John Tyler

John Tyler became the first vice president to succeed to the presidency upon the death of a sitting president. When Harrison died in 1841, Tyler firmly insisted he was the president in full, not merely an acting caretaker—establishing the 'Tyler Precedent' later written into the Constitution.

A states'-rights Virginian, he clashed so bitterly with his own Whig Party that most of his Cabinet resigned and the party expelled him. Largely without a party, he still secured a major achievement: the annexation of Texas, approved in the final days of his term.

Read the full biography on Wikipedia →