President John Tyler Had Four Failed Nominations

There haven't been many rejected (by Senate) cabinet nominations over the history of the United States.

In fact, there have been just NINE cabinet nominations that have been rejected by the Senate over the history of the country.

18 more potential nominees have withdrawn their names from consideration - this usually occurs when something unsavory is published about them in the press, forcing them to voluntarily decline the post.

-

Of the nine cabinet nominations that were rejected by the Senate, four of these rejections belonged to President John Tyler.

Tyler, the 10th President of the United States, served for a little less than four years. Tyler was the Vice President of President William Henry Harrison and took over as President when Harrison passed away.

Tyler's first rejection came when he nominated Caleb Cushing to be Secretary of the Treasury. Cushing, who had been a member of the House and also the nation's Attorney General, was not liked by the Senate due to his previous vetoes of various legislation.

Tyler would nominate Cushing for Secretary of the Treasury three times, and the Senate would reject him every time.

Tyler used a recess appointment to name David Henshaw as the Secretary of the Navy. Henshaw's planned policies were deeply unpopular with the Senate, and his nomination was thoroughly rejected.

James Green, who served as US Attorney for the District of New Jersey, was nominated to be Secretary of the Treasury, but his nomination was ultimately rejected.

Lastly, James Madison Porter was nominated to be Secretary of War, but his nomination was almost unanimously rejected by the Senate.

In the end, President John Tyler was a deeply unpopular President who had little support in his own party.

-

No other US President has had more than one nomination rejected.

The most recent rejected Cabinet nomination was John Tower, who was nominated by
President George H.W. Bush in 1989 to be Secretary of Defense. Tower was accused of a number of things, including drunkenness and womanizing, and his nomination was ultimately rejected by the Senate.

Filed under: General Knowledge