John Tyler was the 10th President of the United States, after briefly being the tenth vice president in 1841 he ascended to the presidency after William Henry Harrison's death (who passed away from pneumonia one month after he was elected). Tyler was the first vice president to become chief executive due to the death of his predecessor, setting a precedent that continued to occur in the future.
Tyler was born on March 29, 1790, in a good standing family in Virginia. He began his political career in 1811 when he was elected to the Virginia legislature at the age of 21. He served as a United States Representative (1817-21), as state governor (1825-27), and as a United States Senator (1827-36). After the end of his presidency, Tyler moved to his 1200-acre plantation and raised a family with his second wife. Tyler died at the age of 71 on January 18, 1862, in Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy.