseen. . . . In upwards of half a century, this is the first instance of a Vice President's being called to act as President of the United States, and brings to test that provision of the Constitution which places in the Executive chair a man never thought of for it by anyone."

Adams's characterization of Tyler as a man "never thought of" as president was espoused

7 Thomas L. Nichols, Forty Years of American Life, 2 vols. (London, 1864), 2:173. See also Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Age of Jackson (Boston, 1945), pp. 283-305; and Glyndon G. Van Deusen, The Jacksonian Era (New York, 1959), pp. 142-150.

8 Seager, And Tyler Too, p. 135.

9 Charles Francis Adams, ed., Memoirs of John Quincy Adams, 12 vols. (Philadelphia, 1876), 10:457.

John Tyler, the first vice president to succeed to the presidency following the death of an incumbent.

by many in the early hours following Harrison's death, 10 but numerous others had long considered the vice president's succession as inevitable. In October 1840, the Democratic Committee of Virginia placed before Tyler a

10 William M. Peyton to William C. Rives, Apr. 15, 1841, William C. Rives Papers, Library of Congress (LC); Richard Smith Elliott, Notes Taken in Sixty Years (St. Louis, 1883), p. 149; Edward L. Pierce, Memoir and Letters of Charles Sumner, 4 vols. (Boston, 1877-93), 2:176; Nathan Sargent, Public Men and Events From the Commencement of Mr. Monroe's Administration in 1817 to the Close of Mr. Fillmore's Administration in 1853, 2 vols. (Philadelphia, 1875), 2:123; (New York) Evening Post, Apr. 5, 1841; (Newark) New Jersey Eagle, Apr. 6, 1841; Washington Daily Globe, Apr. 7, 1841; (Washington) Madisonian, Oct. 28, 1841; Niles National Register 60 (Apr. 10, 1841): 88.

request for a prompt and explicit response to ten questions regarding his political beliefs. Justification for this inquiry rested upon the belief that the Harrison administration would devolve upon Tyler at some point because of General Harrison's advanced age.11 Littleton W. Tazewell, a good friend of the vice president, in early February told Tyler of his premonition that Harrison would die in office. 12 And even before the seriousness of Harrison's physical condition was realized, William L. Marcy, former governor of New York, observed that the people in Washington were already beginning "to speculate upon the event of his [Tyler's] succession" to the presidency. A prevalent feeling preceding Tyler's succession was that he always had been a "fortunate man" and that "his luck would certainly kill Harrison before the end of his term," but "none thought the luck would smile upon him so soon."

"13

Tyler at home in Williamsburg apparently first learned that President Harrison's life was in danger on reading a note from his intimate friend James Lyons, a Richmond attorney. Lyons's correspondence, written two days prior to any official notification, revealed that nearly "all the doctors in the City are in at

11 The ten questions and Tyler's answers are found in the Charleston Courier, Nov. 26, 1840.

12 Tazewell's prediction is referred to by Tyler in a letter he wrote to Tazewell on October 11, 1841, and in a letter written by the president on September 2, 1844, to the Norfolk, Va., Democratic Society. See Lyon G. Tyler, The Letters and Times of the Tylers, 3 vols. (Richmond, 1885), 2:95-96, 127-128.

13 William L. Marcy to Gen. P. M. Westmore, Apr. 1, 1841, William L. Marcy Papers, LC. For similar comments regarding the prevailing feeling that Tyler was indeed a lucky man, see Charles P. Green to Willie P. Mangum, Apr. 7, 1841, Willie P. Mangum Papers, ibid. A copy of this letter may also be found in Henry Thomas Shanks, ed., The Papers of Willie P. Mangum, 3 vols. (Raleigh, 1953), 2:136. See also William B. Hodgson to Rives, Apr. 4, 1841, Rives Papers; Washington Herald, Apr. 5, 1841; and New York Herald, Apr. 7, 1841. The Washington Herald erroneously suggested that its readers should consider Tyler's ascent to the presidency a natural process that should have been anticipated because it was the third occasion he had stepped into a position of high public office following the death of an incumbent. "He was made governor of Virginia by the death of the governor, he being Vice- he was made a senator by the death of one before his term expired- and now becomes president by the death of the only man under whom he could ever have been elected a vice president." A similar article appeared in the Lexington Kentucky Gazette, May 1,

1841.

tendance upon him (the President) and the general impression seems to be that he will not survive the attack which is one of violent pleurisy." Other reports Lyons had received concerning Harrison's condition were likewise less than encouraging, and he would "not be surprised to hear by tomorrows mail that Genl Harrison is no more." 14 Sen. Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri later surmised that Tyler felt "it indelicate to repair to the seat of government of his own will, on hearing of the President's illness." 15 The knowledge of Harrison's illness did, however, allow him time to prepare for the eventuality of the president's death.

Officially, Tyler learned of President Harrison's death on the morning of April 5, when Fletcher Webster, chief clerk of the Department of State and son of its secretary, and a Mr. Beall, an officer of the Senate, who had been dispatched by the cabinet,16 awakened the Tyler household with the news that President

14 James Lyons to John Tyler, Apr. 3, 1841, John Tyler Papers, LC. Fred Shelley considers this recently discovered correspondence conclusive proof that Tyler was aware of Harrison's illness for some time prior to any official notification - a foreknowledge scholars have not known of heretofore. It is known that Lyons's letter did reach Williamsburg and was endorsed by Tyler sometime before he left for Washington, "though at what hour and on what day has not been determined." Fred Shelley, "The President Receives Bad News in Williamsburg," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 76 (July 1968): 337-339.

15 Thomas Hart Benton, Thirty Years' View: or a History of the American Government for Thirty Years, From 1820 to 1850, 2 vols. (New York, 1854-56), 2:211.

16 Niles National Register 60 (Apr. 10, 1841): 84-85. The message sent by Secretary of State Daniel Webster, Secretary of the Treasury Thomas Ewing, Secretary of War John Bell, Attorney General John J. Crittenden, and Postmaster General Francis Granger to Tyler on April 4, 1841, and the cabinet's public announcement of President Harrison's death of the same day are found in Domestic Letters of the Department of State, 1784-1906, General Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59, National Archives (RG, NA). These letters are also available as National Archives Microfilm Publication (MP) M40 (see roll 29). Also on April 4 the five cabinet officers made the official arrangements for the military to conduct the late president's funeral. The same day fifteen individuals signed a statement that they had been in the "Presidential house," and "some in [Harrison's] immediate presence at the time of his death." Miscellaneous Letters of the Department of State, 1789-1906, ibid., and in NA MP M179, roll 93. On April 5 Secretary of War Bell formally announced the death to the army. Letters Sent by the Secretary of War Relating to Military Affairs, 1800-1889, Records of the Office of the Secretary of War, RG 107, NA, and in NA MP M6, roll 23. For general military orders relating to the funeral, see General Orders, no. 20,

// 17

Harrison had died the previous morning. Two hours later the vice president departed for Washington, arriving at the capitol at five o'clock the following morning. As Tyler's principal biographer, Oliver Chitwood, notes, "considering the means of travel of the day, this was a remarkable record for speed." Tyler had good cause for haste. As he might have anticipated, Washington was already alive with rumors and speculation regarding his succession, and almost everyone had heard of the cabinet's opinion that while Tyler would perform the functions of president, he would bear the title of "Vice President acting President."

"18

In reality, however, some members of the cabinet were apparently uncertain of the exact nature of Tyler's new role. Daniel Webster in a private conversation with William Thomas Carroll, clerk of the Supreme Court, shortly after Harrison's death expressed his concern over the details of Tyler's succession. The earnestness of Webster's appeal prompted Carroll to pen a short letter to Chief Justice Roger B. Taney in Baltimore informing him that the "Cabinet would be pleased to see and confer with you at this most interesting moment." Taney's response was less than reassuring. He felt he could not "with propriety come to Washington unless" requested to do so by the "Cabinet, or by the Vice President" because he did not want to subject himself to "the suspicion of desiring to intrude into the affairs which belong to another branch of government. And if I say or do anything in the matter, it must be upon a request in such a form as would make it my duty to comply; and in that case I would perform my duty with pleasure." 19 Without the benefit of either at

in General Orders of the Adjutant General's Office, 1841-42, vol. 5, no. 5, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, RG 94, NA. See also R. Jones to S. Ringgola, Apr. 4, 1841; Jones to Postmaster at Baltimore, Apr. 4, 1841; and Jones to J. Symington, Apr. 5, 1841, Letters Sent by the Office of the Adjutant General (main series) 1800-1890, ibid., and in NA MP M565, roll 12.

17 Chitwood, John Tyler, pp. 202-203.

18 Rives to W. Nibs, Apr. 7, 1841, Rives Papers; Sargent, Public Men, 2:122. See also Ben: Perley Poore (sic), Perley's Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis, 2 vols. (Tecumseh, Mich., 1886); Morgan, Whig Embattled, p. 7; and Dinnerstein, "Accession of John Tyler," p. 447.

19 Samuel Tyler, Memoir of Roger Brooke Taney: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (Baltimore, 1876), pp. 294-296. See also Bernard C. Steiner, Life of Roger

Only a few hours after Tyler arrived in Washington, the members of the cabinet at the president's request met with him at Brown's Hotel. Tyler's son and personal secretary, John Tyler, Jr., provides the only existing account of the meeting that followed.21 Although it is natural to assume that a son would make every effort to show the most favorable side of his father, it is not unreasonable to accept this account wherein the cabinet designated his role as that of a figurehead. "William Henry Harrison had been elected as a pawn whom Henry Clay and doubtlessly others had calculated on controlling." 22 It was altogether appropriate that Tyler should suffer a similar fate.

"22

Daniel Webster, as the cabinet spokesman, began the session by informing Tyler that during Harrison's tenure all measures “relating to the administration were obliged to be brought before the Cabinet, and their settlement was decided by the majority, each member of the Cabinet and the President having but one vote." In response Tyler sternly explained that he would "never consent to being dictated to," and he alone as president bore the responsibility for his administration. He hoped to have their "hearty co-operation in carrying out its measures." So long as they saw fit to do this, he would be glad to retain them. When they thought otherwise, their

Brooke Taney: Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (Baltimore, 1922), pp. 257-258; and Silva, Presidential Succession, pp. 16-17. No mention is made of the incident in Carl B. Swisher, Roger B. Taney (New York, 1935). Chitwood likewise has omitted any reference to the letter but states that the chief justice "refused to administer the oath [to Tyler] because he had not been officially requested to do so." Chitwood, John Tyler, p. 203. An exhaustive search for the correspondence sent to Chief Justice Taney by William Thomas Carroll was unproductive.

20 Poore, Perley's Reminiscences, 1:286. See also John B. McMaster, A History of the People of the United States, 8 vols. (New York, 1906), 4:602; Sargent, Public Men, 2:122.

21 Frank G. Carpenter, "A Talk With a President's Son," Lippincott's 41 (Mar. 1888): 416-418. Carpenter's account is repeated in Sydney Nathans, Daniel Webster and Jacksonian Democracy (Baltimore, 1973), p. 164; Seager, And Tyler Too, p. 149; and Dinnerstein, "Accession of John Tyler," p. 447. 22 Schlesinger, Age of Jackson, p. 394.

resignations would be accepted.23 If a formal protest by the cabinet followed it remains yet to be discovered. Privately, however, the reaction of the department heads was undoubtedly less than gracious. No amount of dignified courtesy on their part could conceal the real meaning of their proposed restrictions. If Henry Clay had been in his situation, Tyler was painfully aware that no such proposition would have been made by a Whig cabinet.

Considering the temperament of the cabinet, and to remove all doubt, Tyler decided to take another oath of office, that of the president.24 Shortly thereafter, the formal installation of the new president took place in the hotel parlor under the direction of William Cranch, chief judge of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia. After administering the oath, Cranch at the direction of Tyler issued a statement wherein he certified that the president had appeared before him that day for the

23 Carpenter, "A Talk With a President's Son," pp. 416-418. Claude M. Fuess in his biographical study of Daniel Webster makes no mention of the meeting but does say that Tyler "made it entirely clear that he intended to seize full authority." Claude Moore Fuess, Daniel Webster, 2 vols. (Boston, 1930), 1:95. In similar language, Morgan argues, "Tyler's whole course of action in the first few days after he arrived in the capital demonstrated that he acted with serious deliberation to establish himself as President in his own right and not as a mere caretaker for the departed Harrison." Morgan, Whig Embattled, p. 9. For similar observations, see Chitwood, John Tyler, p. 205; Seager, And Tyler Too, p. 149; and Charles M. Wiltse, John C. Calhoun, 3 vols. (New York, 1949-51), 3:38. Although Silva dismisses as "legend" any notion that conflict might have existed between Tyler and the cabinet, existing evidence leaves little doubt that conditions were less than serene. Silva, Presidential Succession, Pp. 14-18.

24 Lyon G. Tyler wrote that there is "no record concerning who summoned Judge Cranch, but this much is known. [John] Tyler did not think a second oath was necessary" because he felt he had become president at the very moment Harrison died. Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:12. George T. Curtis, Lambert, and Silva all credit Daniel Webster with deciding that Tyler should take a new oath. George Ticknor Curtis, Life of Daniel Webster, 2 vols. (New York, 1870), 2:67n; Lambert, Presidential Politics, p. 5; Silva, Presidential Succession, pp. 17-18. The New York Journal of Commerce, Apr. 6, 1841, reported that Tyler took the oath on the advice of Sen. George Poindexter of Mississippi. Public comment at the time tended to support Tyler's decision to take a new oath. At least four major newspapers expressed the belief that Tyler could not properly enter upon the duties or assume the powers of the presidency until he had taken the oath that the Constitution prescribed. See Boston Courier, Apr. 8, 1841; Boston Daily Advertiser, Apr. 10, 1841; (Philadelphia) Pennsylvanian, as quoted in Niles National Register 60 (Apr. 10, 1841): 88; and New York Journal of Commerce, Apr. 7, 1841.

stated purpose despite the fact that he deemed "himself qualified to perform the duties and exercise the powers and office" of president without any other oath than that which he had taken as vice president. Cranch concluded by explaining that Tyler had taken the second oath because doubts might arise and "for greater caution." 25

Subsequent reports of the events at Brown's Hotel gave no indication of discord within the administration. The Washington correspondent of the Baltimore American & Commercial Daily Advertiser that evening reported that to "obviate any speculation in relation to the future course of the executive head, I use this the earliest moment to say that the meeting was most cordial, as was expected - and the public may be confident that the President will do all that is befitting" to his office, to bring about the reform of the government everyone considered long overdue. He further reported that Tyler would "to the utmost of his ability, promote the great measures of the Whig party which are so essential to the prosperity of the country. The Whigs may be confident that their expectations will be realized." 26 Throughout Washington and in the rest of the country the word spread "that what has been with Harrison will be with Tyler." 27 "The President and the Cabinet are united in an uncommon degree on all measures." 28 Sen. George Poindexter of Mississippi, among others, encouraged the Whig illusion with a public endorsement of Tyler that appeared in the press soon

25 James D. Richardson, comp., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1897, 20 vols. (New York, 1897-1927), 4:1886-1887. It is interesting to note that Judge Cranch also administered the presidential oath to Vice President Fillmore following the death of President Taylor. U. S. Congress, Senate, Journal, 31st Cong., 1st sess., July 10, 1850, p. 444.

26 (Baltimore) American & Commercial Daily Advertiser. Apr. 8, 1841. For a similar reaction, see New York Daily Express, Apr. 8, 1841.

27 New Yorker 11 (Apr. 17, 1841): 74; New York Daily Express, Apr. 10, 1841.

28 Philadelphia National Gazette and Literary Register, Apr. 27, 1841. Similar comments are found in Nashville Daily Republican Banner, Apr. 15, 1841; New York Daily Express, Apr. 7, 8, 10, 1841; New York Journal of Commerce, May 23, 1841 (taken from an earlier edition of the (Washington) Madisonian); (Newark) New Jersey Eagle, Apr. 13, 1841; (Washington) Daily National Intelligencer, Apr. 7, 9, 13, 1841; New Yorker 11 (Apr. 10, 1841): 60; and ibid. (Apr. 17, 1841): 73. See also John C. Wright to Thomas Ewing, Apr. 13, 1841, Thomas Ewing Papers, LC; Abel P. Upshur to Nathaniel B.

after the meeting at Brown's Hotel. He portrayed Tyler as a statesman of sound political principles, firm in his plans for the general good, free from guile and dissimulation, a president whose administration would be purely Whig.29

The Whigs with good reason chose not to challenge the new president openly. Existing political and social conditions made it advantageous to endure whatever discomfort might accompany this transitional period. Even the slightest hint of discord would give the Democrats a provocative issue to badger about in the press; it would arouse further many people who sincerely believed that America's selfindulgence and wickedness had prompted God to take President Harrison from them. More important, a confrontation at this time might foil the Whigs' subtle plan to exclude Tyler as a candidate for renomination in 1844.

Lacking news of a sensational nature involving the personalities within the new administration, the Democratic press played upon Tyler's decision to assume both the dignities and the powers of the presidential office. Interestingly, none of the editorials seriously questioned the constitutionality of his succession or even remotely suggested that a special election should be called.30 Their expressions of concern centered on whether Tyler's official title should be His Accidental

Tucker, Apr. 10, 1841, Tucker-Coleman Papers, College of William and Mary; Mangum to Gabriel Moore, Apr. 18, 1841, Mangum Papers; Charles A. Davis to Nicholas Biddle, Apr. 10, 1841, in Reginald C. McGrane, ed., The Correspondence of Nicholas Biddle Dealing With National Affairs (Boston, 1919), p. 342; Frederick W. Seward, Autobiography of William H. Seward, A Memoir of His Life and Selections From His Letters 1831 to 1846 (New York, 1877), p. 533; Allan Nevins, ed., The Diary of Philip Hone: 1828-1851, 2 vols. (New York, 1927), 2: 538; and Charles Manfred Thompson, The Illinois Whigs Before 1876 (Urbana, 1915), p. 116.

29 New Yorker 11 (Apr. 17, 1841): 75. For similar endorsements, see Charles D. Drake to Caleb Cushing, Apr. 15, 1841, Caleb Cushing Papers, LC; Nibs to Rives, Rives Papers; Niles National Register 60 (Apr. 28, 1841): 115; (Washington) Daily National Intelligencer, Apr. 7, 20, 1841; and Thompson, The Illinois Whigs, p. 116.

30 Silva states that the "United States Gazette and the Pennsylvanian, Philadelphia's leading Whig and Democratic papers respectively, not only argued that Tyler had every right to complete Harrison's term but explained that the Constitution did not contemplate a special election in this case. A special election is to be called only, said these papers, when the presidential powers and duties devolve on an officer designated by Congress." Silva, Presidential Succession, p. 20.

Power, Acting President, Under President (acting as president under Henry Clay's direction), Ex Officio President, His Accidency, or Vice President Acting as President.31 The Whig organ, the Daily National Intelligencer, challenged those who gave heed to "the erroneous concept" involving "the quality and designation of the office devolving upon the Vice President." Casually dismissed were any thoughts that Tyler might be merely an interim president. "By his original election as Vice President," in the opinion of the Intelligencer, "he was provisionally elected, President; that is, elected to the office of President upon the happening of any one of the conditions provided for in the Constitution." 32 All campaigns should be conducted as the Whigs had conducted theirs in 1840, the Philadelphia American Sentinel argued, because "at no former campaign have we any remembrance of the Vice President's having been so distinctly presented to the people as during the last canvass. . . . Neither a Whig or a Conservative gave a vote who did not feel that he was voting 'for Harrison and Tyler.'" The two candidates ran as one. In fact it might easily be said that two presidents were elected in 1840. One to take possession immediately, and the other upon a certain contingency. A provision by the way that bespeaks the forecast of our enlightened fathers who gave us the inestimable Constitution under which we live. Harrison, the elder, was to hold the presidential chair in case he should live the full term and Tyler, the younger, was to take it, if providence should call the former hence, before the expiration of his four years.33

For the great majority, the nonpoliticians, such discussions were in poor taste and unnecessary. They did not care who occupied the executive mansion or what he might be

31 References to the various titles are found in the Baltimore Sun, Apr. 15, 1841; Boston Daily Advertiser, Apr. 10, 1841; New Haven Daily Herald, Apr. 28, 1841; (New York) Democratic Republican New Era, Apr. 19, 1841; (New York) Evening Post, Apr. 10, 16, June 3, 5, 1841; (New York) Log Cabin, Apr. 17, 1841; (Washington) Daily National Intelligencer, Apr. 12, 1841; (Washington) Madisonian, May 28, 1841; Niles National Register 60 (Apr. 24, 1841): 124; and Kendall Expositor 1 (Apr. 7, 1841): 77-78.

32 (Washington) Daily National Intelligencer, Apr. 12, 1841. See also New York Journal of Commerce, Apr. 7, 1841; and Niles National Register 60 (Apr. 17, 1841): 98.

33 From the Philadelphia American Sentinel, as quoted in the (Washington) Madisonian, Apr. 27, 1841. See also Nashville Daily Republican Banner, Apr. 15, 1841.