In 1841, John Tyler became the tenth President of the United States. Now, more than 170 years later, his grandson has stepped into the political limelight. So, what does the Tyler family think of today’s politicians?
John Tyler Reenters the Public Eye?
The fact that John Tyler still has living grandsons is amazing in its own right. In 1853, at the age of 63, John Tyler gave birth to Lyon Gardiner Tyler. Lyon, in turn, gave birth to Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Jr. in 1924 and Harrison Tyler in 1928 (Lyon was 71 and 75, respectively, when they were born!).
So, the other day, Harrison Tyler was interviewed by the media. Although he considers himself a conservative, he doesn’t think much of the current crop of Republican candidates. In particular, he singled out Newt Gingrich for criticism, calling the former Speaker, “a big jerk.”
John Tyler…the Original Ron Paul?
One candidate Harrison Tyler might find interesting is Dr. Ron Paul, who espouses a political philosophy quite similar to that of his grandfather. Although mainstream historians like to rank John Tyler as one of the worst Presidents of all time, he’s recently gotten a lot of attention for something else…being the most libertarian President of all time. Here’s more on John Tyler from us at Guerrilla Explorer:
Eland takes a unique approach to evaluating presidents. Instead of ranking them on the usual stuff, he ranks them on how well they achieved peace, prosperity, and liberty. Presidents earn points for avoiding “wars of choice,” pursuing economic freedom, and respecting individual freedoms as well as limits on presidential powers.
His analysis leads to some interesting conclusions that differ wildly from most polls. George Washington is still fairly high at #7. But he ranks Abraham Lincoln (#29) and FDR (#31) far lower than any historian I’ve ever read. His top five are John Tyler, Grover Cleveland, Martin Van Buren, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Chester A. Arthur. These presidents are barely remembered by most Americans today which, in a way, is the point. Their terms were boring, thanks to their decisions to avoid wars and pursue policies that led to economic success as well as personal freedom.
So what about John Tyler? Well, he ended the Second Seminole War and exhibited restrained responses to an internal rebellion and a border dispute with Canada. He also vetoed his own party’s wishes to enact high tariffs and create a national bank, which ultimately cost him a second term. His record on preserving individual liberty is considered “very good.”