And Tyler Too: A Biography of John and Julia Gardiner Tyler (review)

Carolinas, and includes a brief tour in the peacetime navy. As a shrewd, competent observer and recorder, Boyer depicts everyday life in the squadron. He describes the horrible boredom of the blockade, the treatment of the sick, the places he visited, die sailors he met, the recreation concocted to counteract the tedium, and a host of odier items. Boyer vividly relates how the dullness was broken by occasional explosive action —the capture of the blockade runner Annie Thompson, the fight with the Confederate ram Albemarle, the hit-and-run raids along the coast. Such rich detail makes this volume a treasure-house of information on the Civil War at sea. In a short but informative preface the editors present background material about the task of the Civil War navies and compose a description of the author's character and personality. With the exception of minor changes in the text to increase readability, the Barneses have let Boyer speak for himself. The abundance of explanatory notes are invaluable, as otherwise many of the journalist's references would be unclear. So well have the editors elaborated upon the various aspects and events of the war mentioned in the diary that diis specialized work can be read with profit by the buff. Using a method that is fast becoming popular, the Barneses indent their explanations in the actual body of the text, presumably to avoid footnoting at the bottom of the page. Unfortunately this impedes the flow of Boyer's narrative, especially since the indentations tiiemselves call for annotations and citations of sources—primarily the Official Records—which appear at the back of the book. Despite this, and only run-of-the-mill illustrations, the Barneses have presented an important contribution. James M. Merrill Whittier College And Tyler Too: A Biography of John and Julia Gardiner Tyler. By Robert Seager II. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1963. Pp. xvii, 681. $12.50. ) "And Tyler Too" describes succinctly the intent of this multiple biography which the author characterizes as "an informal social history of the Tylers and the Gardiners." Professor Seager modestly states that the book pretends neither "to be a definitive study of President John Tyler" nor "the last word on his wife." The reviewer can accept the statement about the President, but believes that this volume will stand for a long time as the last word about Julia Gardiner and her family. The author's interest is primarily and admittedly in the vivacious Julia who, at the age of twenty-four, married the fifty-four-year-old widower who was President of the United States. Mr. Seager contends that as First Lady she had no rival until Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. In addition to searching the well-known manuscript collections of the Tyler era, the author has for the first time had access to some ten thousand 323 324CIVIL WAR HISTORY Gardiner family letters. The members of this wealthy New York family, especially the women, spent a great deal of time writing to each other in great detail the latest social gossip, political rumor, and family news. The reader sees John Tyler largely through these letters of Julia and her mother, brothers, and sisters—a perspective which enables the author "to humanize John Tyler" but which does not add greatly to existing knowledge of the politics of his regime. Although Seager makes no claim to supplant Oliver P. Chitwood's 1939 political biography (John Tyler: Champion of the Old South) he does bring some new explanations to the fore. After the death of Secretary of State Upsher in 1844, Tyler appointed John C. Calhoun very reluctantly, and only because Henry A. Wise of Virginia had promised the job to Calhoun and threatened to break with Tyler unless he honored the unauthorized pledge. The Calhoun appointment hindered and complicated Tyler's third-party movement. Tyler had determined to consummate the annexation of Texas. He had no expectation of being re-elected, but created his third party to force the Democrats into a solid commitment to annexation. He made this his price for supporting Polk. Polk entered this pact in July, 1844; Tyler withdrew in favor of Polk and the Democrats won. Tyler...