John Tyler, the Accidental President
by Edward P. Crapol
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Book Summary Information
Author: Edward P. CrapolEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-10-09
ISBN: 0807830410
Number of pages: 344
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Book Reviews of John Tyler, the Accidental President
Book Review: John Tyler: The Accidental President
Summary: 3 Stars
I think if one approaches this biography with lowered expectations, one is more forgiving of some its flaws. After all, there are very few full-scale works on John Tyler's life. Still, at the end of this book, the author notes that he has written a "full-scale biography" and that it is twenty years in the making. Unfortunately this is problematical. Despite the author's protestations, this work does indeed focus on Tyler's foreign policy - certainly not exclusively, but still a disproportionate amount of pages is spent laboriously picking it over. And though the book may have been written over twenty years, that time window seems to have done a disservice to the narrative. It has a patched-together quality that lends itself to repetition and that made me wonder at one point whether these chapters were actually essays that had appeared elsewhere over the years. That certainly would explain the lack of overall cohesion. Additionally, one rather distracting tic on the author's part was the incredible overuse of the old 19th century phrase "peculiar institution" for slavery. It could be argued that historians use the euphemism to evoke a certain antebellum mindset. Overusing it borders on the absurd. I picked up this book because I wanted to learn about John Tyler's life. In the end, though I came away with knowing more about him, I would need to look elsewhere for a definitive biography.
Summary of John Tyler, the Accidental President
The first vice president to become president on the death of the incumbent, John Tyler (1790-1862) was derided by critics as "His Accidency." Yet he proved to be a bold leader who used the malleable executive system to his advantage. In this biography of the tenth President of the United States, Edward P. Crapol challenges previous depictions of Tyler as a die-hard advocate of states' rights, limited government, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution.In pursuit of his agenda, Tyler exploited executive prerogatives and manipulated constitutional requirements in ways that violated his professed allegiance to a strict interpretation of the Constitution. He set precedents that his successors in the White House invoked to create an American empire and expand presidential power.
Crapol also highlights Tyler's enduring faith in America's national destiny and his belief that boundless territorial expansion would preserve the Union as a slaveholding republic. When Tyler, a Virginian, opted for secession and the Confederacy in 1861, he was stigmatized as America's "traitor" president for having betrayed the republic he once led. As Crapol demonstrates, Tyler's story anticipates the modern imperial presidency in all its power and grandeur, as well as its darker side.
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