[6] Tyler was of frail health, thin and prone to diarrhea throughout life.[7] At age 12, he continued a Tyler family tradition and entered the preparatory branch of the College of William and Mary. Tyler graduated from the school's collegiate branch in 1807, at age 17. Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations helped form his economic views, and he acquired a lifelong love of William Shakespeare. Bishop James Madison, the college's president, served as a second father and mentor to Tyler.[8]
After graduation, Tyler read the law with his father, then a state judge, and later with Edmund Randolph, former United States Attorney General.[9]

Planter and lawyer
Tyler was admitted to the Virginia bar at the age of 19 (too young to be eligible, but the admitting judge neglected to ask his age). By this time, his father was governor of Virginia, and the young Tyler started a legal practice in Richmond, the state capital.[9] According to the 1810 federal census, one “John Tyler” (presumably his father) owned eight slaves in Richmond,[10] and possibly five slaves in adjoining Henrico County,[11] and possibly 26 slaves in Charles City County.