Book Review: John Tyler The Accidental President
I'm in Winnipeg this weekend, and on the flight down here I was able to finish Edward P. Crapol's 2006 biography of John Tyler, the 10th President of the United States, entitled John Tyler: The Accidental President. I wouldn't really recommend this book for anyone who wanted to know more about John Tyler, or about how he set precedent in becoming the first Vice-President to assume the role of the President upon the death of the President. The author skims over those details, and spends too much time on other aspects of Tyler's presidency. Parts of this book are interesting, but reading it feels like a lot of heavy lifting.
I wrote a review of the book for Amazon, which is reproduced below:
Author Edward P. Crapol writes a curious account of the Presidency of John Tyler that is overly detailed at times, while leaving out large chunks of Tyler's life. It is organized mainly on an issue by issue basis, rather than in a chronological fashion. We are told a bit about Tyler's early years, though not much about his first marriage. One might expect to read the story of Tyler's struggle to establish his authority when he ascends to the Presidency upon the death of William Henry Harrison and his battles with Henry Clay over whether his presidency would be real or figurehead, but this issue is touched on only in a very cursory fashion. Instead we are given long chapters on Tyler's diplomacy and intrigue with the British, his passion over slavery, his expansionist pursuits including his orchestration of the annexation of Texas, and his life after the White House. Parts of this book are very interesting, other parts contain a lot of superfluous information and are a labour to read. Some of the things we would expect more information on about Tyler are absent.
Crapol enlightens readers about Tyler's role in opening up relations with China, about the part he played in bringing about the acceptance of Hawaii by the United States and other nations, and about his role as an elder statesman. These are fascinating to read and we learn much about Tyler. We also learn about some of Tyler's closest associates and cabinet members, like Daniel Webster, Abel Upshur and John C. Calhoun. But there are huge chunks of Tyler's life that we are never told about. For example, what was his relationship like with Old Tippecanoe (William Henry Harrison), and why did Tyler abandon his Whig roots and become a man without a party? The book is sub-titled "The Accidental President", yet little of the fight between Tyler and Clay to establish Tyler's authority as President is discussed in the book.
There are some running themes throughout the book that Crapol tells us about which give us insight into John Tyler. These include his staunch defence of slavery, his "Anglophobia", and his use of secret operatives in the world of diplomacy. Tyler is presented as a man with ulterior motives. He presents as someone dedicated to preserving the union, though the author suggests that it is slavery that he really wishes to preserve. Crapol tells us about rumors that Tyler has fathered two children with a slave, alternately discussing why this rumor is plausible and why it is unlikely. Similarly, he presents anecdotes of Tyler being a benevolent slavemaster as well as a cruel one. It is also suggested that Tyler's conducting of a peace conference on the eve of the Civil War is a noble attempt to head off a terrible catastrophe, as well as a traitorous scheme to buy time for the Confederacy without ever intending sincerely to broker a peace.
Perhaps much of the author's missing pieces and his mixed messages stem from the fact that Tyler's personal papers and his autobiography were destroyed by Union soldiers who vandalized his Virginia plantation and therefore the historian is left without much source material to work with. Still Crapol does make it clear that he believes Tyler to be a defender of slavery, a sly and cunning politician capable of deceit, and in the final analysis a traitor to the union he purported to want to keep together.
There is much that I enjoyed about this book. It taught me much about John Tyler and the history of his times that I did not know. But if I was looking for a book that would present me with a complete biography of John Tyler, this would not be it.
I wrote a review of the book for Amazon, which is reproduced below:
Author Edward P. Crapol writes a curious account of the Presidency of John Tyler that is overly detailed at times, while leaving out large chunks of Tyler's life. It is organized mainly on an issue by issue basis, rather than in a chronological fashion. We are told a bit about Tyler's early years, though not much about his first marriage. One might expect to read the story of Tyler's struggle to establish his authority when he ascends to the Presidency upon the death of William Henry Harrison and his battles with Henry Clay over whether his presidency would be real or figurehead, but this issue is touched on only in a very cursory fashion. Instead we are given long chapters on Tyler's diplomacy and intrigue with the British, his passion over slavery, his expansionist pursuits including his orchestration of the annexation of Texas, and his life after the White House. Parts of this book are very interesting, other parts contain a lot of superfluous information and are a labour to read. Some of the things we would expect more information on about Tyler are absent.
Crapol enlightens readers about Tyler's role in opening up relations with China, about the part he played in bringing about the acceptance of Hawaii by the United States and other nations, and about his role as an elder statesman. These are fascinating to read and we learn much about Tyler. We also learn about some of Tyler's closest associates and cabinet members, like Daniel Webster, Abel Upshur and John C. Calhoun. But there are huge chunks of Tyler's life that we are never told about. For example, what was his relationship like with Old Tippecanoe (William Henry Harrison), and why did Tyler abandon his Whig roots and become a man without a party? The book is sub-titled "The Accidental President", yet little of the fight between Tyler and Clay to establish Tyler's authority as President is discussed in the book.
There are some running themes throughout the book that Crapol tells us about which give us insight into John Tyler. These include his staunch defence of slavery, his "Anglophobia", and his use of secret operatives in the world of diplomacy. Tyler is presented as a man with ulterior motives. He presents as someone dedicated to preserving the union, though the author suggests that it is slavery that he really wishes to preserve. Crapol tells us about rumors that Tyler has fathered two children with a slave, alternately discussing why this rumor is plausible and why it is unlikely. Similarly, he presents anecdotes of Tyler being a benevolent slavemaster as well as a cruel one. It is also suggested that Tyler's conducting of a peace conference on the eve of the Civil War is a noble attempt to head off a terrible catastrophe, as well as a traitorous scheme to buy time for the Confederacy without ever intending sincerely to broker a peace.
Perhaps much of the author's missing pieces and his mixed messages stem from the fact that Tyler's personal papers and his autobiography were destroyed by Union soldiers who vandalized his Virginia plantation and therefore the historian is left without much source material to work with. Still Crapol does make it clear that he believes Tyler to be a defender of slavery, a sly and cunning politician capable of deceit, and in the final analysis a traitor to the union he purported to want to keep together.
There is much that I enjoyed about this book. It taught me much about John Tyler and the history of his times that I did not know. But if I was looking for a book that would present me with a complete biography of John Tyler, this would not be it.