John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the
tenth President of the United States (1841–45). He was elected
vice president on the
1840 Whig ticket with
William Henry Harrison, and became president after his
running mate's death in April 1841. Tyler was known as a supporter of
states' rights, which endeared him to his fellow
Virginians, yet his acts as president showed that he was willing to support nationalist policies as long as they did not infringe on the rights of the states. Still, the circumstances of his unexpected rise to the presidency and his possible threat to the ambitions of other potential presidential candidates left him estranged from both major parties in Washington. A firm believer in
manifest destiny, President Tyler sought to strengthen and preserve the Union through
territorial expansion, most notably the annexation of the independent
Republic of Texas in his last days in office.