Tyler played virtually no role in her husband's presidency, but maintained a positive reputation among the American people.

She was the seventh child[1]: 109  of Mary (née Browne) and Robert Christian, a wealthy planter[2]: 58–59  who was well connected with the nation's political elite, including President George Washington.

Two years later, they sold Mons-Sacer and built the Woodburn house nearby before eventually purchasing Greenway in its entirety in 1821.

[2]: 59  The Tylers had nine children, seven of whom survived infancy: Mary in 1815, Robert in 1816, John III in 1819, Letitia in 1821, Elizabeth in 1823, Alice in 1827, and Tazewell in 1830.

[3]: 63 The Tylers struggled with money throughout their marriage,[2]: 59  as the financial burdens of raising several children and participating in the social aspects of politics outpaced any inheritance they received.

[3]: 63  Tyler avoided the limelight during her husband's political rise, preferring domestic responsibilities to those of a public wife.

[9]: 145  Her management of the plantation, and in particular her ability to oversee the economic aspects, allowed her husband to be away for long periods of time, so his political career could progress.

Letitia Tyler's health had made it impossible for her to manage the White House, and she did not immediately travel to Washington with the rest of her family.

[5] Although she retained authority over how the duties of the first lady were carried out,[12]: 121  Tyler delegated the management of the White House to her daughter Letitia and her responsibilities as hostess to her daughter-in-law Priscilla.

[12]: 121  Distinguished visitors to the White House, such as Charles Dickens and Washington Irving, were sometimes welcomed upstairs to meet her.

[12]: 123  Tyler was buried on her father's estate at Cedar Grove, and the White House was decorated in black for a period of mourning.

She also played no public role, but she maintained a positive reputation despite her husband's embattled political situation.

Notwithstanding her very delicate health, mother attends to and regulates all the household affairs and all so quietly that you can't tell when she does it.

[9]: 149 Tyler was a descendant of Manx settlers of Virginia[15] and she appears on a 28p (£0.28) commemorative postage stamp from the Isle of Man Post Office, issued May 23, 2006, as part of a series honoring Manx-Americans.

[17] Since 1982, Siena College Research Institute has periodically conducted surveys asking historians to assess American first ladies according to a cumulative score on the independent criteria of their background, value to the country, intelligence, courage, accomplishments, integrity, leadership, being their own women, public image, and value to the president.