John Tyler Quotes
This Constitution was not made for a day, nor is it composed of such flexible materials as to be warped to the purposes of a casually ascendant influence.
Tyler, John. "Veto Message." 9 Sep. 1841. A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, edited by James D. Richardson, vol. 4, Bureau of National Literature, 1897, p. 69.
In a 1949 dissenting opinion in Terminiello v. Chicago Jackson claimed the majority view would “convert the Bill of Rights into a suicide pact.”
The English Constitution is not as binding on the English government as is the Amercan Constitution. In the English system, the government in power can override the constitution although the rarely do so out of respect for the system. In America, the Constitution is much more controlling and hence would be seen to count for more. In many third world countries, the ruler can “suspend” the constitution in a national emergency.
John Tyler was the tenth president of the United States, holding office from 1841 to 1845 after briefly serving as the tenth vice president in 1841; he was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig ticket with President William Henry Harrison. Tyler ascended to the presidency after Harrison's death in April 1841, only a month after the start of the new administration. He was a stalwart supporter and advocate of states' rights, and he adopted nationalistic policies as president only when they did not infringe on the powers of the states. His unexpected rise to the presidency posed a threat to the presidential ambitions of Henry Clay and other politicians, and left Tyler estranged from both major political parties.
