Julia Gardiner Tyler
Julia Gardiner Tyler was the first lady of the United States from June 26, 1844, to March 4, 1845, as the second wife of President John Tyler. A member of the influential Gardiner family, Tyler had many figures as suitors. She met the widowed President Tyler in 1842, and agreed to marry him after he comforted her in the aftermath of her father David Gardiner's death. They married in secret, making her first lady immediately upon their marriage, serving in the role for the final eight months of his presidency.
Tyler was delighted with her role as first lady, redecorating the White House and establishing her own "court" of ladies-in-waiting to mimic the practices of European monarchies she had visited years before. She also established the tradition of playing "Hail to the Chief" when the president arrived at an event, and she popularized the waltz and polka dances in the United States. Tyler was a fierce advocate for her husband's political priorities, organizing social events to lobby Congressmen, particularly for the Texas annexation. She is credited with revitalizing the position of first lady, both socially and politically, after several inactive first ladies before her.
After leaving the White House, Tyler moved to the Sherwood Forest Plantation in Virginia with her husband and had seven children. She became a prominent supporter of slavery in the United States, writing an influential pamphlet in 1853 that defended the practice. During the American Civil War, Tyler provided support to the Confederate States of America, creating a permanent rift with her family in New York. After the war, she was involved in a legal dispute regarding her mother's estate with her brother, who had been a loyal Unionist. Tyler returned to Washington in the 1870s as her reputation recovered, assisting first lady Julia Grant at the White House and convincing Congress to provide a pension for widowed first ladies. She spent her final years in Richmond, Virginia, living there in poor health. Tyler died of a stroke on July 10, 1889, in the same hotel where her husband had died from the same illness 27 years before.
Early life
Julia Gardiner was born on May 4, 1820, on Gardiner's Island in New York to David Gardiner, a landowner and New York State senator, and Juliana MacLachlan Gardiner. Her ancestry was Dutch, Scottish, and English, and she was the third of four children. The Gardiners were a wealthy and influential family, and she was taught to value social class and advantageous marriages. She was educated at home until she was 16 years old, and she then attended the Chagaray Institute in New York, where she studied music, French literature, ancient history, arithmetic, and composition. She was raised as a Presbyterian.As a young woman Gardiner closely followed fashions. She was introduced in Saratoga Springs, New York at the age of 15. In 1840, she shocked polite society by appearing in an advertisement for a department store, posed with an unidentified man and identified as "The Rose of Long Island". Her family took her to Europe, possibly to avoid further publicity, while the nickname "Rose of Long Island" became permanently associated with Gardiner. They first left for London, arriving on October 29, 1840. They visited England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, and Scotland before returning to New York in September 1841. While in France, she was presented to the French court, adding to her list of suitors. After returning from Europe, the Gardiners spent time in Washington, D.C.
Courtship and wedding
Courtship with President Tyler
In Washington, Gardiner and her sister Margaret accumulated so many suitors that an extra room had to be rented to entertain them. She continued to make visits to Washington over the following years. Gardiner received marriage proposals from several prominent figures, including two congressmen, a Supreme Court justice, and President John Tyler.She first met Tyler in January 1842, when she was introduced to him at a White House reception. On Gardiner's request, her family spent more time in Washington, returning in 1843. President Tyler invited Gardiner to a private game of cards on February 7, 1843, after which he playfully chased her around the tables. After his first wife Letitia Christian Tyler had died, President Tyler made it clear that he wished to be romantically involved with Gardiner. Though the Gardiner and Tyler families grew closer, Julia initially felt little attraction to the president, who was 30 years her senior. The increased time that Gardiner and President Tyler spent together prompted public speculation about their relationship. He first proposed to her at a White House Masquerade Ball on February 22, 1843, when she was 22 years old. She refused that and later proposals he made, though they reached an understanding by the following month that they would someday be wed.
On February 22, 1844, Gardiner, her sister Margaret, and their father David joined a presidential excursion on the new steam frigate Princeton. During this excursion, David Gardiner, along with others, was killed in the explosion of a huge naval gun called the Peacemaker. Gardiner is said to have fainted after learning of him dying, having President Tyler carry her off the ship. While she grieved over the death, even Gardiner acknowledged that the president had become a surrogate father. She became much more receptive to his advances over the following weeks, and agreed to marry him.
Wedding of Julia Gardiner and John Tyler
It was decided that the wedding of Gardiner and Tyler would be carried out in secret. They were wed on June 26, 1844, at the Church of the Ascension in New York. The wedding was controversial when it was announced to the public. It was the first time that a president had married while holding the office, and critics felt that it was inappropriate for him to remarry while he was president, so shortly after the death of his first wife. Their age difference was also a subject of criticism: President Tyler was 54 years old, while Gardiner was 24. Some, such as Congressman and former President John Quincy Adams, mocked the president for marrying a young bride so soon after meeting her. Julia Tyler's new stepchildren were dismayed by the marriage, especially as some of them were older than she and it was so soon after their mother's death. Her stepdaughters in particular were distrustful, though she was ultimately accepted by all of them with the exception of Letitia Semple. After her marriage, Tyler determined that she would give up being a New Yorker and identify instead as a Virginian like her husband.First Lady of the United States
White House hostess
As the wife of the president, Julia Tyler served as first lady of the United States for the final eight months of his presidency. After their marriage, they honeymooned in Washington, Old Point Comfort, and the president's privately owned Sherwood Forest Plantation. Tyler was enthralled by the crowds that followed them and the public interest in their secret wedding. After arriving at the White House, she sought to make the presidential home more extravagant; she had the building cleaned, the furniture replaced, and the staff uniforms updated. Access to the Gardiner family fortune allowed her to remake the White House more than would have otherwise been possible. She also purchased many elaborate dresses at personal expense, becoming a prominent influence in fashion. The extravagance was muted, however, by her period of mourning for her father.Tyler's sister Margaret assisted her while visiting Washington, serving as a social secretary. Tyler became a point of contact for those wishing to receive favors from the president, and the Gardiner family in particular regularly sought support from the first lady. Among her favorite requests were those for pardons and commutations by the president, and it was Tyler's interjection that spared a convict, "Babe" the pirate, from a death sentence in New York. Tyler was often the subject of human-interest stories, particularly those by Washington correspondent F. W. Thomas of the New York Herald. Thomas' coverage of her was consistently positive, and he bestowed upon her the nickname "Lady Presidentress," with which she was popularly identified.
Political influence
Tyler did not have strong political views of her own. Rather, she adopted and defended those of her husband. She encouraged her husband to pursue whatever policies he desired, and she would even flatter members of the Senate to win their support. Political considerations were always factored into social events, and Tyler used her influence to exert power in her own right. In particular, she lobbied for the annexation of Texas as she believed it would benefit her husband's legacy. Her open expression of political opinion diverged from previous first ladies, who generally expressed little interest in politics. After the president signed off on the annexation of Texas in one of his final official acts, Tyler began wearing the pen he used around her neck. Her lobbying on the Texas issue is credited as a major factor in its success. Her support for the annexation of Texas became publicly known to the point where she was identified with the topic, and it was the subject of the first political cartoon to tie a first lady to a political issue.Public image
As first lady, Tyler wished to emulate the customs of European courts. She had her own court formed from her sister, her cousins, and her daughter-in-law, who served as her ladies-in-waiting, and she invited ladies of prominent families to join her at events and receiving lines. She also kept an Italian Greyhound that accompanied her, which the president had ordered for her from Naples. Her sense of extravagance was also noted when she drove four horses and when she received guests on an armchair that was slightly elevated. To bring an element of grandiose to the presidency, she began the tradition of a presidential anthem, having "Hail to the Chief" played to announce the entry of the president.Tyler broke social norms by dancing in public, which was considered scandalous by the country's Puritan tradition. Her love for the polka helped popularize the dance in the United States. She also introduced the waltz to White House events despite the president's previous opposition to dancing. Several "Julia Waltzes" were written in her honor and saw wide success. Though Tyler was generally popular as first lady, her love of drinking and dancing earned her the ire of religious citizens amidst the Second Great Awakening. In the last month of her husband's administration, Tyler hosted a grand White House ball for 3,000 guests.