With the possible exception of James K. Polk, if the presidents from the Tyler administration up to James Buchanan could have their own reality, show, it would definitely be "The Biggest Loser." Most of the presidents immediately before Lincoln, and the first few after, all compete for the bottom of the presidential rankings. So I'll probably be whipping out these next few entries relatively quickly.
John Tyler was the 6th president to be born in Virginia. His political career was pretty ordinary for a future president. He started out in the Virginia House of Delegates, then Governor of Virginia, and then was in the United States senate.
In the 1840 presidential election, John Tyler was chosen as William Henry Harrison's running mate. He stuck around long enough to be sworn in and then hightailed it back home to Virginia. Little did he know that a month later he'd be back, this time to be sworn in as president.
Tyler was the first president to come to power because of the death of his predecessor. At the time, the order of succession wasn't very clear in the Constitution. (This was later fixed by the 25th Amendment.) Tyler basically spent the first part of his administration insisting, "No REALLY! I AM president!" Tyler's detractors referred to him as "His Accidency."
During his administration, he admitted Texas and Florida to the Union. He also applied the Monroe Doctrine policy to Hawaii, and began American annexation of it.
For the most part, it was thoroughly miserable presidency. Very few people would actually listen to the man, including his own cabinet which he had inherited from Harrison. John Quincy Adams, who by that time was in the House, lead a committee to try and have Tyler impeached.
After an unsuccessful reelection bid in 1844 Tyler returned to Virginia. He survived long enough to see the beginning of the war, be a staunch supporter of the Confederacy, and even be elected to the Confederate House of Representatives. However he died before he could take office. As Tyler was considered a traitor, to date he is the only American president not to be officially mourned in D.C.
Mysteriously, there aren't a lot of pop culture references to James Tyler. However, thanks to a suggestion by
mezzolibra I decided since Tyler was our 10th president, and was referred to as "His Accidency"...that the following clip is appropriate: