John Tyler: Unexpected

约翰·泰勒：意外的

VOA Learning English presents America’s Presidents.
美国之音慢速英语之介绍美国总统栏目。

Today we are talking about a vice president. John Tyler was William Henry Harrison’s partner on the ticket in the 1840 election; he was the “Tyler” of the campaign slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.”
今天，我们来谈论一位副总统。1840年总统大选时，约翰·泰勒是威廉·亨利·哈里森的选票搭档；他就是竞选口号“蒂珀卡努和泰勒”中的“泰勒”。

But only one month into his term as president, Harrison unexpectedly died. He was the first U.S. president to die in office. Today, Americans accept that when that happens, the vice president becomes the president. But in 1841, no one really knew what to do.
但哈里森当了一个月总统就意外死亡了，他是第一位在位时去世的总统。现今，美国接受总统去世时副总统接过职位。但在1841年，没人知道该怎么做。

So people turned to the Constitution.
所以人们诉诸宪法。

It said if the president is removed from office, or if he dies, resigns, or is not able to perform his duties, his power and responsibility is given to the vice president.
宪法上表明，如果总统被免职、死亡、辞职，或无法履行职责，他的权利和责任将会转交给副总统。

But the meaning of those words was unclear. Did the vice president really become the president, or did the vice president just act like the president?
但是那些词的表达不够清晰。副总统是真正成为总统？还是只是代理总统？

The Constitution may not have been clear, but John Tyler was. He claimed that, after Harrison’s death, he really was the president.
宪法没有明确规定，但是约翰·泰勒很明确。他声称，哈里森死后他就是总统。

Tyler made sure he was quickly sworn-in. He answered only to the title “president.” He even refused to open letters that were sent to “Acting President Tyler.”
泰勒确保自己迅速宣誓成为总统。他只会以总统身份回答问题。他甚至拒绝打开称呼他“代理总统泰勒”的信件。

Eventually, Americans accepted John Tyler was the nation’s 10th president.
最终，美国人接受了约翰·泰勒作为国家第十任总统。

But some Americans were not happy about that fact. During his presidency, all but one of Tyler’s cabinet advisors resigned, and members of his own party tried to impeach him.
但是，一些美国人并不乐于接受这个事实。在泰勒任期内，除了一位，其他所有的内阁顾问都辞职了，而且他自己党派的成员还试着去弹劾他。

Early life 早期生活

Tyler was from the southern state of Virginia, home to five earlier U.S. presidents. Like many of the leaders before him, he was a lawyer from an upper class family who owned slaves. He strongly supported the power of the states against the federal government, expansion of slavery, and rule by a small, elite group.
泰勒来自南部的弗吉尼亚州，早期五位美国总统的家乡。像许多在他之前的总统一样，他是一位律师，来自一个拥有奴隶的上层家庭。他强烈支持各州反对联邦政府的力量，奴隶制的扩张，以及小精英团体的统治。

But the United States was starting to change. For example, President John Quincy Adams had proposed creating a national system of roads. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 limited slavery in new states in the northwest. And in the 1830s, many white men who did not own property earned the right to vote.
但是美国已经在改变了。例如，约翰·昆西·亚当斯总统提议修建一条国家道路系统。1820年的密苏里妥协限制了西北新加入州的奴隶制。19世纪30年代，许多没有财产的白人获得了投票权。

In other words, the U.S. was becoming more national, abolitionist, and equal.
换句话说，美国正变得更加全国性、废奴主义以及平等。

Tyler resisted these changes. He fought against them as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, a governor of Virginia, and a senator.
泰勒很抵抗这些改变。作为众议员，弗吉尼亚州长和参议员，他一直与这些改变作斗争。

His fight reached a crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. The two men belonged to the same party, the Democratic Party. However, Tyler hated Jackson’s populist policies and use of presidential powers against the states.
安德鲁·杰克逊总统任期内，他的斗争遭遇了危机。这两位都属于民主党。然而，泰勒讨厌杰克逊的民粹主义政策以及利用总统权力对抗各州。

In the middle of the 1830s, Tyler joined with several other political leaders to create a new, anti-Jackson party. They were called the Whigs.
19世纪30年代中期，泰勒与其他几个政治领袖建立了一个反对杰克逊的新党派。他们称之为辉格党。

Presidency 总统任期

The new Whig party badly wanted to win the 1840 presidential election against Jackson’s right hand man, Martin Van Buren. They proposed John Tyler as the party’s vice presidential candidate because they hoped he would appeal to southern voters.
1840年，新兴党派辉格党迫切希望在总统大选中击败杰克逊的得力助手马丁·范布伦。辉格党推举了约翰·泰勒作为副总统候选人，因为他们希望吸引南方选民。

The Whigs succeeded. Tyler and Harrison won the election. The new party expected that they would be able to achieve many of their policy goals.
辉格党成功了，泰勒和哈里森赢得了大选。这个新兴党派期望能够实现他们的许多政策目的。

But then Harrison died, and Tyler unexpectedly became president. Tyler kept Harrison’s cabinet of top advisers. But he did not accept their advice.
但不久哈里森就死了，泰勒意外成为了总统。泰勒保留了哈里森内阁的高级顾问，但并不接受他们的建议。

Whig lawmakers presented bill after bill to Tyler, but he failed to support the measures. He believed they gave too much power to the federal government over the states.
辉格党的立法议员们提出了一个又一个法案给泰勒，但他都没有支持。他认为他们给了联邦政府太多的权利。

In anger, all but one of Tyler’s cabinet members resigned.
出于愤怒，泰勒的内阁成员除了一位都辞职了。

Then Whig leaders officially declared that Tyler was no longer part of their group. The following year they even moved to impeach him.
辉格党的领袖们官方宣称泰勒不再是他们党派的成员。次年，他们甚至去弹劾泰勒。

He became known as a president without a party.
他以没有政党的总统而闻名。

Tyler was able to achieve one major political act, however. Three days before he left office, he signed the law that made Texas a state.
然而，泰勒取得了一个主要的政治行动。在他离开总统办公室的前3天，他签署了使德克萨斯成为州的法律。

Perhaps wisely, Tyler withdrew from the next presidential election.
也许是明智地，泰勒退出了下届的总统选举。

He eventually withdrew even his support for the federal government. He became a leader in the movement for Southern secession.
最终，他甚至撤回了对联邦政府的支持。他成为了南方独立运动的领袖。

In other words, he believed the Southern states had the right to separate from the North and leave the Union. In time, the separation between the South and North would lead to the Civil War.
也就是说，他认为南方各州拥有从北方分离，脱离联盟的权利。最终，南北分离导致了内战。

Family 家庭

Tyler was an unusual president. He took office in an unusual way, and he took the unusual step of vetoing legislative action proposed by his own party.
泰勒是一位不同寻常的总统。他以不寻常的方式上任总统，并以不寻常的方式来否决了他自己党派的立法行为。

His family life has other unusual details. Tyler was the first president to get married while in office. He was the president with the most children. And two of his grandchildren remained alive until well into the 21^st century.
他的家庭生活更是拥有其他不寻常的细节。泰勒是第一位在任时结婚的总统，是拥有最多孩子的总统。他的两个孙子一直活到了21世纪。

In 1844, Tyler married Julia Gardiner. She was his second wife. His first wife, Letitia, had died two years earlier.
1844年，泰勒和茱莉亚·嘉丁纳结婚，这是他的二婚。他的第一个妻子利蒂希娅，2年前去世了。

John and Letitia Tyler had eight children together. Since Julia Gardiner Tyler was 24 years old -- 30 years younger than her new husband -- the two had plenty of time to have another seven children.
约翰和利蒂希娅·泰勒有8个孩子。由于茱莉亚·嘉丁纳24岁，比他的新任丈夫年轻30岁，所以他们两个有大把时间生了另外7个孩子。

And, because one of their sons had children in the 1920s, two of Tyler’s grandchildren are still alive as of early 2017.
而且，由于他们的一个儿子在20世纪20年代生了孩子，泰勒的2个孙子一直活到2017年初。

Legacy 遗产

Tyler is not remembered as a good president. But he is remembered for establishing a precedent – a way of doing something that other people have followed.
泰勒并没有以一位好总统而被记住。但他因为开了一个先例而被记住 — 其他人遵循他做某事的方式。

The Tyler precedent permitted the peaceful of transfer of power from president to vice president in 1841. And it eased the transition after other presidents have died since then.
泰勒的先例就是，1841年总统的权利和平地交接给了副总统。自那以后，这也缓和了其他总统去世后权利交接的转变。

In 1967, the Constitution was even changed to clarify what Tyler had claimed all along: when the president dies, the vice president becomes the new chief executive.
1967年，宪法甚至被改变来阐明泰勒一直声称的：当总统去世后，副总统接替总统职位。

I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.

Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

Words in This Story

slogan - n. a word or phrase that is easy to remember and is used by a group or business to attract attention - 口号

elite - n. the people who have the most wealth and status in a society - n. 精英；精华；中坚分子

abolitionist - n. a person who wants to stop or abolish slavery - 废奴主义者

populist - n. 平民主义者；民粹派；adj. 民粹主义的（等于populistic）；平民主义的

badly - adv. 非常，很

right-hand man - 左右手；左膀右臂；得力助手

achieve - v. to get or reach (something) by working hard - 实现

secession - n. the act of separating from a nation or state and becoming independent - 脱离，分离

transfer - v. to give rights to another person - 转移权利

all along - 自始至终，一直

executive - n. a person who manages or directs other people in a company or organization - 总经理，行政长官