By Burt Ross, Columnist
Okay, I understand exactly what you are thinking. Who is Harrison Tyler, and why am I writing about his death? Stay tuned.
I recently read in a newspaper that Harrison Ruffin Tyler died at the age of 96. He just so happened to be the grandson of John Tyler. Again, I can hear you asking “who was John Tyler?” Well, for your information, John Tyler was the 10th president of these United States. Harrison Tyler was born 83 years after his grandfather left the White House in 1845.
John Tyler and his grandson Harrison pretty much covered the lifespan of our country. John Tyler was born in 1790, not long after we declared our independence from the British. He became the first sitting vice-president to become president when in 1841, then President William Henry Harrison (apparently Harrison can be a first or last name) forgot to wear an overcoat at his inauguration and died a month after he was sworn in. We know one thing for certain — President Harrison did not have a Jewish mother, or there is no way in hell she would have let him go out in freezing weather without dressing warmly.
President Tyler was known as the “accidental president” for the way he became the country’s chief executive, but he could have also earned his nickname by the number of children he sired — 15 with two wives. President Tyler sired Harrison’s father Lyon Gardiner Tyler Sr. when he was 63, and Lyon followed in his father’s tradition of late siring by having Harrison at the ripe old age of 75. Those Tyler men were quite virile, and based on their collective longevity, I would guess they never went out into the cold without an overcoat.