Tyler Administration - Career

Career

Tyler's rapid rise to prominence, made much easier by his father's good name, began when he was licensed to practice law at the age of 19. Two years later he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he served from 1811 through 1816. He later served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1817 to 1821, as governor of Virginia from 1825 to 1827, and in the U.S. Senate from 1827 to 1836. Throughout his early career Tyler never wavered from his staunch support of states's rights. As a strict constructionist he opposed the Bank of the United States (referred to as the BUS), on the grounds that the Constitution did not provide Congress with the power to charter it. He also was against internal improvements at federal expense.

In fact, one of Tyler's first politically important acts was to introduce a censure of Virginia's U.S. senators in 1811 (Tyler was a state legislator at the time, and U.S. senators were chosen...

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