(1790–1862), 10th president of the US 1841–45. A Virginia Whig, he served as US congressman 1817–21, governor of Virginia 1825–27, US senator 1827–36, and US vice president 1841. He succeeded to the presidency upon the death of President William H. Harrison. Noted for securing the annexation of Texas (1845), throughout his political career he advocated states' rights. His alliance with Southern Democrats on this issue accentuated the divide between North and South prior to the Civil War.