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Extremely rare ALS as vice president, one page, 7.25 x 9, Brown's Indian Queen Hotel letterhead, March 7, 1841. Handwritten letter to Captain Emmanuel Leigh in Illinois, in full: "Your letter of the 23. February is before me and as the readiest mode of bringing its contents before the proper Department, I shall submit it either to the President or the Secretary of State. I shall do so the more readily as I am intensely opposed to the proscriptive policy for mere opinion's sake. I remember well our service together at Ch's. City Court House, and the regard I then entertained for you is still undiminished." Addressed on the reverse in Tyler's hand, and franked in the upper right: "Free, J. Tyler, V.P." In fine condition, with some light toning and soiling. Encapsulated in a PSA/DNA authentication holder.
During the War of 1812, after the British capture of Hampton, Virginia, John Tyler organized a militia company, the Charles City Rifles, to defend Richmond. Emanuel Leigh was a major in the War of 1812, apparently serving alongside Tyler in the defense of Virginia's capital. In the aftermath of the war, Leigh lost his wealth, turned against slavery, freed his slaves, and migrated to Indiana, then Illinois, where he supported himself as a merchant and farmer.
Tyler, having just been inaugurated as vice president in the administration of President William Henry Harrison, had arrived in Washington in January and took a room at Brown's Indian Queen Hotel, from where he penned this letter. He expresses his strict opposition to the 'spoils system,' or "proscriptive policy," which saw federal offices given to friends, supporters, and cronies. Vice President Tyler's position was largely ignored by President Harrison as he began to promise appointments to political allies. However, those promised positions were threatened by Harrison's unexpected death on April 4, 1841, just 30 days into his presidency.
Writes Carl Russell Fish in 'The Civil Service and the Patronage' (1905): 'The sudden death of Harrison and the accession of John Tyler spread consternation through the ranks of the Whig office-seekers. It was feared that he might be unwilling to remove Democrats; but, as Greeley says, 'he turned out better than had been expected.' Tyler felt bound by the hopes that General Harrison had excited, and appointed many to whom the latter had promised places, but whom he did not live long enough to commission.'
Given Harrison's early demise, any autographs of John Tyler as vice president are excessively rare—he filled the position for just a month before ascending to the nation's highest office. On Tuesday, April 6, 1841, Tyler was inaugurated as president at Brown's Indian Queen Hotel—as represented on this letterhead. Tyler took the oath of office in the hotel lobby, administered by William Cranch, the chief judge of the United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia. This marked the first non-scheduled, extraordinary inauguration to ever take place in American history.
