Why did John Tyler join the Whig party? Why did Whigs include him on their ticket?
Starting with the Nullification Crisis of 1832-33, Tyler drifted away from the Jacksonian Democrats. And by 1836, Tyler was closer to Henry Clay’s newly formed Whigs than Jackson’s Democrats. The Whigs nominated Tyler for Vice President in 1840, hoping for support from southern states’-righters who could not stomach Jacksonian Democracy. The slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too” implied flagwaving nationalism plus a dash of southern sectionalism. You can read more about it here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presiden… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tyler#… http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/hist… Although Tyler was elected vice president as a Whig, his policies soon proved to be opposed to most of the Whig agenda,
