Before Captain John Tyler became president, he led a milita to defend the city of Richmond during the War of 1812.
During the war, John Tyler had a law practice in Richmond Virginia. From 1816 to 1821, John Tyler served on the U.S. House of Representatives, as Virginia Governor from 1825 to 1827, as U.S. Senator from 1827 to 1836, and in 1841 he became the first U.S. Vice President to succeed to the presidency after the death of President William Henry Harrison.
In January 1861, John Tyler set up a “Peace Conference” which proposed to establish the Missouri Compromise all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. House of Representatives refused to vote on the former President’s proposal, the U.S. Senate rejected it and President Abraham Lincoln voiced his disapproval of the proposal.
A mere two months after the peace conference was organized, former President John Taylor voted to have the state of Virginia succeed from the Union.
Hamilton Historical Records 