JOHN TYLER: CHAMPION OF THE OLD SOUTH
by Oliver Perry Chitwood
ISBN 978-0-945707-02-8 $32.50
468 pages plus appendixes and index
This interesting, and at the same time scholarly, biography
unearths the memory of the tenth president of the United States from the
grave of ignominy in which it has been buried by slander and vituperation
and enables it to stand forth as that of an able, patriotic, and courageous
statesman.
The book tells the story of the public and private life of
John Tyler, appraises his character, and reveals his rightful place in the
history of the United States. Despite the calumnies hurled against
him by his political enemies and repeated by some modern historians, President
Tyler stands forth from this study as a statesman of ability, courage, and
honesty, entitled to considerably more credit than is usually accorded him
for the notable measures of his administration, especially the negotiations
that led to a settlement of the northeast boundary controversy and the annexation
of Texas. The book presents all the evidence now available that has
any significant bearing on the century-old dispute as to the part played by
Tyler in the bank controversy with the Whigs.
Based upon a careful study of contemporary source material
such as Tyler’s correspondence, newspapers, diaries and memoirs, public documents,
etc., this, the only adequate biography of Tyler now available, fills a real
need both of the layman and of the student of American History.
