On the eve of the Civil War, Tyler re-entered public life as sponsor and chairman of the Virginia Peace Convention, held in Washington, D.C., in February 1861 as an effort to devise means to prevent a war. The convention sought a compromise to avoid civil war even as the Confederate Constitution was being drawn up at the Montgomery Convention. When the convention's proposals were rejected by Congress, 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.[136] When war ultimately broke out, Tyler unhesitatingly sided with Virginia, which eventually joined the Confederacy; the former American president was sent as a delegate to the Provisional Confederate Congress. Julia Tyler was an ardent supporter of the Southern cause despite her Northern birth. Her husband was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives. On January 5, 1862, he left for the Confederate capital, Richmond, in anticipation of his congressional service, but did not live to see the opening sessions.[135][137]
Throughout Tyler's life, he 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. He was treated, but his health did not 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 last sip of brandy, and told his doctor, "I am going. Perhaps it is best."[138] He died shortly thereafter, most likely due to a stroke.[139]
Tyler's death was the only one in presidential history not to be officially recognized in Washington, because of his allegiance to the Confederacy. 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.[140]A former Chief Executive of the United States not only supporting but in fact participating in secession - isn't that what being a traitor is?
