Badass Birthday
On this date, in 1790, John Tyler was born in Virginia.
I hope everyone reading this knows who John Tyler is, but if not, I wouldn't be surprised. He was the 10th President of the United States. He served less than one term and wasn't a terribly good president. But he was a badass because of what he did.
William Henry Harrison, the 9th president, died just a month after being sworn in. Tyler was the first Vice President to ever have to take over after the death of a sitting president. And while some in Congress and around the country thought he should just be the 'Acting President' Tyler asserted that no, he was actually the President now, and not in name only, and acted like it. He set the precedent for future Vice President who had to take over.
And this was not a rare occurrence. It happened in 1851, 1865, 1881, 1901, 1923, 1945, 1963, and 1974. And it was all because of the determination, stubbornness and, yes badassitude, that allowed those men to BE President and not Acting President.
As a further example of his badass nature, albeit on a much more personal level, His first wife died while they were in White House. A few years later, Tyler remarried, at the age of 54 a young woman who was 30 years his junior. Together they had seven children (in addition to the 8 kids he had with the first wife!). The last child born was Margaret who didn't die until 1947. So a man born in 1790, just a year after George Washington first took office, had a child who lived until after World War II!
And if that isn't enough, another of his kids, a son Lyon, who was born in 1853, had children late in life too, including Harrison Ruffin Tyler, who just died last year in 2025!!! So a man born in 1790 had a grandson live until 2025, 235 years later!!!!
Mediocre president, TOTAL badass.
POLT
No comments:
Post a Comment