Civics 08-9: John Tyler vs. Dwight D. Eisenhower

John Tyler was the tenth president of the United States. A member of the Whig party (which out of the four Whig presidents both times the vice president became president), John Tyler was the first president to assume the powers of the president after the death of his predecessor William Henry Harrison. There was much controversy at the time as to whether he deserved the title of president because in the constitution it only states "In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President" nowhere in the constitution did it state that the vice president would become president until the radification of the 25th amendment. Unfortunately for Tyler this issue of his presidency dubbed Tyler "His Accidency" by his detractors. He had no Vice President (along with Chester A. Arthur, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Calvin Coolidge, and Harry Truman) or a party for most of his term in office. He was born in Virginia in 1790, he was raised believing that the Constitution must be followed strictly and stuck to it. At first the Whigs were not worried about the new presidenty, despite Tylers want to assume the full powers of an elected President. He delivered an Inaugural Addres fusll of good Whig doctrine. Whigs were optimistic that Tyler would accept their Henry clay would not accept Tyler's "exchequer system," so Tyler vetoed Clay's bill to establish a National Bank with branches in several states. A similar bank bill was passed by Congress. But again, on states' rights grounds, program, but they would be mistaken

Economic

Tyler vetoed it. In retaliation, the Whigs expelled Tyler from their party. All the Cabinet resigned but Secretary of State Webster. A year later when Tyler vetoed a tariff bill, the first impeachment resolution against a President was introduced in the House of Representatives. A committee headed by Representative John Quincy Adams reported that the President had misused the veto power, but the resolution failed.

Despite their differences, President Tyler and the Whig Congress enacted much positive legislation. The "Log-Cabin" bill enabled a settler to claim 160 acres of land before it was offered publicly for sale, and later pay $1.25 an acre for it. In 1842 Tyler did sign a tariff bill protecting northern manufacturers. The Webster-Ashburton treaty ended a Canadian boundary dispute; in 1845 Texas was annexed.

The administration of this states'-righter strengthened the Presidency. But it also increased sectional cleavage that led toward civil war. By the end of his term, Tyler had replaced the original Whig Cabinet with southern conservatives. In 1844 Calhoun became Secretary of State. Later these men returned to the Democratic Party, committed to the preservation of states' rights, planter interests, and the institution of slavery. Whigs became more representative of northern business and farming interests.

When the first southern states seceded in 1861, Tyler led a compromise movement; failing, he worked to create the Southern Confederacy. He died in 1862, a member of the Confederate House of Representatives.

Dwight David Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower brought to the Presidency his prestige as commanding general of the victorious forces in Europe during World War II. He obtained a truce in Korea and worked incessantly during his two terms to ease the tensions of the Cold War. He pursued the moderate policies of "Modern Republicanism," pointing out as he left office, "America is today the strongest, most influential, and most productive nation in the world."

Eisenhower, born in Texas in 1890, grew up in Abilene, Kansas. He was the third of seven sons. He prospered in sports in high school, and was accepted to West Point. Stationed in Texas as a second lieutenant, he met his wife Mamie Geneva Doud, whom he married in 1916. After World War II he became President of Columbia University, then took leave to assume supreme command over the new NATO forces being assembled in 1951. Republican emissaries to his headquarters near Paris persuaded him to run for President in 1952. "I like Ike" was a catchy slogan helping Eisenhower to win a sweeping victory. Using military strength, he tried to reduce the strains of the Cold War. In 1953, he brought an armed peace along the border of South Korea through the signing of a truce. Also, the death of Jospeh Stalin the same year caused changes in relations with Russia.

New Russian leaders agreed on a peace treaty neutralizing Austria. At the same time both Russia and the United States had developed hydrogen bombs. With the threat of such destructive capability threatening the world, Eisenhower along with the leaders of the British, French, and Russian governments, met at Geneva in July 1955. The President proposed that the United States and Russia exchange blueprints of each other's military establishments and "provide within our countries facilities for aerial photography to the other country." The Russians greeted the proposal with silence, but were so cordial throughout the meetings that tensions relaxed. In November of 1955 he was elected for his second term.

In domestic policy the President pursued a middle course, continuing most of the New Deal and Fair Deal programs, emphasizing a balanced budget. As desegregation of schools began, he sent troops into Little Rock, Arkansas, to assure compliance with the orders of a Federal court; he also ordered the complete desegregation of the Armed Forces. "There must be no second class citizens in this country," he wrote. Eisenhower concentrated on maintaining world peace. He watched with pleasure the development of his "atoms for peace" program--the loan of American uranium to "have not" nations for peaceful purposes. Before he left office in January 1961, for his farm in Gettysburg, he urged the necessity of maintaining an adequate military strength, but cautioned that vast, long-continued military expenditures could breed potential dangers to our way of life. He concluded with a prayer for peace "in the goodness of time." Both themes remained timely and urgent when he died, after a long illness, on March 28, 1969.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jt10.html

http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/ike/ike.htm

http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/eisenhower

http://americanhistory.about.com/od/johntyler/p/ptyler.htm

http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/tyler

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=t000450