John Tyler

Tenth president, 1841–1845

John Tyler was not elected to serve as president, but after Harrison’s untimely death, he became the first vice president to ascend to the office. For this reason, many referred to President Tyler as “His Accidency,” and his authority was frequently questioned. In September 1841, his entire cabinet resigned in disgust after quarreling with him over federal banking policy. Soon afterward, he was expelled from the Whig Party, whose members would later mount an unsuccessful bid to impeach him. Following his presidency, Tyler became a proponent of southern secession and was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives.

In 1857, Congress commissioned George Peter Alexander Healy to create a series of presidential portraits for the White House. Two years later, Healy visited Tyler at his retirement home in Virginia and created this smaller replica of the portrait.