John Tyler (1841-1845)

John Tyler is the man with the shortest Vice Presidency (31 days) and the most children of any president (15 plus possible mulatto children).

He also was probably the biggest side-changer (at least 2, possibly 3).

Prior to being nominated for VP by the Whigs, he was a Jacksonian Democrat. But some policies made him decide to ally with the Whigs. And so in 1836 he was a VP nominee for the Whigs, and in 1840 he won the Vice Presidency with William Henry Harrison.

Harrison died quickly, and Tyler made the bold move of becoming a full president, not acting. He did some stuff, including annex Texas and help make the veto evolve into not a Constitutional matter, but instead a matter of policy. His actions were more Democratic than Whig, so the latter group kicked him out of their party.

By this point, he's been a Democrat and a Whig and been thrown out to be on his own.

The really cool side change to remember about Tyler is the one where he joined the Confederates.

That's right. During the Civil War, he sided with the CSA. And he was a Sworn Enemy of the United States. No other president became a sworn enemy of the US. Some of the things Andrew Johnson did as president made him seem like an enemy, but he wasn't officially an enemy.


I honestly don't care too much about Tyler's policies, nothing can top the leader of our country becoming an enemy. Granted, he died January 18, 1962, so he didn't really do anything as a rebel, but imagine if Texas seceded and faught the US, with the support of George Bush. That's the rough equivalent. And damn that just sounds so cool.