It is generally held in low esteem by historians; Edward P. Crapol began his biography John Tyler, the Accidental President (2006) by noting: "Other biographers and historians have argued that John Tyler was a hapless and inept chief executive whose presidency was seriously flawed."[179] In The Republican Vision of John Tyler (2003), Dan Monroe observed that the Tyler presidency "is generally ranked as one of the least successful".[180] Seager wrote that Tyler "was neither a great president nor a great intellectual", adding that despite a few achievements, "his administration has been and must be counted an unsuccessful one by any modern measure of accomplishment".[1] A survey of historians conducted by C-SPAN in 2021 ranked Tyler as 39th of 44 men to hold the office.[181]
In 2002, bucking the trend of historically poor evaluations of Tyler's presidency, historian Richard P. McCormick said "[contrary] to accepted opinion, John Tyler was a strong President. He established the precedent that the vice president, on succeeding to the presidential office, should be president. He had firm ideas on public policy, and he was disposed to use the full authority of his office."