John Tyler


John Tyler, Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia

John Tyler. His Accidency.

The other half of this song:

Achievement: Tippecanoe and Tyler, too!

He who still has grandsons living in 2017!


The only President ever to switch sides and join the Confederacy (well after he left office, of course) and thus, the only President never to be officially mourned (even Nixon got an elaborate-but-not-fully-a-State-funeral funeral for God's sake).


Many times I have passed Richmond on the way to DC but never stopped to see the city. This July I remedied this. Richmond is a great town. Not only does it have Capitol Square with its Thomas Jefferson designed Capitol and the Governor's Mansion fifty yards away (which can be toured when the FFV (First Family of Virginia)* aren't in town) but there's Museum of the Confederacy with its tour of the Confederate White House (sadly no pictures allowed). All in all it's a great town.


Hollywood Cemetery is big. Really big. At the entrance is a granite map of the site. Take a picture and follow it carefully. There are two other Presidents buried in Hollywood: James Monroe (who'll be on the next page) and Jefferson Davis (I never said US Presidents, right? Plus, I quickly completed my list of Confederate President so that was easy). There are no signs for Presidents' Circle (where Tyler and Monroe are) so follow that map carefully.


You'd think Tyler didn't do much since he was fighting with what was left of Harrison's Cabinet (the ones that didn't quit), but there were a few things as seen here:


http://www.sherwoodforest.org/ (Tyler's home in Virginia)


http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johntyler (Tyler's bio from the White House)


http://mentalfloss.com/article/25610/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-john-tyler (Five things you didn't know about Tyler)


*Apologies to the Lees, the original FFV. Here's proof. I showed this in my US History in Film course a long time ago. The line about "refreshing the missus" was most definite-Lee one of the best lines ever heard in the class.