Even though by 1840 there were signs that the
economy was beginning to recover (though the psychology of recovery
takes longer to register among the people than the material fact of
economic recovery itself), Van Buren faced a major uphill battle for
reelection. His efforts to hold at arm's length the question of slavery
had only alienated much of his following in the Democratic Party.
Besides, he was facing the war hero of Tippecanoe, William Henry
Harrison, who though he once was a states'-rights Democrat was now
running as a moderate Whig. However what his precise views on politics
happened to be was largely a mystery to most everyone. His running
mate, the Virginian John Tyler, he too being a Whig moderate, was also
hard to pin down as to where he actually stood on a number of issues.
Thus the campaign slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" gave the American
voter little idea of what a vote for this team actually would mean if
they were successful.
The importance of Tyler however would
arise soon, for the aged Harrison caught a cold delivering his overly
long inaugural address and died of pneumonia only one month into
office. Tyler quickly cleared up the uncertainties of the Constitution
about exactly what was to be the actual capacity of a vice president
occupying a vacated presidency by assuming the title and the full
powers of the presidency.
Tyler's presidency however would be
marked by controversy, much of it involving a personal rivalry which
developed between Clay and himself. And it would first arise over the
old question of the Bank of the United States (BUS), seemingly a source
of constant controversy within American politics. Clay championed the
bill for a new BUS – which Tyler vetoed, not liking some of the
provisions concerning BUS lending to local bank branches (he actually
was not opposed to the BUS in general). Clay pushed through another
attempt, this time mostly as a personal challenge to Tyler, who vetoed
it a second time. At this point Clay began to maneuver within the Whig
party to undercut the party's own Whig president! Under the urging of
Clay, the cabinet Tyler inherited from Harrison soon abandoned him.
Within a short time he found himself being something of a political
loner in the White House.
High tariffs had been put in place in
earlier years to protect the budding American industry from cheaper
British industrial goods. But a schedule for the gradual reduction of
those tariffs had been put in place at the same time, the presumption
being that the industries would not continue to need such protection as
they matured. But it had come to the point that these tariffs were a
major source of income for the federal government. Consequently, a mood
grew within Congress (under Whig domination) to delay putting into
effect those tariff reductions. Thus the Whigs proposed new laws to
postpone these scheduled reductions – which Tyler vetoed.
Finally with a third attempt by Congress,
Tyler agreed to some delay in the reductions, but under the conditions
that federal monies would not be used to fund the operations of state
governments. But this undercut the deal that Whigs had with the
Democrats to keep them cooperating with the Whigs in Congress. The
Democrats, seeing the potential loss of financial rewards for their
state supporters, abandoned the Whigs in the 1842 election. The unhappy
Democrats ran quite successfully by pointing out this loss to their
voters. This in turn caused the Whigs to lose their place of leadership
in the House, which the Democrats now took over. Tyler, of course, was
blamed for it all.
The 1840 National election
Van Buren had little likelihood of being reelected because of the 1837 Economic Panic and depression
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
"Tippecanoe" Harrison died after only a month in office as U.S. president because he had spoken at length at his inauguration ... and caught a cold which turned into pneumonia.
Now
as president Tyler had constant problems with Congress: with Clay
in competition for control of the Bank of the US (BUS) and his own Whig
Party over the reduction (or not) of the huge tariffs scheduled to go
into effect automatically.
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THE WEBSTER-ASHBURTON TREATY |
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In the field of foreign relations Tyler was more
successful, backing his secretary of state, Daniel Webster, in
negotiating with the British diplomat, Lord Ashburton, a
Canadian-American border treaty ... while also confirming the 1818
agreement setting the border west of there to the Rockies along the
49th parallel.
This treaty finally put to an end a
number of crises that had occurred over defining exactly where the
border was located between the U.S. and Canada (from Maine in the East
to the Rocky Mountains in the West).1
1But
the treaty left undefined the Canadian-American border west of the
Rockies – that is, the Oregon Territory – which would remain in dispute
until resolved by the Pakenham-Buchanan Treaty of 1846.
Go on to the next section: James Polk and the Mexican-American War
 Miles
H. Hodges
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Tippecanoe and Tyler Too"
The Webster-Ashburton Treaty (Canadian-American border)