This Official White House Ornament Features a First Lady
This Official White House Ornament Features a First Lady
Julia Gardiner Tyler’s image commemorates her husband’s tumultuous presidency.
Sharon Williams Leahy keeps the White House Historical Association’s (WHHA) 1993 collector’s Christmas ornament of First Lady Julia Gardiner Tyler in her home, where she and her husband, Christopher, will always be reminded of it. But not because Christmas is days away; rather, because this author duo is rapidly approaching the closing chapter of their biography of Julia Gardiner Tyler, the second wife of America’s 10th president, John Tyler.
“I like to inspire myself around the house,” Sharon Leahy says, adding that the 24k gold, brass-finished ornament serves as motivation to “get back to work” on their book.
On a recent mid-November morning, the couple took a moment to point out to East Wing Magazine in a Zoom interview just how poignant a decision it was for the WHHA to commemorate John Tyler (1841–1845) in their ornament series with a miniature replica portrait of his first lady. It’s the only ornament in the association’s series that commemorates a presidency by featuring a first lady.
Author of President Without a Party: The Life of John Tyler, Christopher Leahy, who had long been fascinated by why John Tyler was reviled by his own political party, shares his thoughts on the rationale of the ornament design:
“Tyler is known for three things,” he says. “He's known for being kicked out of his own party, which I would think doesn't translate very well to a Christmas ornament. He's known for the annexation of Texas, which might strike some people as not being sufficiently national enough for an ornament. And he's also known for a little-known treaty: the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, which settled the boundary between Maine and Canada. Again, not something that I think is sufficiently national in scope.”
Given all of this, the Leahys believe that looking to Julia Gardiner Tyler, the first lady, as the focal point of the ornament made perfect sense.
“I think his marriage to Julia Gardiner … probably represented the best approach to commemorating his presidency,” says Christopher Leahy. “And I think that was probably a wise move.”
“I think his marriage to Julia Gardiner … probably represented the best approach to commemorating his presidency,” says Christopher Leahy. “And I think that was probably a wise move.”
Commemorative ornaments
The White House Historical Association’s ornament program was launched in 1981 as a way to benefit the organization's mission of education and support for the historical preservation of White House art and artifacts. The association itself was the vision of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961 to educate the public about the history of the White House and its occupants. There’s an ornament honoring Kennedy for her preservation efforts in the collection.
Each year, the WHHA releases an ornament that commemorates a president or significant White House anniversary. This year, its official Christmas ornament is a festive holiday wreath adorned on the front with decorations inspired by handcrafted ornaments used in the White House during the Gerald R. Ford administration. A new designer each year helps conceive the ornaments that are manufactured by ChemArt, a veteran-founded small business in Rhode Island, according to the WHHA.
The ornament series is a primary source of support for the WHHA. The nonprofit sells about 100,000 ornaments annually, Stewart McLaurin, president of the Association, explains in a recent episode of The 1600 Sessions program.
Every single aspect of the ornaments’ designs has meaning. The John Tyler ornament features a miniature replica of a Francesco Anelli portrait of Julia Gardiner that resembles a cameo. Framing the portrait are garlands of, perhaps, roses, says Sharon Williams Leahy, who suspects this choice symbolizes Julia Gardiner’s moniker “The Rose of Long Island,” which she was given before her marriage because of her beauty and social status.
“There could not be a more important image if you want to talk about the importance of Julia Gardiner Tyler and her role in the legacy of the importance of the first lady,” says Sharon Williams Leahy.
“There could not be a more important image if you want to talk about the importance of Julia Gardiner Tyler and her role in the legacy of the importance of the first lady,” says Sharon Williams Leahy.
A vice president ascends to power
It helps to understand John Tyler to appreciate Julia Gardiner Tyler on the commemorative ornament. Elected vice president in 1840 on the Whig ticket, Tyler ascended to power following the sudden death of President William Henry Harrison just 31 days after his term began — the shortest presidency in American history. In turn, that made Tyler the first vice president to succeed to the presidency.
But it wasn’t long before the Whig party became frustrated with John Tyler’s policies, particularly his “exchequer system” that proposed a sound currency and a system to safeguard public funds. Tyler vetoed a bill passed by Congress that proposed establishing a national banking system with branches in several states. His party, in retaliation, expelled him. That prompted all but one member of his cabinet to resign. And a year later, when John Tyler vetoed a tariff bill, the House of Representatives introduced an impeachment resolution.
It was John Tyler’s personal life that became a bright spot in the latter years of his presidency. When John Tyler entered the White House, he was married to Letitia Christian Tyler (his first wife), who served as first lady from 1841 until her death in 1842 at age 51. She was partially incapacitated from a stroke, Christopher Leahy says, that kept her confined to an invalid’s chair. She was the youngest first lady to pass away and only one of three to die in the White House. Because of her illness, she did not take on the traditional White House host duties. Instead, her daughter-in-law, Priscilla Cooper Tyler, assumed the role.
In 1844, John Tyler married Julia Gardiner, the eye-catching daughter of a prominent New York family. He was the first president to marry in office, and she served as first lady for the remaining eight months of Tyler’s term. The marriage captivated Americans, according to Sharon Williams Leahy. To begin with, the wedding took place in secret and was kept quiet until the couple returned to the White House. Plus, Julia Gardiner Tyler was 30 years younger than her presidential spouse.
“It was an amazing feat to be able to get married to a sitting president without anyone really knowing about it, and surprising the general public,” Sharon Williams Leahy says. “And he certainly needed it in his administration because he was struggling politically in just about every policy he was pursuing.”
The marriage also marked the first time a wife of a president returned to the White House to serve as host since First Lady Louisa Catherine Adams, wife of President John Quincy Adams (1825–1829), says Christopher Leahy. In the administrations in between, surrogates took on the duties of first lady.
“Newspaper accounts at the time show that people were excited that there was an actual president’s wife who was serving as first lady. And that in and of itself was cause for celebration in official Washington,” Christopher Leahy says.
The portrait
The Anelli portrait, an oil painting by the Italian-born artist, was likely painted at the Tylers’ Sherwood Forest plantation in Virginia, according to the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.
In 1868, the former first lady visited then-President Andrew Johnson and suggested to him that portraits of presidents’ spouses should be hung in the White House in addition to those of the presidents. She then nudged Johnson further in February of 1869 in a letter where she informed him she would send him her portrait, suggesting it be hung in one of the first-floor reception rooms.
“It was the first, first lady portrait donated to the White House,” Sharon Williams Leahy says. “So, you can’t dismiss that.”
In her correspondence with Johnson, Julia Gardiner Tyler advocated for the legacy of first ladies, writing that the ladies who help dispense the hospitalities of the executive residence are very important, Sharon Williams Leahy says. “She wanted that acknowledgement.”
“The White House Historical Association couldn’t have picked a better image to display on that ornament,” she adds. “It’s that important of a portrait.”
“The White House Historical Association couldn’t have picked a better image to display on that ornament,” Sharon Williams Leahy adds. “It’s that important of a portrait.”
Even with Julia Gardiner Tyler’s cajoling, the White House, at the time, didn’t display her portrait. Instead, Sharon Williams Leahy says, the portrait was stored in the attic. But Julia Gardiner Tyler was persistent. In 1871, she wrote to then-First Lady Julia Grant, wife of the United States war hero and 18th president Ulysses S. Grant (1869–1877). She asked about the whereabouts of her portrait. Together, Sharon Williams Leahy says, they found it in the White House attic. Mrs. Grant eventually displayed the portrait, but not in one of the first-floor reception rooms. It was hung in the parlor room of the first lady’s personal residence.
Julia Gardiner Tyler had one of the shortest tenures as first lady, but her marriage to John Tyler re-inaugurated a president’s spouse taking an important role in the administration, Christopher Leahy says. For example, he explains, she played a tangential role in lobbying for the annexation of Texas with some of the social events she planned. There’s a celebrated story about her persuading John C. Calhoun, a controversial secretary of state, to stay the course and keep pursuing the annexation.
In fact, the pursuit of the Texas annexation has some researchers describing the first lady “just as associated with the issue as the president,” according to the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.
Her presence in Washington, D.C., social circles bolstered her husband’s image, as she frequently courted journalists and dined with members of the government, some of whom had been former admirers, according to the Miller Center. Historical accounts indicate that her social prowess translated to political power, which she used to advance her husband’s political agenda. Following her time in the White House, she defended slavery in a published letter and later encouraged her sons to fight for the Confederacy. Struggling financially after her husband’s death and the Civil War, Tyler lobbied Congress for a widow’s pension, which she was granted in 1880.
Yet it is the portrait, and perhaps even this ornament, that most vividly reflects her influence.
“It's a very important step in the role of the first lady having recognition,” Sharon Williams Leahy says. “Which they should have.”