Tyler Precedent

The Tyler Precedent is the constitutional and political precedent set in 1841 by John Tyler, the vice president of the United States who ascended as president upon the death of President William Henry Harrison. At the time, the Constitution was unclear about whether the vice president should become president or merely act in that capacity upon a president's death. Asserting the former interpretation over the latter, Tyler had himself sworn in as president, moved into the White House, and assumed full presidential powers. Though a politically contentious move, Tyler's position won out and became the norm for presidential successions. Between Tyler's presidency and the passage of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution codifying this arrangement, seven more individuals succeeded to the presidency in Tyler's manner.