title: John Tyler

text: By mid-1841, the federal government faced a projected budget deficit of $11 million. Tyler recognized the need for higher tariffs, but wished to stay within the 20% rate created by the 1833 Compromise Tariff. He also supported a plan to distribute to the states any revenue from the sales of public land, as an emergency measure to manage the states' growing debt, even though this would cut federal revenue. The Whigs supported high protectionist tariffs and national funding of state infrastructure, and so there was enough overlap to forge a compromise. The Distribution Act of 1841 created a distribution program, with a ceiling on tariffs at 20%; a second bill increased tariffs to that figure on previously low-tax goods. Despite these measures, by March 1842 it had become clear that the federal government was still in dire fiscal straits.


title: John Tyler

text: The root of the trouble was an economic crisis—initiated by the Panic of 1837—that was entering its sixth year in 1842. A speculative bubble had burst in 1836–39, causing a collapse of the financial sector and a subsequent depression. The country became deeply divided over the best response to the crisis. Conditions got even worse in early 1842 because a deadline was looming. A decade earlier, when the economy was strong, Congress had promised Southern states that there would be a reduction in hated federal tariffs. Northern states welcomed tariffs, which protected their infant industries. But the South had no industrial base and depended on open access to British markets for their cotton. In a recommendation to Congress, Tyler lamented that it would be necessary to override the Compromise Tariff of 1833 and raise rates beyond the 20 percent limit. Under the previous deal, this would suspend the distribution program, with all revenues going to the federal government.


title: John Tyler

text: The defiant Whig Congress would not raise tariffs in a way that would affect the distribution of funds to states. In June 1842 they passed two bills that would raise tariffs and unconditionally extend the distribution program. Believing it improper to continue distribution at a time when federal revenue shortage necessitated increasing the tariff, Tyler vetoed both bills, burning any remaining bridges between himself and the Whigs. Congress tried again, combining the two into one bill; Tyler vetoed it again, to the dismay of many in Congress, who nevertheless failed to override the veto. As some action was necessary, Whigs in Congress, led by the House Ways and Means chairman Millard Fillmore, passed in each house (by one vote) a bill restoring tariffs to 1832 levels and ending the distribution program. Tyler signed the Tariff of 1842 on August 30, pocket vetoing a separate bill to restore distribution.


title: John Tyler

text: In May 1841, President Tyler appointed three private citizens to investigate fraud in the New York Customs House that supposedly took place under President Martin Van Buren. The commission was led by George Poindexter, former governor, and Mississippi U.S. Senator. The commission uncovered fraudulent activities by Jesse D. Hoyt, the New York Collector under Van Buren. The commission's investigation caused controversy with the Whig-controlled Congress, which demanded to see the investigation report and was upset that Tyler paid the commission without Congressional approval. Tyler responded and said it was his constitutional duty to enforce the laws. When the report was finished on April 29, 1842, the House asked for the report, and Tyler complied. Poindexter's report proved embarrassing to the Whig New York Collector as well as to Hoyt. To curb Tyler's power, Congress passed an appropriations law that made it illegal for the president to appropriate money to investigators without Congressional approval.


title: John Tyler

text: Shortly after the tariff vetoes, Whigs in the House of Representatives initiated that body's first impeachment proceedings against a president. The congressional ill will towards Tyler derived from the basis for his vetoes; until the presidency of the Whigs' archenemy Andrew Jackson, presidents rarely vetoed bills, and then only on grounds of constitutionality. Tyler's actions were in opposition to the presumed authority of Congress to make policy. Congressman John Botts, who opposed Tyler, introduced an impeachment resolution on July 10, 1842. Botts levied nine formal articles of impeachment for "high crimes and misdemeanors" against Tyler. Six of the charges against Tyler pertained to political abuse of power, while three concerned his alleged misconduct in office. Additionally, Botts called for a nine-member committee to investigate Tyler's behavior, with the expectation of a formal impeachment recommendation. Clay found this measure prematurely aggressive and favored a more moderate progression toward Tyler's "inevitable" impeachment. Botts's resolution was tabled until January when it was rejected by a vote of 127 to 83.


title: John Tyler

text: A House select committee headed by John Quincy Adams, an ardent abolitionist who disliked slaveholders like Tyler, condemned Tyler's use of the veto and assailed his character. While the committee's report did not formally recommend impeachment, it clearly established the possibility, and in August 1842 the House endorsed the committee's report. Adams sponsored a constitutional amendment to change both houses' two-thirds requirement for overriding vetoes to a simple majority, but neither house approved it. The Whigs were unable to pursue further impeachment proceedings in the subsequent 28th Congress—in the elections of 1842, they retained a majority in the Senate but lost control of the House. On the last day of Tyler's term in office, March 3, 1845, Congress overrode his veto of a minor bill relating to revenue cutters—the first override of a presidential veto.


title: John Tyler

text: Tyler was not without support in Congress, including fellow Virginia Congressman Henry Wise. A handful of House members, known as the "Corporal's Guard", led by Wise, supported Tyler throughout his struggles with the Whigs. As a reward, Tyler appointed Wise U.S. Minister to Brazil in 1844.


title: John Tyler

text: Tyler's difficulties in domestic policy contrasted with his accomplishments in foreign policy. He had long been an advocate of expansionism toward the Pacific and free trade, and was fond of evoking themes of national destiny and the spread of liberty in support of these policies. His positions were largely in line with Jackson's earlier efforts to promote American commerce across the Pacific. Eager to compete with Great Britain in international markets, he sent lawyer Caleb Cushing to China, where he negotiated the terms of the Treaty of Wanghia (1844). The same year, he sent Henry Wheaton as a minister to Berlin, where he negotiated and signed a trade agreement with the "Zollverein", a coalition of German states that managed tariffs. This treaty was rejected by the Whigs, mainly as a show of hostility toward the Tyler administration. Tyler advocated an increase in military strength and this drew praise from naval leaders, who saw a marked increase in warships.


title: John Tyler

text: In an 1842 special message to Congress, Tyler also applied the Monroe Doctrine to Hawaii (dubbed the "Tyler Doctrine"), told Britain not to interfere there, and began a process that led to the eventual annexation of Hawaii by the United States.


title: John Tyler

text: A foreign crisis erupted in an offshoot of the Aroostook War, that ended in 1839. Citizens of Maine clashed with citizens New Brunswick over disputed territory, that covered 12,000 square miles. In 1841, an American ship, the "Creole" was transporting slaves from Virginia to New Orleans. A mutiny took place, and the ship was captured by the British and taken to the Bahamas. The British refused to return the slaves to their masters. Tyler's Secretary of State, Daniel Webster, eager to settle the matter with England, had Tyler's full support and confidence. In 1842, the British dispatched emissary Lord Ashburton (Alexander Baring) to the United States. Soon favorable negotiations were started.


title: John Tyler

text: The negotiations culminated in the Webster–Ashburton Treaty, which determined the border between Maine and Canada. That issue had caused tension between the U.S. and Britain for decades and had brought the two countries to the brink of war on several occasions. The treaty improved Anglo-American diplomatic relations. To resolve the slave issue, the U.S. and England agreed to grant the "right to visit" when ships from both nations were suspected of holding slaves. Additionally, in a joint oceanic venture, a U.S. squadron, and the British fleet would cooperate and stop slave trafficking off of African waters.


title: John Tyler

text: The issue of the Oregon border in the West was another matter and was attempted to be resolved during the negotiations of the Webster–Ashburton Treaty. At this time Britain and the United States shared Oregon by joint occupation, according to the Convention of 1818. American settlement had been minimal compared to the British, whose fur trading Hudson Bay Company established posts in the Columbia River Valley northward. During the negotiations, the British wanted to divide the territory on the Columbia River. This was unacceptable to Webster, who demanded that Britain pressure Mexico cede California's San Francisco Bay to the United States. The Tyler administration was unsuccessful in concluding a treaty with the British to fix Oregon's boundaries.


title: John Tyler

text: Tyler had an interest in the vast territory west of the Rockies known as Oregon, which extended from the northern boundary of California (42° parallel) to the southern boundary of Alaska (54°40′ north latitude). As early as 1841, he urged Congress to establish a chain of American forts from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to the Pacific. The American forts would be used to protect American settlers on a route or trail to Oregon.


title: John Tyler

text: Tyler's presidency had two popular successes in western exploration, including Oregon, Wyoming, and California. Captain John C. Frémont completed two interior scientific expeditions (1842 and 1843-1844), which opened the West to American emigration. In his 1842 expedition, Frémont boldly climbed a mountain in Wyoming, "Frémont's Peak" (13,751 feet), planted an American flag, and symbolically claimed the Rocky Mountains and the West for the United States. In his second expedition starting in 1843, Frémont and his party entered Oregon following the Oregon Trail. Traveling west on the Columbia River, Frémont sighted the Cascade Range peaks and mapped Mount St. Helens and Mount Hood. In early March 1844, Frèmont and his party descended the American River valley to Sutter's Fort in Mexican California. Given a cordial greeting by John Sutter, Frémont talked to American settlers, who were growing numerous, and discovered Mexican authority over California was very weak. Upon Frémont's triumphal return from his second expedition, at General Winfield Scott's request, Tyler promoted Frémont with a double brevet.


title: John Tyler

text: On Tyler's last full day in office, March 3, 1845, Florida was admitted to the Union as the 27th state.


title: John Tyler

text: In May 1842 when the Dorr Rebellion in Rhode Island came to a head, Tyler pondered the request of the governor and legislature to send in federal troops to help suppress it. The insurgents under Thomas Dorr had armed themselves and proposed to install a new state constitution. Before such acts, Rhode Island had been following the same constitutional structure that was established in 1663. Tyler called for calm on both sides and recommended that the governor enlarge the franchise to let most men vote. Tyler promised that in case an actual insurrection should break out in Rhode Island he would employ force to aid the regular, or Charter, government. He made it clear that federal assistance would be given only to put down an insurrection once underway, and would not be available until violence had taken place. After listening to reports from his confidential agents, Tyler decided that the 'lawless assemblages' had dispersed and expressed his confidence in a "temper of conciliation as well as of energy and decision" without the use of federal forces. The rebels fled the state when the state militia marched against them, but the incident led to broader suffrage in the state.


title: John Tyler

text: The Seminoles were the last remaining Indians in the South who had been induced to sign a fraudulent treaty in 1833, taking away their remaining lands. Under Chief Osceola, the Seminoles for a decade resisted removal harassed by U.S. troops. Tyler brought the long, bloody, and inhumane Seminole War to an end in May 1842, in a message to Congress. Tyler expressed interest in the forced cultural assimilation of Native Americans.


title: John Tyler

text: In May 1842, the House demanded President Tyler's Secretary of War John Spencer hand over information of an investigation by the U.S. Army into the matter of alleged Cherokee frauds. In June, Tyler ordered Spencer not to comply. Tyler, whose executive privilege was challenged, insisted the matter was "ex parte" and against the public interest. The House responded with three resolutions, in part, that claimed the House had a right to demand information from Tyler's cabinet. The House also ordered the Army officer in charge of the investigation into the Cherokee frauds to turn over the information. Tyler made no attempt to respond until Congress returned from recess in January.


title: John Tyler

text: The battles between Tyler and the Whigs in Congress resulted in a number of his cabinet nominees being rejected. He received little support from Democrats and, without much support from either major party in Congress, a number of his nominations were rejected without regard for the qualifications of the nominee. It was then unprecedented to reject a president's nominees for his Cabinet (though in 1809, James Madison withheld the nomination of Albert Gallatin as Secretary of State because of opposition in the Senate). Four of Tyler's Cabinet nominees were rejected, the most of any president. These were Caleb Cushing (Treasury), David Henshaw (Navy), James Porter (War), and James S. Green (Treasury). Henshaw and Porter served as recess appointees before their rejections. Tyler repeatedly renominated Cushing, who was rejected three times in one day, March 3, 1843, the last day of the 27th Congress. No cabinet nomination failed after Tyler's term until Henry Stanbery's nomination as Attorney General was rejected by the Senate in 1868.


title: John Tyler

text: Two vacancies occurred on the Supreme Court during Tyler's presidency, as Justices Smith Thompson and Henry Baldwin died in 1843 and 1844, respectively. Tyler, ever at odds with Congress—including the Whig-controlled Senate—nominated several men to the Supreme Court to fill these seats. However, the Senate successively voted against confirming John C. Spencer, Reuben Walworth, Edward King and John M. Read (Walworth was rejected three times, King rejected twice). One reason cited for the Senate's actions was the hope that Clay would fill the vacancies after winning the 1844 presidential election. Tyler's four unsuccessful nominees are the most by a president.


title: John Tyler

text: Finally, in February 1845, with less than a month remaining in his term, Tyler's nomination of Samuel Nelson to Thompson's seat was confirmed by the Senate—Nelson, a Democrat, had a reputation as a careful and noncontroversial jurist. Still, his confirmation came as a surprise. Baldwin's seat remained vacant until James K. Polk's nominee, Robert Grier, was confirmed in 1846.


title: John Tyler

text: Tyler made the annexation of the Republic of Texas part of his agenda soon after becoming president. Tyler knew he was a President without a party, and was emboldened to challenge party leaders of Clay and Van Buren, unconcerned how Texas annexation would affect the Whigs or Democrats. Texas had declared independence from Mexico in the Texas Revolution of 1836, although Mexico still refused to acknowledge its sovereignty. The people of Texas actively pursued joining the Union, but Jackson and Van Buren had been reluctant to inflame tensions over slavery by annexing another Southern state. Though Tyler intended annexation to be the focal point of his administration, Secretary Webster was opposed, and convinced Tyler to concentrate on Pacific initiatives until later in his term. Tyler's desire for western expansionism is acknowledged by historians and scholars, but views differ regarding the motivations behind it. Biographer Edward C. Crapol notes that during the presidency of James Monroe, Tyler (then in the House of Representatives) had suggested slavery was a "dark cloud" hovering over the Union, and that it would be "well to disperse this cloud" so that with fewer blacks in the older slave states, a process of gradual emancipation would begin in Virginia and other upper Southern states. Historian William W. Freehling, however, wrote that Tyler's official motivation in annexing Texas was to outmaneuver suspected efforts by Great Britain to promote an emancipation of slaves in Texas that would weaken the institution in the United States.


title: John Tyler

text: In early 1843, having completed the Webster–Ashburton treaty and other diplomatic efforts, Tyler felt ready to pursue Texas. Now lacking a party base, he saw annexation of the republic as his only pathway to independent election in 1844. For the first time in his career he was willing to play "political hardball" to see it through. As a trial balloon he dispatched his ally Thomas Walker Gilmer, then a U.S. Representative from Virginia, to publish a letter defending annexation, which was well received. Despite his successful relationship with Webster, Tyler knew he would need a Secretary of State who supported the Texas initiative. With the work on the British treaty now completed, he forced Webster's resignation and installed Hugh S. Legaré of South Carolina as an interim successor.


title: John Tyler

text: With the help of newly appointed Treasury Secretary John C. Spencer, Tyler cleared out an array of officeholders, replacing them with pro-annexation partisans, in a reversal of his former stand against patronage. He elicited the help of political organizer Michael Walsh to build a political machine in New York. In exchange for an appointment as consul to Hawaii, journalist Alexander G. Abell wrote a flattering biography, "Life of John Tyler", which was printed in large quantities and given to postmasters to distribute. Seeking to rehabilitate his public image, Tyler embarked on a nationwide tour in the spring of 1843. The positive reception of the public at these events contrasted with his ostracism back in Washington. The tour centered on the dedication of the Bunker Hill Monument in Boston, Massachusetts. Shortly after the dedication, Tyler learned of Legaré's sudden death, which dampened the festivities and caused him to cancel the rest of the tour.


title: John Tyler

text: Tyler appointed Abel P. Upshur, a popular Secretary of the Navy and close adviser, as his new Secretary of State, and nominated Gilmer to fill Upshur's former office. Tyler and Upshur began quiet negotiations with the Texas government, promising military protection from Mexico in exchange for a commitment to annexation. Secrecy was necessary, as the Constitution required congressional approval for such military commitments. Upshur planted rumors of possible British designs on Texas to garner support among Northern voters, who were wary of admitting a new pro-slavery state. By January 1844 Upshur told the Texas government that he had found a large majority of senators in favor of an annexation treaty. The republic remained skeptical, and finalization of the treaty took until the end of February.


title: John Tyler

text: A ceremonial cruise down the Potomac River was held aboard the newly built on February 28, 1844, the day after completion of the annexation treaty. Aboard the ship were 400 guests, including Tyler and his cabinet, as was the world's largest naval gun, the "Peacemaker". The gun was ceremoniously fired several times in the afternoon to the great delight of the onlookers, who then filed downstairs to offer a toast. Several hours later, Captain Robert F. Stockton was convinced by the crowd to fire one more shot. As the guests moved up to the deck, Tyler paused briefly to watch his son-in-law, William Waller, sing a ditty.


title: John Tyler

text: At once an explosion was heard from above: the gun had malfunctioned. Tyler was unhurt, having remained safely below deck, but a number of others were killed instantly, including his crucial cabinet members, Gilmer and Upshur. Also killed or mortally wounded were Virgil Maxcy of Maryland, Rep. David Gardiner of New York, Commodore Beverley Kennon, Chief of Construction of the United States Navy, and Armistead, Tyler's black slave and body servant. The death of David Gardiner had a devastating effect on his daughter, Julia, who fainted and was carried to safety by the president himself. Julia later recovered from her grief and married Tyler on June 26.


title: John Tyler

text: For Tyler, any hope of completing the Texas plan before November (and with it, any hope of re-election) was instantly dashed. Historian Edward P. Crapol later wrote that "Prior to the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln", the "Princeton" disaster "unquestionably was the most severe and debilitating tragedy ever to confront a President of the United States".


title: John Tyler

text: In what the Miller Center of Public Affairs considers "a serious tactical error that ruined the scheme [of establishing political respectability for him]", Tyler appointed former Vice President John C. Calhoun in early March 1844 as his Secretary of State. Tyler's good friend, Virginia Representative Henry A. Wise, wrote that following the "Princeton" disaster, Wise on his own volition extended Calhoun the position as a self-appointed emissary of the president and Calhoun accepted. When Wise went to tell Tyler what he had done, the president was angry but felt that the action had to stand. Calhoun was a leading advocate of slavery, and his attempts to get an annexation treaty passed were resisted by abolitionists as a result. When the text of the treaty was leaked to the public, it met political opposition from the Whigs, who opposed anything that might enhance Tyler's status, as well as from foes of slavery and those who feared a confrontation with Mexico, which had announced that it would view annexation as a hostile act by the United States. Both Clay and Van Buren, the respective frontrunners for the Whig and Democratic nominations, decided in a private meeting at Van Buren's home to come out against annexation. Knowing this, Tyler was pessimistic when he sent the treaty to the Senate for ratification in April 1844.


title: John Tyler

text: Tyler's Secretary of State John C. Calhoun sent a controversial letter informing the British minister to the U.S. that the motivation for Texas annexation was to protect American slavery from British intrusion. The letter also claimed Southern slaves were better off than Northern free blacks and English white laborers.


title: John Tyler

text: Following Tyler's break with the Whigs in 1841, he attempted a return to his old Democratic party, but its members, especially the followers of Van Buren, were not ready to accept him. As the election of 1844 approached, Van Buren appeared to have a lock on the Democratic nomination, while Clay was certain to be the Whig candidate. With little chance of election, the only way to salvage his presidential legacy was to threaten to run for President and force public acceptance of Texas annexation. Tyler used his vast presidential patronage power, and formed a third party, the National Democratic, with the officeholders and political networks he had built over the previous year. Multiple supportive newspapers across the country issued editorials promoting his candidacy throughout the early months of 1844. Reports of meetings held throughout the country suggest that support for the president was not limited to officeholders, as is widely assumed. Just as the Democratic Party was holding its presidential nomination in Baltimore, Maryland, the Tyler supporters, in that very city, were holding signs reading "Tyler and Texas!", and with their own high visibility and energy, they gave Tyler their nomination. His new Democratic-Republican Party renominated Tyler for the presidency on May 27, 1844. However, Tyler's party was loosely organized, failed to nominate a Vice President, and had no platform.


title: John Tyler

text: Regular Democrats were forced to call for annexation of Texas in their platform, but there was a bitter battle for the presidential nomination. Ballot after ballot, Van Buren failed to win the necessary super-majority of Democratic votes, and slowly fell in the rankings. It was not until the ninth ballot that the Democrats turned their sights to James K. Polk, a less prominent candidate who supported annexation. They found him to be perfectly suited for their platform, and he was nominated with two-thirds of the vote. Tyler considered his work vindicated, and implied in an acceptance letter that annexation was his true priority rather than election.


title: John Tyler

text: In the spring of 1844, Tyler ordered Secretary of State John C. Calhoun to begin negotiations with Texas president Sam Houston for the annexation of Texas. To bolster annexation and keep Mexico at bay, Tyler boldly ordered the U.S. Army to the Texas border on western Louisiana. He strongly supported Texas annexation.


title: John Tyler

text: Tyler was unfazed when the Whig-controlled Senate rejected his treaty by a vote of 16–35 in June 1844; he felt that annexation was now within reach by joint resolution rather than by treaty, and made that request to congress. Former President Andrew Jackson, a staunch supporter of annexation, persuaded Polk to welcome Tyler back into the Democratic Party and ordered Democratic editors to cease their attacks on him. Satisfied by these developments, Tyler dropped out of the race in August and endorsed Polk for the presidency. Polk's narrow victory over Clay in the November election was seen by the Tyler administration as a mandate for completing the resolution. Tyler announced in his annual message to Congress that "a controlling majority of the people and a large majority of the states have declared in favor of immediate annexation". On February 26, 1845, the joint resolution that Tyler, the lame-duck president, had strongly lobbied for, passed Congress. The House approved a joint resolution offering annexation to Texas by a substantial margin, and the Senate approved it by a bare 27–25 majority. On his last day in office, March 3, 1845, Tyler signed the bill into law. Immediately afterward, Mexico broke diplomatic relations with the U.S., mobilized for war, and would recognize Texas only if Texas remained independent. But after some debate, Texas accepted the terms and entered the union on December 29, 1845, as the 28th state.


title: John Tyler

text: Tyler left Washington with the conviction that the newly inaugurated President Polk had the best interest of the nation. Tyler retired to a Virginia plantation, originally named Walnut Grove (or "the Grove"), located on the James River in Charles City County. He renamed it Sherwood Forest, in a reference to the folk legend Robin Hood, to signify that he had been "outlawed" by the Whig Party. He did not take farming lightly and worked hard to maintain large yields. His neighbors, largely Whigs, appointed him to the minor office of overseer of roads in 1847 in an effort to mock him. To their displeasure, he treated the job seriously, frequently summoning his neighbors to provide their slaves for road work, and continuing to insist on carrying out his duties even after his neighbors asked him to stop.


title: John Tyler

text: The former president spent his time in a manner common to Virginia's First Families, with parties, visiting or being visited by other aristocrats, and spending summers at the family's seaside home, "Villa Margaret". In 1852, Tyler happily rejoined the ranks of the Virginia Democratic Party and thereafter kept interested in political affairs. However, Tyler rarely received visits from his former allies and was not sought out as an adviser. Occasionally requested to deliver a public speech, Tyler spoke during the unveiling of a monument to Henry Clay. He acknowledged their political battles but spoke highly of his former colleague, whom he had always admired for bringing about the Compromise Tariff of 1833.


title: John Tyler

text: After John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry ignited fears of an abolitionist attempt to free the slaves or an actual slave rebellion, several Virginia communities organized militia units or reenergized existing ones. Tyler's community organized a cavalry troop and a home guard company; Tyler was chosen to command the home guard troops with the rank of captain.


title: John Tyler

text: On the eve of the Civil War, Tyler re-entered public life as presiding officer of the Washington Peace Conference held in Washington, D.C., in February 1861 as an effort to prevent the conflict from escalating. The convention sought a compromise to avoid civil war even as the Confederate Constitution was being drawn up at the Montgomery Convention. Despite his leadership role in the Peace Conference, Tyler opposed its final resolutions. He felt that they were written by the free state delegates, did not protect the rights of slave owners in the territories, and would do little to bring back the lower South and restore the Union. He voted against the conference's seven resolutions, which the conference sent to Congress for approval late in February 1861 as a proposed Constitutional amendment.


title: John Tyler

text: On the same day, the Peace Conference started, local voters, elected Tyler to the Virginia Secession Convention. He presided over the opening session on February 13, 1861, while the Peace Conference was still underway. Tyler abandoned hope of compromise and saw secession as the only option, predicting that a clean split of all Southern states would not result in war. In mid-March he spoke against the Peace Conference resolutions, and on April 4 he voted for secession even when the convention rejected it. On April 17, after the attack on Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for troops, Tyler voted with the new majority for secession. He headed a committee that negotiated the terms for Virginia's entry into the Confederate States of America and helped set the pay rate for military officers. On June 14, Tyler signed the Ordinance of Secession, and one week later the convention unanimously elected him to the Provisional Confederate Congress. Tyler was seated in the Confederate Congress on August 1, 1861, and he served until just before his death in 1862. In November 1861, he was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives but he died of a stroke in his room at the Ballard Hotel in Richmond before the first session could open in February 1862.


title: John Tyler

text: Throughout his life, Tyler suffered from poor health. As he aged, he suffered more frequently from colds during the winter. On January 12, 1862, after complaining of chills and dizziness, he vomited and collapsed. Despite treatment, his health failed to improve, and he made plans to return to Sherwood Forest by the 18th. As he lay in bed the night before, he began suffocating, and Julia summoned his doctor. Just after midnight, Tyler took a sip of brandy, and told his doctor, "Doctor, I am going", to which the doctor replied, "I hope not, Sir." Tyler then said, "Perhaps it is best." Tyler died in Richmond shortly thereafter, most likely due to a stroke. He was 71.


title: John Tyler

text: Tyler's death was the only one in presidential history not to be officially recognized in Washington, because of his allegiance to the Confederate States of America. He had requested a simple burial, but Confederate President Jefferson Davis devised a grand, politically pointed funeral, painting Tyler as a hero to the new nation. Accordingly, at his funeral, the coffin of the tenth president of the United States was draped with a Confederate flag; he remains the only U.S. president ever laid to rest under a flag, not of the United States. Tyler had been more loyal to Virginia and his own principles than to the Union of which he had been president.


title: John Tyler

text: Tyler was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, near the gravesite of President James Monroe. He has since been the namesake of several U.S. locations, including the city of Tyler, Texas, named for him because of his role in the annexation of Texas.


title: John Tyler

text: Tyler's presidency has provoked highly divided responses among political commentators. 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." In "The Republican Vision of John Tyler" (2003), Dan Monroe observed that the Tyler presidency "is generally ranked as one of the least successful". 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". A survey of historians conducted by C-SPAN in 2021 ranked Tyler as 39th of 44 men to hold the office.


title: John Tyler

text: 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." McCormick said that Tyler "conducted his administration with considerable dignity and effectiveness."


title: John Tyler

text: Tyler's assumption of complete presidential powers "set a hugely important precedent", according to a biographical sketch by the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs. Tyler's successful insistence that he was president, and not a caretaker or acting president, was a model for the succession of seven other vice presidents (Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Arthur, Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson) to the presidency over the 19th and 20th centuries upon the death of the president. The propriety of Tyler's action in assuming both the title of the presidency and its full powers was legally affirmed in 1967, when it was codified in the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.


title: John Tyler

text: Some scholars in recent years have praised Tyler's foreign policy. Monroe credits him with "achievements like the Webster–Ashburton treaty which heralded the prospect of improved relations with Great Britain, and the annexation of Texas, which added millions of acres to the national domain". Crapol argued that Tyler "was a stronger and more effective president than generally remembered", while Seager wrote, "I find him to be a courageous, principled man, a fair and honest fighter for his beliefs. He was a president without a party." Author Ivan Eland, in an update of his 2008 book "Recarving Rushmore", rated all 44 US presidents by the criteria of peace, prosperity, and liberty; with the finished ratings, John Tyler was ranked the best president of all time. In a "History Today" article, Louis Kleber wrote that Tyler brought integrity to the White House at a time when many in politics lacked it, and refused to compromise his principles to avoid the anger of his opponents. Crapol argues that Tyler's allegiance to the Confederacy overshadows much of the good he did as president: "Tyler's historical reputation has yet to fully recover from that tragic decision to betray his loyalty and commitment to what he had once defined as 'the first great American interest'—the preservation of the Union."


title: John Tyler

text: In her book on Tyler's presidency, Norma Lois Peterson suggests that Tyler's general lack of success as president was due to external factors that would have affected whoever was in the White House. Chief among them was Henry Clay, who brooked no opposition to his grand economic vision for America. In the aftermath of Jackson's determined use of the powers of the executive branch, the Whigs wanted the president to be dominated by Congress, and Clay treated Tyler as a subordinate. Tyler resented this, leading to the conflict between the branches that dominated his presidency. Pointing to Tyler's advances in foreign policy, she deemed Tyler's presidency "flawed ... but ... not a failure".


title: John Tyler

text: While academics have both praised and criticized Tyler, the general American public has little awareness of him. Several writers have portrayed Tyler as among the nation's most obscure presidents. As Seager remarked: "His countrymen generally remember him, if they have heard of him at all, as the rhyming end of a catchy campaign slogan."


title: John Tyler

text: Tyler fathered more children than any other American president. His first wife was Letitia Christian (November 12, 1790 – September 10, 1842), with whom he had eight children: Mary (1815–1847), Robert (1816–1877), John (1819–1896), Letitia (1821–1907), Elizabeth (1823–1850), Anne (1825–1825), Alice (1827–1854) and Tazewell (1830–1874).


title: John Tyler

text: Although Tyler's family was dear to him, during his political rise he was often away from home for extended periods. When he chose not to seek reelection to the House of Representatives in 1821 because of illness, he wrote that he would soon be called upon to educate his growing family. It was difficult to practice law while away in Washington for part of the year and his plantation was more profitable when Tyler was available to manage it himself. By the time he entered the Senate in 1827, he had resigned himself to spending part of the year away from his family. Still, he sought to remain close to his children through letters.


title: John Tyler

text: Tyler was a slaveholder, at one point keeping 40 slaves at Greenway. Although he regarded slavery as an evil, and did not attempt to justify it, he never freed any of his slaves. Tyler considered slavery a part of states' rights, and therefore the federal government lacked the authority to abolish it. The living conditions of his slaves are not well documented, but historians surmise that he cared for their well-being and abstained from physical violence against them. In December 1841, Tyler was attacked by the abolitionist publisher Joshua Leavitt, with the unsubstantiated allegation that Tyler had fathered several sons with his slaves, and later sold them. A number of black families today maintain a belief in their descent from Tyler, but there is no evidence of such genealogy.


title: John Tyler

text: Tyler's wealth exceeded $50 million ("2020 peak value"), but he became indebted during the Civil War and died much poorer.


title: John Tyler

text: , Tyler has one living grandson through his son Lyon Gardiner Tyler, making him the earliest former president with a living grandchild. Harrison Ruffin Tyler was born in 1928 and maintains the family home, Sherwood Forest Plantation, in Charles City County, Virginia.


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: Mohamed Anwar Hadid (; born ) is a Jordanian-American real estate developer. He is known for building luxury hotels and mansions, mainly in the Bel Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles and the city of Beverly Hills, California.


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: Hadid was born into a Palestinian Muslim family on 6 November 1948 in Nazareth. He is the son of Anwar Mohamed Hadid (1918 –1989) and his wife Khairiah Hadid (née Daher; 1925–2008), and has two brothers and five sisters. Through his mother, Hadid claims descent from Dahir al-Umar, an 18th-century Arab ruler of northern Palestine.


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: Due to the 1947–1949 Palestine War, Hadid and his family fled Palestine as part of the 1948 Palestinian exodus. In 2015, Hadid stated: "We became refugees to Syria and we lost our home in Safad to a Jewish family that we sheltered... Strange thing. That I and my family would do it again."


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: His father studied at a teachers' college in Jerusalem and attended a university in Syria to study law, before working in land settlement for the British authorities and teaching English at a teachers' college in Mandatory Palestine. In 1948, he moved to Syria and joined the United States Information Agency (USIA) and "Voice of America" (VOA). Hadid and his family lived in Damascus, Tunisia and Greece before moving to Washington, D.C. when he was 14 years old, as his father had a job at the VOA headquarters there and spent the rest of his career there with VOA and USIA as a writer, editor and translator.


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: Among his early ventures was a company that exported equipment to the Middle East. He started his career restoring and reselling classic cars in the Georgetown neighbourhood of Washington, D.C., before moving to Greece, where he opened a nightclub on an island, and with the profits, started developing real estate in the United States.


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: In the 1980s, much of his financial clout came from the SAAR Foundation, a Herndon-based foundation with Saudi roots. The foundation was a 50–50 partner in many of Hadid's ventures. In the late 1980s, he faced at least 30 lawsuits from creditors and banks claiming he had not fulfilled various financial obligations. He paid $150 million for the Ritz-Carlton hotels in Washington and New York. He also converted a Houston hotel into a Ritz-Carlton Hotel and developed a Ritz-Carlton resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. He outmaneuvered Donald Trump, paying $42.9 million for several choice parcels in Aspen and announcing plans for a 292-room Ritz resort.


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: In 1992, a settlement was reached in a lawsuit by Riggs Bank against Columbia First Bank Chairman Melvin Lenkin, a Hadid partner in a Washington, D.C., construction project that involved a loan on which Hadid defaulted. Following the settlement Hadid closed his local office, lost his McLean home to foreclosure, and left the Washington area.


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: He developed Le Belvedere, a mansion in Bel Air, Los Angeles, that sold for $50 million in 2010. In 2012, he developed The Crescent Palace, a 48,000-square-foot home on an acre plot next door to the Beverly Hills Hotel, which he listed for sale at $58 million.


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: Shortly after Hadid received approval for the construction of a mansion in Bel Air, the Bel Air Homeowners Alliance, chaired by Fred Rosen, was formed to oppose it. In January 2015, Nancy Walton Laurie, an heiress to the Walmart fortune and a Bel Air resident, filed a lawsuit through her company, LW Partnership, against Hadid. Laurie accused Hadid of damaging the roots of a eucalyptus tree on her property with a retaining wall he built next to her house.


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: In December 2015, the Los Angeles city council voted to pursue criminal charges over a claim that Hadid violated local zoning laws. The council alleged he built his house contrary to multiple planning orders and made it twice the permitted size. In May 2017, Hadid pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges stemming from mansion-construction issues for which he did not receive city approval, and was sentenced that July to community service and fines.


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: In July 2017, he was sentenced to 200 hours of community service, summoned to return $14,191 to the City of Los Angeles in damages, and fined $3,000. He was also given a three-year probation period to ensure the property would comply with existing regulations, or he would face a 180-day jail sentence.


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: Hadid competed in the demonstration sport of speed skiing at the 1992 Winter Olympics, representing Jordan. He was 43 years old at the time. Hadid was encouraged to participate by his friend, Austrian Olympic skier Franz Weber. Hadid was the only member of the Jordanian delegation, and remains the only person to have represented Jordan in the Winter Olympics.


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: Hadid has appeared on the TV show "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills", as the ex-husband of Yolanda Hadid. He has also appeared on "Shahs of Sunset", and Second Wives Club on E! with his fiancée Shiva Safai in 2017.


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: Hadid's first marriage was with Mary Butler, with whom he had two daughters, Alana Hadid and Marielle Hadid. He and Butler ended their marriage in 1992.


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: From 1994 until their divorce in 2000, he was married to the Dutch model Yolanda Hadid, née Van den Herik. They had three children, who all became models: Gigi (born 1995), Bella (born 1996), and Anwar (born 1999).


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: In 2014, Hadid was engaged to Shiva Safai, a model and businesswoman. She was born in Iran and raised in Norway, and at age 19, moved to Los Angeles with her family. Safai, who is 33 years his junior, began to appear in E! reality show, "Second Wives Club" in 2017. As of December 2019, Hadid and Safai had split, and she was now in a relationship with Niels Houweling.


title: Mohamed Hadid

text: Hadid is a dual Jordanian-American citizen. He does not consider himself a devout Muslim, but has never drunk alcohol, although he does have a 5,000-bottle wine cellar, including some from his own Beverly Hills winery.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: Amber Rose Tamblyn (born May 14, 1983) is an American actress and writer. She first came to national attention in her role on the soap opera "General Hospital" as Emily Quartermaine at the age of 11. She followed with a starring role on the prime-time series "Joan of Arcadia", portraying the title character, Joan Girardi, for which she received Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Her feature film work includes roles such as Tibby Rollins from the first two "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and Megan McBride in "127 Hours" (2010), as well as the critically acclaimed film, "Stephanie Daley" opposite Tilda Swinton which debuted at The Sundance Film Festival and for which Tamblyn won Best Actress at The Locarno International Film Festival and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. In 2021 she starred opposite Diane Lane in FX's "".


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: Tamblyn is a published author and cultural critic at large. She has published seven books across genres, and writes for "The New York Times" and other publications on issues of gender inequality and women's rage.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: Tamblyn was born in Santa Monica, California. Her father, Russ Tamblyn, is an actor, dancer, and singer who starred in the 1961 film "West Side Story", the 1954 film "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and the television series "Twin Peaks", and her mother, Bonnie Murray, is a singer, teacher, and artist. Her paternal grandfather, Eddie Tamblyn, was a vaudeville performer. Her uncle is Larry Tamblyn, who is the keyboardist in the 1960s rock band The Standells. She attended the Santa Monica Alternative School House, which, in her words, was "very unorthodox, no letter grades". At the age of ten, she played Pippi Longstocking in a school play; her father's agent, Sharon Debord, was attending as a family friend and ended up convincing her father to allow Tamblyn to go on auditions.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: Tamblyn's first TV role was Emily Bowen (later known as Emily Quartermaine) on the soap opera "General Hospital", a role that she played for six years (from 1995 to 2001). She also starred in "Evergreen", the pilot episode of the second "The Twilight Zone" revival in 2002. Tamblyn became better known playing Joan Girardi, a teenage girl who receives frequent visits from God, on the CBS drama series "Joan of Arcadia". Tamblyn's father made several appearances as God in the form of a dog walker on the show, which ran from 2003 to 2005.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: Early guest-starring roles include: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (playing Janice Penshaw, the best friend of Dawn Summers), "Boston Public", "", and "Punk'd", where Ashton Kutcher and his crew members tricked her into losing someone else's dog. In 2007, she starred in the CBS pilot for "Babylon Fields", an apocalyptic comedic drama about the undead trying to resume their former lives. The CBS network excluded the show from its fall programming lineup, since it would have competed with the network's other undead-themed drama, "Moonlight".


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: In spring 2009, Tamblyn starred in "The Unusuals", as NYPD homicide detective Casey Shraeger. The show was canceled after its first season. In the same year, she had a recurring role alongside her eventual husband David Cross in the IFC sitcom "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret".


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: From November 2010 until April 2011, she starred as medical student Martha M. Masters in the seventh season of the Fox medical drama series "House". She returned for the series finale in 2012.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: In August 2013, Tamblyn was cast as Charlie Harper's long-lost (and previously unknown) lesbian daughter, Jenny, on the sitcom "Two and a Half Men", opposite Ashton Kutcher and Jon Cryer. Her first appearance was on the season 11 opener, September 26, 2013.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: She has appeared on numerous episodes of Comedy Central's "Inside Amy Schumer", including the "Milk Milk Lemonade" sketch which aired in 2015. She has also guest starred on IFC's "Portlandia" and "Comedy Bang! Bang!", as well as numerous shows on Adult Swim, including "The Heart, She Holler" opposite Patton Oswalt and "Metalocalypse".


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: In 2021, Tamblyn starred opposite Diane Lane in the critically acclaimed FX television series "" based on the beloved graphic novel.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: Tamblyn launched her film career playing bit parts in her father's movies: "Rebellious" and "Johnny Mysto: Boy Wizard". She also appeared in 1995's "Live Nude Girls". Her first major film role was in 2005's "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" as Tibby Rollins, co-starring Alexis Bledel, America Ferrera, and Blake Lively. She reprised the role in the 2008 sequel, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2".


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: Her horror film career began with the opening scene of 2002's "The Ring". Tamblyn also appeared in the Japan-set "The Grudge 2". The film, which also stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, was released on October 13, 2006, and debuted in the #1 spot at the North American box office. In August 2010, she won the Bronze Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival for her performance in the title role of "Stephanie Daley". The film, which also won an award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, features Tamblyn as a 16-year-old who kills her baby moments after giving birth in the bathroom of a ski resort. She was also nominated for Best Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards. The film also stars Tilda Swinton and Timothy Hutton.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: In January 2008, Tamblyn appeared in the Hallmark film "The Russell Girl", about a woman suffering from disease and mental anguish. Also in 2008, She also starred in "Blackout". She appeared in the 2009 film "Spring Breakdown", also featuring Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, and Parker Posey. Tamblyn appeared alongside Orlando Bloom, Colin Firth, and Patricia Clarkson in the 2010 film "Main Street", a drama set in North Carolina. That year, she also had a role in the drama "127 Hours", with James Franco.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: In 2012, Tamblyn starred alongside Wes Bentley and Vincent Piazza in the indie feature "3 Nights in the Desert" directed by Gabriel Cowan, written by playwright Adam Chanzit and produced by John Suits. In 2015, she starred opposite Bob Odenkirk in the Netflix original film, "Girlfriend's Day". In the same year, Tamblyn also made a cameo appearance with her father Russ in the spaghetti western "Django Unchained".


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: Tamblyn attended a grade school for the theatrical arts from the age of 5 to 14. She was discovered as an actress at the age of 9 when she starred in "Pippi Longstocking". In 2014, she originated the role of Daisy Domergue for the live reading at the Ace Theater in Los Angeles of Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight". She was hand picked by Tarantino, a long-time friend, along with fellow cast members Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, and others. Tamblyn starred in Neil LaBute's "Reasons to Be Pretty" at the Geffen Playhouse in 2014, which received critical acclaim.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: In 2005, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing published her debut book of poems, written between the ages of 11 and 21, entitled "Free Stallion". The "School Library Journal"s review states that, ""Free Stallion" is a compilation of poetry that amounts to a portrait of the artist as a teenager... Many of the selections are appropriately self-absorbed but move beyond journalistic catharsis to real insight and stunning language for one so young." Poet Laureate Lawrence Ferlinghetti called the book, "A fine, fruitful gestation of throbbingly nascent sexuality, awakened in young new language." Tamblyn has toured extensively with poet Derrick C. Brown, including the Lazers of Sexcellence tours. In 2008, she was featured in the Write Bloody Publishing anthology, "The Last American Valentine: Illustrated Poems to Seduce and Destroy".


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: In 2015, HarperCollins published her third collection, a hybrid of poetry and art called "Dark Sparker" which explored the lives and death of child star actresses. The book was a large critical success and bestseller, which features accompanying original art from Marilyn Manson, David Lynch, Marcel Dazma, Adrian Tomine, and many others. For the book's publication launch in 2015, Tamblyn and the band Yo La Tengo created an hour long poetry and music show incorporating poems from Tamblyn's book. They performed the show in New York at Housing Works and in Los Angeles at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: Tamblyn's first novel, "Any Man", was released June 2018. Its plot centers on a serial female rapist who preys on men. Her second book, a memoir and feminist manifesto titled "Era of Ignition", was released in March 2019. The book is a personal exploration of feminism during divisive times.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: In 2019, Penguin Random House published a collection of her cultural criticism and memoir essays, "Era of Ignition; Coming of Age in a Time of Rage and Revolution." The book was a critical success and later came out in paperback in 2020.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: Tamblyn has self-published two chapbooks of poetry, "Of the Dawn" and "Plenty of Ships", and has participated in poetry readings at various venues, particularly in California. "The Loneliest", a poem book inspired by Thelonious Monk and his music, was published in 2005 and contains haiku poetry written by Tamblyn and coupled with collages by George Herms. Only 300 copies of the book were published.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: Tamblyn appeared in a poetry concert film recorded on August 4, 2002, in Los Angeles, "The Drums Inside Your Chest". A new collection of poetry, "Bang Ditto", was published in September 2009 by San Francisco's Manic D Press. Beginning in October 2009, she began blogging for the Poetry Foundation's blog, "Harriet". Her poem "Bridgette Anderson" was one of the poems featured in Saul Williams' book "Chorus", published by MTV Books in September 2011.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: In 2007, she co-founded Write Now Poetry Society, dedicated to creating unique and quality poetry programming. The non-profit has a long history with The Getty Museum, curating poetry events in conjunction with art openings, such as 2011's "Dark Blushing", featuring new poems commissioned by poets Patricia Smith and NEA fellow Jeffrey McDaniel, based on works of art by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Blake. Since 2011, Tamblyn has reviewed books of poetry by women for iconic feminist magazine, "BUST Magazine".


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: In a series of September 2017 tweets later reiterated in an open letter published in "Teen Vogue", she said that actor James Woods tried to seduce her and a friend at a restaurant and offered to take them to Las Vegas when both Tamblyn and her friend were 16. Woods denied her allegations, calling them a "lie." Tamblyn later wrote an essay for "The New York Times" in which she said that Woods’s "accusation that I was lying sent me back to that day in that producer’s office, and back to all the days I’ve spent in the offices of men; of feeling unsure, uneasy, questioned and disbelieved, no matter the conversation."


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: In March 2018, Tamblyn came under criticism for tweets about New York City's Hasidic Jewish community following an incident in Brooklyn involving her daughter. Tamblyn said she was nearly struck by a van driven by a Hasidic Jewish man while walking with her daughter in a stroller. She said "this is not the first time a man from the Hasidic community in NYC has attempted to harm me or other women I know. Any woman riding a bike through South Williamsburg can attest. I hope this guy is caught." Writing in "Tablet", journalist Liel Leibovitz chided Tamblyn for "speaking so hurtfully about an entire community of underprivileged people." Tamblyn denied accusations of anti-Semitism.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: Tamblyn and actor-comedian David Cross became engaged in August 2011, and married on October 6, 2012. On February 21, 2017, Tamblyn announced that she and Cross had recently had a daughter.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: She is sometimes said to be the goddaughter of musician Neil Young and actors Dean Stockwell and Dennis Hopper, although in a 2009 interview with "Parade", Tamblyn explained that "godfather" was "just a loose term" for Stockwell, Hopper and Young, three famous friends of her father's who were always around the house when she was growing up, and who were big influences on her life.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: Tamblyn supported and campaigned for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 United States presidential election. On social media, Tamblyn urged voters to check voter ID requirements citing VoteRiders as a source of assistance across the United States


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: She is one of the founders of the non-profit organization Time's Up, which was created to combat workplace sexual harassment. She is also a feminist.


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: In June 2021, Tamblyn wrote an essay in "The New York Times" expressing solidarity with Britney Spears' effort to end the conservatorship controlling her life. Tamblyn wrote that she became financially successful when she turned 21 and starred in "Joan of Arcadia". Her father became her co-manager, and her mother her business manager. She wrote that having her parents on the payroll damaged their relationship, that she was "everybody's ATM" and that her money "paid for our vacations, dinners out, and sometimes even the bills. When it finally came time to disentangle our personal and professional relationships, it was deeply painful for all three of us."


title: Amber Tamblyn

text: Tamblyn's portrayal of Joan Girardi earned her both Golden Globe Award and Primetime Emmy Award nominations in 2004. She was also nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Actress in a Television Series in 2004 and 2005. Her role on "House" ended with her having multiple nominations for her final performance as Martha Masters.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: Nocturnal Animals is a 2016 American neo-noir psychological thriller film written, produced, and directed by Tom Ford in his second feature, based on the 1993 novel "Tony and Susan" by Austin Wright. The film stars Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, Andrea Riseborough, and Michael Sheen. The plot follows an art gallery owner as she reads the new novel written by her first husband and begins to see the similarities between it and their former relationship.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: Principal photography began on October 5, 2015, in Los Angeles. The film premiered at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2016 and was released in North America on November 18, 2016, by Focus Features. It received positive reviews, with praise for the performances, and grossed over $32 million worldwide.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: "Nocturnal Animals" was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize. Shannon earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 89th Academy Awards. It also received nine BAFTA Award nominations and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay, plus a Best Supporting Actor win for Taylor-Johnson.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: Art gallery owner Susan Morrow receives the manuscript for a novel written by her estranged ex-husband Edward Sheffield along with an invitation for dinner during Edward's upcoming visit to Los Angeles. Upset by her deteriorating marriage to unfaithful businessman Hutton Morrow, Susan becomes consumed by the novel, which is dedicated to her and named "Nocturnal Animals" after Edward's nickname for her.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: In the novel, Tony Hastings is a family man who runs afoul of three local troublemakers – Ray Marcus, Lou and Turk – during a road trip through West Texas. After being forced off the road, Tony is powerless to stop Ray and Turk from kidnapping his wife, Laura and their daughter, India, leaving him with Lou, who forces him to drive Ray's car to the end of a road where he is abandoned. Tony manages to evade Ray and Lou when they return looking for him and makes his way to a nearby farmhouse to call the police.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: Detective Roberto "Bobby" Andes is assigned to the case and with Tony, discovers the bodies of Laura and India near an abandoned shack, where they had been raped and murdered. Tony is wracked with guilt. He is contacted by Andes a year later and is asked to identify Lou, who is charged as an accomplice in the murders of Laura and India.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: Turk has been fatally shot in a botched robbery, leaving Ray as the last culprit to be brought to justice. Andes arrests Ray but is forced to release him as they have only circumstantial evidence of his involvement. On the verge of retirement and having been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, Andes decides to take matters into his own hands and with Tony's help, abducts Ray and Lou. Andes shoots Lou dead when he attempts to flee but Ray escapes.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: Tony tracks down Ray to the shack where Laura and India were killed. Ray admits to raping and murdering Tony's wife and daughter, calling him weak. Tony fatally shoots him but is blinded when Ray hits him on the head with a fire poker. Tony stumbles outside and dies after falling on his gun, shooting himself in the abdomen in the process.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: Shocked by the dark content and raw emotion of the novel, Susan reminisces about meeting Edward in college and their blossoming relationship, which Susan's domineering mother Anne Sutton objected to, claiming that Edward was not worthy of Susan's affections and that because of his romantic world view, he lacked the drive to achieve his goals; Susan ignored her mother's objections, eventually marrying Edward.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: After finding further evidence of Hutton's extramarital affair, Susan resumes her reading of the manuscript and begins to recall her troubled marriage to Edward, which was strained by her frustration with his fledgling career and her dismissive attitude towards his literary aspirations and culminated with Susan cheating on him with Hutton and divorcing Edward to marry him. Edward attempted to repair their relationship but ultimately cut ties with Susan upon learning that she was pregnant with his child but secretly had an abortion to ensure an end to any attachment with him.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: In the present day, Susan finishes reading the novel and arranges a meeting with Edward at a restaurant. Edward does not show up and Susan waits alone as the restaurant empties.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: On March 24, 2015, it was announced that Smokehouse Pictures' partners George Clooney and Grant Heslov would produce a thriller, "Nocturnal Animals", based on Austin Wright's 1993 novel "Tony and Susan". Tom Ford was set to direct the film, based on his own script. Ford said that the storytelling concept of the novel appealed to him, explaining, "The film is very different than the book it's based on. However, the central themes are the same, meaning that when I read the book, what appealed to me as a writer and a filmmaker was the idea of this device of communicating to someone through a work of fiction. Through a "written" work of fiction. And thereby communicating something that they had not been able to really communicate clearly. I loved that concept."


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: Jake Gyllenhaal was set to star in the dual lead roles, Amy Adams was in talks for the female lead role, and sources confirmed that Joaquin Phoenix and Aaron Taylor-Johnson might be cast in other roles. Focus Features acquired the US distribution rights to the film on May 17, 2015, while Universal Pictures handles the international distribution. Focus' deal was made with $20 million, making this the biggest deal of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, and one of the biggest of the mid 2010s. On August 6, 2015, Taylor-Johnson was confirmed to play a mysterious character who poses a threat to Gyllenhaal's character Tony's family, while Michael Shannon was also added to the cast, playing a detective investigating the violent incident. On August 28, 2015, Armie Hammer also joined the cast of the film, to play Hutton Morrow, Adams' character's husband. On September 9, 2015, Isla Fisher joined the film to play Laura Hastings, Tony's wife. On September 18, 2015, Ellie Bamber was cast in the film to play Tony's daughter. On September 30, 2015, Robert Aramayo was added to the cast. On October 5, 2015, Karl Glusman signed on to star in the film. On October 8, 2015, Peter Nyong'o was also cast in the film.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: Principal photography on the film began on October 5, 2015, in Los Angeles. The final scene in the Japanese restaurant was filmed in the main building of the Yamashiro Historic District. It wrapped on December 5, 2015.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: "Nocturnal Animals" had its world premiere at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2016. The film also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2016, and at the BFI London Film Festival on October 14, 2016.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: "Nocturnal Animals" grossed $10.7 million in the United States and Canada and $20.5 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $31.2 million.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: The film had its North American wide release on December 9, 2016, and was projected to open to $3–5 million. It ended up grossing $3.2 million, finishing 7th at the box office.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 74% based on 302 reviews, with an average rating of 7.00/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Well-acted and lovely to look at, "Nocturnal Animals" further underscores writer-director Tom Ford's distinctive visual and narrative skill." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 67 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: Owen Gleiberman of "Variety" praised the film, stating "Tom Ford's first film since "A Single Man" is another winner", and complimenting the performances of Gyllenhaal, Adams, Shannon and Taylor-Johnson. Pete Hammond of "Deadline Hollywood" praised Adams, Gyllenhaal, Shannon, and Taylor-Johnson's performances, as well as Ford's screenplay and direction.


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: Geoffrey Macnab of "The Independent" awarded the film five stars, praising the performances and the direction, and stating, ""Nocturnal Animals" is extraordinarily deft in the way it combines romanticism and bleakness. It's a film that easily could have slipped into extreme pretentiousness but it never puts a foot wrong."


title: Nocturnal Animals

text: Victoria Coren Mitchell of "The Guardian" opposed the popular critical opinion, saying "Why all these raves and prizes for a piece of gynophobic death-porn?"


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: Lara Flynn Boyle (born March 24, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Donna Hayward in the television series "Twin Peaks" (1990–1991). After portraying Stacy in Penelope Spheeris's comedy "Wayne's World" (1992), Boyle had a lead role in John Dahl's neo-noir film "Red Rock West" (1993), followed by roles in "Threesome" (1994), "Cafe Society" (1995), and "Happiness" (1998). Boyle had played the villainous role as Serleena in the blockbuster feature film "Men in Black II" for which she was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress. From 1997 to 2003, Boyle portrayed Assistant District Attorney Helen Gamble in the ABC television series "The Practice" for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: Boyle was born in Davenport, Iowa, the daughter of Sally Flynn, a clerical worker, assistant, and manager, and Michael L. Boyle. Her paternal grandfather was U.S. Representative Charles A. Boyle. She has Irish, German, and Italian ancestry. She is named after a character in Boris Pasternak's novel "Doctor Zhivago". Her father left when she was six, causing her and her mother to move to smaller quarters. Around this time, she was diagnosed with dyslexia. She was raised in Chicago, Illinois, and Wisconsin, and graduated from The Chicago Academy for the Arts.


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: In 1986, Boyle landed a small part in John Hughes's teen comedy film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", which earned her a SAG card, though her scenes were deleted from the final cut of the film. Subsequently, Boyle had a supporting role as Jackie Bradford in the television miniseries "Amerika" (1987), followed by guest appearances on episodes of the series "Jack and Mike" (1987) and "Sable" (1987).


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: After a string of supporting roles, Boyle landed a lead role in the Gary Sherman horror film "Poltergeist III" (1988), which was distributed by the media company MGM. Although she was cast as Ginny Danburry in Peter Weir's drama film "Dead Poets Society" (1989), her scenes were ultimately deleted from the final cut.


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: In 1989, Boyle rose to international prominence when David Lynch cast her as Donna Hayward in the television series "Twin Peaks" (1990–1991). The series focused on the murder of the high school Homecoming Queen Laura Palmer, with Boyle portraying Laura's best friend. Her main storyline focused on her trying to solve the mystery of who killed Laura.


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: The series premiered April 8, 1990, on ABC and subsequently became one of the top-rated series of 1990, but a decline in ratings ultimately led to its cancellation after its second season in 1991. Boyle appeared in all 30 episodes.


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: When discussing Lynch's direction, Boyle stated, "I remember, in the pilot, I did a very long scene that we had to shoot 30 or 40 times. David came up to me and said quietly, in my ear: 'Think of how gently a deer has to move in the snow…' It was strange direction. But that's what I thought of, and it worked. We were at the helm of a piece of heaven on Twin Peaks and we just went where David Lynch told us. That might sound very obscure but it really is true. How he sees the world is how we should all see the world."


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: In October 1990, while promoting "Twin Peaks", Boyle was featured on the cover of "Rolling Stone" magazine along with her co-stars Mädchen Amick and Sherilyn Fenn. While starring on "Twin Peaks", Boyle portrayed Sarah in Clint Eastwood's action film "The Rookie" (1990), Rosarita in Adam Rifkin's satirical comedy film "The Dark Backward" (1991), Mara Motes in Michael Karbelnikoff's crime film "Mobsters" (1991), and Sandra Gladstone in the romantic thriller "Eye of the Storm" (1991).


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: Boyle also appeared in the television films "Terror on Highway 91" (1989), "The Preppie Murder" (1989), as well as episodes of "The Hidden Room" and "May Wine".


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: Shortly after the cancellation of "Twin Peaks", plans were being made for a feature film adaptation. Boyle was asked by Lynch to reprise her role as Donna Hayward in the psychological horror film "" (1992) but she was unable to commit to the project due to scheduling conflicts with her roles as Heather in Marc Rocco's drama film "Where the Day Takes You" (alongside her "Twin Peaks" co-star Kyle MacLachlan), Stacy in Penelope Spheeris's comedy "Wayne's World", and Beverly Franks in Alan Rudolph's crime drama "Equinox". This led to her being replaced by actress Moira Kelly. In 1993, Boyle starred as Kris Bolin in the thriller film "The Temp" and portrayed the temptress Suzanne Brown in the neo-noir film "Red Rock West" alongside Nicolas Cage and Dennis Hopper.


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: In 1994, Boyle was cast as Alex in the comedy "Threesome", Laraine Cotwell in "Baby's Day Out", and Ida Muntz in "The Road to Wellville". The same year, Boyle appeared in the television films "Past Tense" and "Jacob". In 1995, she was cast as Pat Ward in the mystery film "Cafe Society". In 1997, she portrayed Marianne Byron in the film "Afterglow". Boyle auditioned for the title role in David E. Kelley's "Ally McBeal". Although she lost out to Calista Flockhart, Boyle impressed Kelley enough to cast her the role of Assistant District Attorney Helen Gamble in his other 1997 series, "The Practice". The following year, Boyle portrayed Helen Jordan in Todd Solondz’s controversial comedy-drama film "Happiness".


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: She starred on "The Practice" until 2003, when, in a dramatic attempt to revamp the show and cut costs, she was dismissed along with most of the cast. For her performance as Helen Gamble, she received an Emmy nomination as well as several Screen Actors Guild ensemble cast nominations. Boyle also made a crossover appearance in the role of Helen Gamble in an episode of "Ally McBeal", and an uncredited guest appearance on the same show in its final season.


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: In 2002, Boyle played a lead role in the blockbuster feature film "Men in Black II", as the villainous shapeshifting alien Serleena. She also guest-starred on one of the last episodes of "Ally McBeal", this time as Tally Cupp, and had a recurring role on several episodes of "Huff".


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: In 2005, Boyle joined the cast of "Las Vegas" for a seven-episode stint as Monica Mancuso, a new hotel owner. She played Barbara Amiel in the television film "", about Amiel and her husband, Lord Black. Boyle also guest-starred as an ambitious reporter involved with the suspects in a possible murder in the "Law & Order" 2008 episode "Submission".


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: In 2009, Boyle portrayed Mary in "Baby on Board". The same year, Boyle was cast as Betty McBain in the independent film "Life Is Hot in Cracktown". In 2010, she starred as Kathy in "Cougar Hunting". In 2013, Boyle portrayed Witch Agnes in the horror comedy film "Hansel & Gretel Get Baked". In 2015, she portrayed Ms. Donley in the film "Lucky Dog".


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: In 2020, after a five-year break, she returned to acting to star as Grace in the film "Death in Texas" alongside Stephen Lang.


title: Lara Flynn Boyle

text: Boyle was in a relationship with "Twin Peaks" co-star Kyle MacLachlan from 1990 to 1992. Boyle has been married twice. Her first husband was John Patrick Dee III, whom she married on August 11, 1996, and divorced two years later. Boyle dated actor David Spade, and later dated Jack Nicholson after he asked Boyle out in front of Spade while they were smoking marijuana. Spade later found out they were together after Nicholson and Boyle were involved in a car crash, covered by paparazzi. They went public with their romance at the 1999 Emmys, and reportedly remained together until the end of 2000. Her second and current husband is Donald Ray Thomas II, a real estate investor, whom she married on December 18, 2006, in San Antonio, Texas.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: The second season of the American television series "" features the character Jean-Luc Picard in the year 2401 when he and his companions are trapped in an alternate reality by Q as part of the ultimate trial for Picard. They must travel back to 2024 Los Angeles in a race against time to save the future of the galaxy. The season was produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout, Weed Road Pictures, and Roddenberry Entertainment, with Akiva Goldsman and Terry Matalas serving as showrunners.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: Patrick Stewart stars as Picard, reprising his role from the series "" as well as other "Star Trek" media. Alison Pill, Jeri Ryan, Michelle Hurd, Evan Evagora, Orla Brady, Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera, and Brent Spiner also star. A second season was in development for months before being officially announced in January 2020. Matalas and Goldsman replaced showrunner Michael Chabon. The time travel story was conceived by Matalas and connects to Picard's struggles with his own history. Matalas and new production designer Dave Blass returned to the visual style of the "Next Generation" and brought back key designers from that series. Delayed from a planned June 2020 production start by the COVID-19 pandemic, filming began in California in February 2021 and lasted until September, shooting back-to-back with the . Location shooting took place around Los Angeles. The second season features special guest stars returning from previous "Star Trek" media, including John de Lancie as Q and Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: The season premiered on the streaming service Paramount+ on March 3, 2022, and ran for 10 episodes until May 5. It was estimated to have high viewership and audience demand, and received positive reviews from critics. The season was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards and several other awards.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: Executive producer Heather Kadin revealed in October 2018 that "" was intended to be an ongoing series rather than a limited miniseries; the producers knew from the time Patrick Stewart signed on to star in the series that a second season would definitely be made. Stewart reiterated this in February 2019 and added, "We are set up for possibly three years of this show". That September, Stewart said filming for a second season could begin as early as March 2020. Co-creator Alex Kurtzman confirmed a month later that a second season was "already in the works" ahead of the premiere in January 2020.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: In early December, co-creator and showrunner Michael Chabon signed an overall deal with CBS Television Studios to create several new series for them, beginning with an adaptation of his novel "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay". Chabon was expected to remain with "Picard" as showrunner until he had to shift focus to "Kavalier & Clay" at some point in 2020, at which point he would still be creatively involved in "Picard" as an executive producer. A week later, the series was informally green-lit for a second 10-episode season after being allocated $20.4million in tax credits by the California Film Commission for the production to continue filming in California. This was the most any television series had been awarded by the program since its expansion in September 2014. An official renewal from streaming service CBS All Access (later rebranded Paramount+) was expected once a showrunner for the second season could be confirmed.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: In January 2020, CBS officially announced the second season renewal and revealed that Terry Matalas had joined the series as an executive producer to fill the void that would be created by Chabon's departure. CBS had moved Matalas, who began his career working on "" and "", from "MacGyver" to "Picard" because the latter was considered a high priority for the studio. Matalas had been working with Chabon and the second season's writers for "some time" before the official announcement, and he was expected to take over as showrunner once Chabon left the series. "Picard" was also reported to have an informal green-light for a that would be developed at the same time as the second, so the two could be filmed back-to-back. Chabon expressed regret at having to leave the series, but said he was "every bit as involved" in the second season's development as he had been on the first, and he would be writing for the second season as well as remaining an executive producer. The difference, he explained, was that he would not be running the series day-to-day once filming began.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: Journalist Marc Bernardin, who began his career working as an intern on "", joined "Picard" as a supervising producer in March 2020. By the end of that month, filming was set to begin in mid-June. These plans were made before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Executive producer and co-creator Akiva Goldsman said in May 2020 that if filming could not begin in June due to the pandemic, it would begin as soon as possible after pandemic restrictions were lifted. That September, after a deal was made between major studios and Hollywood unions regarding safety measures for productions during the pandemic, director Jonathan Frakes said filming could begin in January 2021 and added that Stewart was eager to begin as soon as possible; filming began in February. Goldsman and Matalas were revealed to be working together as co-showrunners for the season that April.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: Following the first-season finale, Chabon and Goldsman said the second season would not ignore the fact that Picard's consciousness was transferred into a synthetic body during that finale. They added that the season would further explore the personal lives of the series' supporting cast, the first season's Romulan refugee storyline, and the technology and culture of Starfleet. Goldsman said the season would continue to explore issues that come up in the last stage of a person's life. One lesson learned by the writers during the first season, according to Goldsman, was to try figure out the ending of the season before they began filming.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: The writers began by asking questions about Picard's role in the first season, such as "Why is he on a vineyard by himself with a dog? Why did he never marry Beverly Crusher and have a family?" This led to them deconstructing Picard in different ways from the first season, putting an emphasis on his past relationships, romance, and "the puzzle-pieces of his past that are stopping him from embracing his future". After joining the writers room, Matalas suggested that the second season feature the "" character Q because he is "one of [Picard's] first relationships", and because Matalas felt Q was "the figure you introduce when your heroes need to face their truest selves". He did caution that they wanted to tell a dramatic story with Q rather than just "the same Loki-esque shenanigans" as his previous appearances. Matalas, who is known for the time travel-based series "12 Monkeys", also suggested the time travel-focused plot for the season which was inspired by the film "" (1986). He stated that "all good time-travel tales are emotional at their core, and speak to something that's happening with your main character", and the season explores Picard's trauma from his mother's death by suicide when Picard was a child. Stewart brought his own experience of childhood domestic violence and subsequent trauma into that storyline. Matalas praised Goldsman for developing the ideas for the season into a "really fascinating and heartbreaking psychological exploration of Picard".


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: The second and third seasons tell separate stories, despite being developed together. Before the end of 2019, Chabon and Goldsman met with Stewart to pitch the season's story, and Kurtzman said in January 2020 that the writers were confident in it. Kurtzman did want the option to adjust the story based on responses to the first season, but Chabon said the second season would not be affected by fans who criticized the first for not meeting their expectations. The full story for the second season was broken by March 2020 and writing had begun. The story features Q sending Picard and his companions to an alternate timeline where humanity has formed the xenophobic "Confederation of Earth" instead of the United Federation of Planets. They have to travel back in time to the 21st century to prevent that dark future from happening. Production delays due to the pandemic allowed more episodes to be written than usual, which meant earlier episodes could subsequently be revised. One change was that two episodes exploring the dark alternate timeline, written by Chabon, were re-written into one episode. Writing for the season was completed after filming began in early 2021, and Goldsman said it would not be clear if they were successful in crafting the full story until editing was done.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: By June 2020, most of the main cast from the first season were expected to star in the second, including Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, Alison Pill as Agnes Jurati, Isa Briones as Soji Asha, Evan Evagora as Elnor, Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker, and Santiago Cabrera as Cristobal "Chris" Rios. Harry Treadaway, who portrayed Narek in the first season, did not return for the second.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: In February 2019, Whoopi Goldberg stated that she would like to reprise her "Star Trek: The Next Generation" role of Guinan in "Picard". That July, Robert Picardo, who portrayed in "Star Trek: Voyager", said CBS had expressed interest in him returning for the second season of "Picard". In January 2020, while promoting the first season of the series on the talk show "The View", Stewart officially invited co-host Goldberg to appear in the second season, an invitation which Goldberg accepted. By April, LeVar Burton had discussed reprising his "Next Generation" role of Geordi La Forge on "Picard", and said there was a possibility he would appear in the second season, while Gates McFadden said in June that there was a "good chance" she would be reprising her "Next Generation" role of Beverly Crusher in the season. In July, Picardo praised the series and expressed interest in guest-starring in it in the future, but said there were "absolutely no plans" for him to appear in the second season. In May 2021, McFadden said "things have changed a lot on different levels" and she would no longer be appearing in the second season, expressing her disappointment at this, though in April 2022 she was revealed to be reprising her role in the third season of "Picard" instead, alongside Burton and other members of the "Next Generation" cast.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: After reprising his "Next Generation" role of Data in the first season, Brent Spiner said in March 2020 that he would not do so again as he felt that story was a fitting end to the character. He expressed interest in returning as Dr. Altan Inigo Soong, who he began playing in the first season two-part finale, and Goldsman later admitted that Altan Soong was created in part so Spiner could return following Data's death. Chabon expressed interest in first-season recurring guest stars Jeri Ryan, Orla Brady, and Jamie McShane returning for the second season, respectively as "Voyager"s Seven of Nine and Picard's Romulan staff-members Laris and Zhaban. He said a relationship between Seven and Raffi that was teased at the end of the first season would be explored in the second. Ryan confirmed in May 2020 that she was returning for the second season, and she, Brady, and Spiner were revealed to be main cast members in April 2021. Zhaban is revealed to have died since the end of the first season, and Laris becomes a love interest for Picard in the second. Brady also plays Tallinn, an ancestor of Laris's who is a Supervisor like the "" character Gary Seven. Spiner's contract stipulated that he not portray Data again, and he instead plays a new Soong ancestor in 2024 named Adam. Briones portrays his daughter, Kore, which helps to explain who Data was inspired by for the appearance of Briones's Soji in the first season (Soji is Data's synthetic "daughter").


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: Also in April 2021, John de Lancie was announced as reprising his "Next Generation" role of Q, an extra-dimensional being, in the season. To explain de Lancie's older appearance, Q initially appears the same as he did in "The Next Generation" (with de Lancie being digitally de-aged) before choosing to age himself to match the older Picard. In September, Annie Wersching was revealed to be cast in the recurring role of the Borg Queen, taking over from Alice Krige who portrayed the character in the film "" (1996) as well as the "Voyager" series finale. Susanna Thompson also portrayed the character in several episodes of "Voyager". Wersching's first television role was as a guest star on "Star Trek: Enterprise", and Goldsman considered bringing this "full circle" by having this version of the Borg Queen be the same character. Later in the season, the Borg Queen enters the mind of Agnes Jurati and becomes a new Queen that Alison Pill portrays. The season also introduces a younger version of Guinan in 2024 who does not yet know Picard. The original version of Guinan first met Picard in 1893 during the events of the "Next Generation" time travel episode "", but Matalas explained that these events do not happen during this season's altered timeline because the Federation does not exist. A long-time "Next Generation" fan, guest star Ito Aghayere revisited Goldberg's episodes and studied her mannerisms. She intended for her version to start as more aggressive and grow into Goldberg's calmer performance.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: With the season delving further into Picard's family, his mother Yvette appears several times via flashbacks. The character was portrayed as an old woman by Herta Ware in the "Next Generation" episode "Where No One Has Gone Before", but a younger version is portrayed by Madeline Wise in this season, in which she is shown to have struggled with mental health issues and died by suicide when Picard was a child. Picard explains that he has been suppressing this memory all of his life and Ware's older version of the character was a vision that he had imagined of his mother getting to live a long life. James Callis, who had a recurring role in "12 Monkeys", appears as Picard's father Maurice (who was portrayed by Clive Church in "The Next Generation"). A new member of the family, Renée Picard, plays a key role in the season's 2024 events, portrayed by Penelope Mitchell.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: When serving as an associate producer on "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home", Kirk Thatcher briefly appeared in the film as the "". He reprises this role for another brief appearance in the second season of "Picard", which was one of the first things that Matalas pitched for the season as a way to reference the film and acknowledge its influence on the season's story. Thatcher was excited to return to the role, which he said was what he was best known for, and he had suggestions for the character's appearance including a similar red mohawk as he had in the film. April Grace, who previously portrayed Maggie Hubbell in episodes of "The Next Generation" and "Deep Space Nine", portrays Admiral Sally Whitley in the season premiere. Jay Karnes plays FBI agent Martin Wells after previously portraying the time travelling Starfleet officer Ducane in "Star Trek: Voyager". Additionally, Sol Rodríguez has a recurring role as Teresa Ramirez, a doctor who treats those without identification or money and helps Rios; Briones's father, Jon Jon Briones, portrays the Confederation Magistrate in the alternate timeline; Patton Oswalt voices a virtual cat named Spot 73; Brian "Q" Quinn makes a cameo appearance as Dale, a character that he also appeared as in Matalas's previous series "12 Monkeys" and "MacGyver"; director Lea Thompson appears as Dr. Diane Werner, the chairman of a committee who remove Adam Soong's license to research and funding; and Stewart's wife Sunny Ozell has a cameo appearance singing in a bar that Jurati goes to. Wil Wheaton reprised his "Next Generation" role of Wesley Crusher for an appearance in the season finale, which he kept secret for around a year until the episode was released. Wheaton was excited to return and praised the writers for honoring the headcanon that Wheaton developed for the character after "The Next Generation", in which Crusher serves as one of the Travelers who is "effectively "Star Trek" version of a Time Lord" from "Doctor Who".


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: Matalas said each season would be differentiated visually, and he wanted to return to the visual style of the "Next Generation" era while incorporating some elements from the "Original Series"-era films which were his personal favorites. He said new production designer Dave Blass was a long-time "Star Trek" fan who also wanted to return to that aesthetic, and they both insisted on bringing back several creatives from earlier "Star Trek" series such as Michael and Denise Okuda, who designed the LCARS computer system for "The Next Generation", long-time "Star Trek" concept designer and visual effects artists Doug Drexler, and frequent "Star Trek" starship designer John Eaves. The design team included a lot of references to previous "Star Trek" projects, which Matalas said was partially "cheeky, nerdy fun", but also about honoring the history and legacy of the franchise. The series' opening title sequence was updated from the first season by creative agency Prologue to include new imagery from the second season, including adding a Starfleet combadge to Picard's jacket for the ending shot.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: The Starfleet uniform designs from the first season were merged with those from the "Original Series"-era films; one of Leonard Nimoy's Spock costumes from "" (1982) was used as reference. The new designs have a jacket-like opening and remove the "militaristic collar" from the first season's uniforms. They are black with different colors across the chest and shoulders to represent each division. Picard's Starfleet Academy assignment badge was inspired by the badge worn by William Shatner's Admiral James T. Kirk in "The Wrath of Khan". The Borg Queen was intended to be a new character with access to the same information as the previous Queens, and Matalas wanted a new design that honered the previous Borg Queen designs while "bringing it into the 4K streaming world". Creature designer Neville Page created the new design which was translated into prosthetics by Glenn Hetrick and Alchemy Studio. Head of prosthetics James Mackinnon applied the prosthetics to Wersching, which initially took four hours but was down to two-and-a-half hours by the end of production. The prosthetics consisted of a crown piece that Page sculpted digitally, based on scans of Wersching's head, which was 3D printed and had built-in lighting. 10 other silicon pieces were used to cover Wersching's face, neck, and shoulders, featuring built-in magnets where the Queen needed to be connected to her containment vessel. Page wanted to match the original Borg Queen silhouette of just a head and neck, but ultimately gave the character shoulders and arms due to logistical concerns. He approached the character as an evolution of the prosthetics that were already used for Seven of Nine, who has Borg implants.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

text: The design team wanted to expand Chateau Picard beyond the main study set from the first season, introducing a library and a solarium. Art director Joe Comeau described the chateau as a "reflection of the psyche" of Picard. It is seen in three different time periods in the season: 2401 at the beginning of the season, abandoned in 2024 for much of the season, and in flashbacks to 2315 when young Picard and his family first move in. Matalas and the designers wanted to bridge the look of the chateau from the first season with its depiction in the "Next Generation" episode "". Establishing shots of the chateau in 2024 include two wings of the building that are not seen in the first season or the second season's 2401 scenes. These match the parts of the building seen in "Family", suggesting that they burned down during the fire that is mentioned in the film "Star Trek Generations" (1994). Evidence of fire damage was included in the 2401 solarium design, and the 2315 sets were meant to align with the style of "Family"'s sets rather than the "tuscan look" of the first season and the second season's 2401 sets. The designers intended to have major damage, like a "busted ceiling", in the 2024 sets but this was cut back in favor of general aging and set dressing.