Ok, so maybe I don't always have a shit for every president's birthday, but I might be splurging on some. If I can get something that works for multiple presidents, and get the cost to under $5 per president, I'm in. My Tippecanoe and Tyler too shirt works for William Henry Harrison, and John Tyler, and I can wear it for another Whig president, Zachary Taylor. So, I went ahead and got it.
We have a lot of cameos with this one, for a guy who was only president for 30 days!
And of course, you can check out our last go around with William Henry Harrison's birthday if you're interested.
Or you can invest the time to read the 2020 version of his story! (If not, page to the bottom to see the rest of our 2020 activities).
The Story of William Henry Harrison
2020 Edition
Two hundred and forty-seven year ago on this very day, the future 9th president of the United States of America was born in on a plantation in the Virginia Territory. Note: not a log cabin. The youngest kid out of 7, his father was Benjamin, a wealthy delegate from Virginia.Benjamin had inherited a whole plantation and a ton of money at 19, when his father died in a rather unusual way- being struck by lightning while closing a window. Spoiler Alert: the Harrisons are more of a tragedy than a comedy. They suffer a lot of losses.
When little William was just three, Benjamin put his old John Hancock (signature) on a little document you may have heard of: the Declaration of Independence. That’s right, Benjamin is a founding father- not one of THE founding fathers of course, but still.
Worth noting: this makes William Henry Harrison the last president who was born as a British subject. Which also means he picked quite the tumultuous time to be a kid; the Revolutionary War was on going.
His dad was a target, too, and the Red Coats were coming!....
To burn the Harrison’s plantation to the ground. More specifically, turncoat Benedict Arnold is coming. But, luckily for the Harrison’s (and John Tyler, apparently), they were given a heads up and had time to abandon ship (or planation) before their livestock was slaughtered, their horses and slaves were taken, and their home was stripped of their furniture, because apparently turncoat Benedict Arnold needs a comfy couch to sit on.
The Harrison’s found a new home in Virginia, where Benjamin became the Governor, and William kept up with his studies thanks to the private tutors his parents hired.
If you asked young William what he wanted to be when he grew up, the answer would not have been President of the United States. Instead, he had his sights set on another admirable job: Doctor. His family had plenty of money, and William had the brains for it (thanks to those fancy pants tutors), so off he went to medical school.
But then, as common in the late 1700’s, tragedy struck the Harrison’s again when Benjamin dropped dead after a dinner party celebrating his recent political successes. William was just 18, and had to give up medical school because Benjamin, unlike his father, had blown through the family money and there just wasn’t enough to leave all those kids. There certainly wasn’t enough for William to keep going to medical school. (William, however, does get the distinction of being the only president to ever go to medical school!)
With his dreams of being a doctor crushed, William had to find a new line of work, so he joined the army. The British were long gone by now, it’d been well over a decade since British surrender at Yorktown and the fighting had stopped.
White Americans needed a new enemy: enter the Native Americans. The white guys had fought tooth and nail for their freedom, and they weren’t about to let the native Americans take that land from them, even if they had it first.
So off William went to slay the Native Americans in the Northwest Indian War. Yes, it’s the war you’ve never heard of, so let me give you a quick overview. After the Revolutionary War, the British had given up their “control” of the Northwest Territory. But in a way, it wasn’t theirs to give away in the first place: it was occupied by various Native American Tribes. But that didn’t stop the newly formed Americans from being like “um, the British gave us this territory!” Fighting broke out, the Native Americans held their ground for awhile, but the white guys eventually win, as they do. Jokes on them: their prize is Ohio.
Anyway, this kind of sets the scene for how William Henry Harrison spends his next couple decades: fighting the Native Americans for the white guys.
But, he’s going to need a lady by his side while he does it. Enter: Anna Symmes.
Anna is the daughter of a local land baron, and she’s got quite the childhood story. Anna’s mom died just a year after she was born, and her father couldn’t take on single parenthood alone, because he was busy fighting the British (you know, Revolutionary War time), and so he needed to get a young Anna to her grandparents.
But to get her to safety with her grandparents, he had to cross enemy lines. Legend says he donned a stolen British uniform, put little Anna in a sack and when asked what he was doing, he told the Red Coats he had been tasked with delivering turnips to the British Kitchen in Long Island. It worked, and Anna arrived safe and sound in New York.
Anna was given the finest education money can buy. In fact, she would be the first First Lady with any sort of formal education.
Anna seems like quite the catch, but she’s 19 and not married, and by 1700’s status, that makes her an old maid. She’s just looking for the right guy though, and she’s found him when she meets a dashing 22 year old army captain on a trip to Kentucky.
But when Anna brings William Henry Harrison home, her father is less than impressed. William didn’t make a whole lot of money, and he had no career “but that of arms”. So, one day when Anna’s dad left town for work, the couple got married behind his back! (And Anna’s dad didn’t speak to William for weeks!)
Being worried about his daughter’s new husband providing for her, Anna’s dad eventually gave the couple 160 acres of land in North Bend, Ohio (he was a land baron after all).
William Henry Harrison named his 160 acres “Grouseland”, after his favorite food: Grouse. (It’d be like dad naming our house “Baconland”) Grouse, in case you’re wondering, is a game bird.
Anyway, originally there was a little log cabin on Grouseland, but as the family grew, so did the home. 10 kids meant a lot of extra rooms, so they just kept on adding on and the humble log cabin ended up becoming a fancy pants country house- and a giant fort.
Because William Henry Harrison was not about to let the British burn his house on Grouseland, like Benedict Arnold did when he was a kid- he’s going to need a house built like a fort. It has thick curved walls, to have multiple angles for his men to shoot from, he has a well in the basement to avoid a poisoned water supply, panic rooms, hidden corridors, and roof lookouts, all in case of an attack.
Anna stays at the house-fort-Grouseland with the kids, teaching them all (and some of the neighbor kids because she’s one of the smartest ladies in North Bend, Ohio), but it is no picnic. A fort isn’t necessarily a home, and it lacks certain comforts. Hostile Native Americans are everywhere, and she’s raising 9 kids (one died in infancy) basically on her own.
William has moved on to politics by now, it’s in his blood after all. He becomes Secretary of the Northwest Territory and then a Delegate for that Territory to Congress, before he moves on to being the Territory Governor of Indiana. But, before you are a state, you don’t elect a governor- instead the President appoints one. And President John Adams chose William Henry Harrison.
But, politics isn’t enough for William Henry Harrison, he still needs the rush of combat, and so William is still out there slaughtering Native Americans, most famously in the Battle of Tippecanoe. Depending on what history book you grab, the Battle of Tippecanoe ranges from a “bloody draw” where Governor/General Harrison was competent at best, to a complete victory where General Harrison was the reason the white guys were allowed to colonize in the Northwest, earning him a Congressional Gold Medal. Either way, it would make for a great campaign slogan (that slogan by the way is probably also the reason for the inconsistency in the history books).
There is no disputing though, as Governor of the Indiana Territory, he acquired land that historically belonged to Native Americans.
Then, there was the War of 1812, which is basically the Revolutionary War Part 2, where the British low key helped Native Americans to keep the white guys from expanding west.
It’s here where we’ll find William Henry Harrison leading his men against Tecumseh at the Battle of Thames, and General Andrew Jackson fighting an unnecessary Battle of New Orleans. Both men will claim hero status here, but the real hero of the War of 1812 was Dolley Madison who was saving everything she could from the White House, before the British set in on fire.
Again, it’s hard to nail down exactly how important William Henry Harrison was here. He resigned his job as Governor to take back Indiana, Ohio and Detroit from the British and Native American forces. And that happened. But, while some claim he’s a national hero, some history books say he was never very impressive.
General/Governor Harrison ends up resigning from the military over a disagreement with Secretary of War. William wants to be put in charge of ALL of the armies, and the Secretary is only willing to give him some of the army. So, Harrison throws a hissy fit and resigns. It’s kind of a big deal, it even gets its own Congressional Hearing. Congress agreed William was unfairly treated. But, Congress is also full of his buddies, thanks to William’s name recognition from his father and his resume.
William Henry Harrison’s history gets murkier and murkier as we move from General to President. We know he was a Congressman from Ohio, then a Senator, and eventually Minister to Columbia.
But it’s not like he just goes from one to another, there’s years missing, and it’s sketchy where he was. Sometimes he was raising horses on his farm, then he was running a distillery until he decided he didn’t like seeing the affect alcohol had on some people. Then there’s reports he was helping write a book.
But one thing is certain: through it all, he had his eye on the presidency. But that job right now belongs to a different General: General Andrew Jackson, and Jackson is just finishing up his second term.
It’s 1836 now, and it’s time for a presidential election! And Andrew Jackson has hand picked his successor: Martin Van Buren. Van Buren has the resume- he’s been Governor of New York, a Senator and Vice President. He has a certain political astuteness, and an unmatched loyalty to Jackson.
Andrew Jackson doesn’t just want Martin Van Buren nominated, he wants it done in spectacular fashion, so he urged democrats to hold a “National Convention” composed of delegates “fresh from the people”. It’ll be the first of it’s kind! How exciting!
Of course, the Convention is a total farce. Some states are over-represented, some under-represented. There’s nobody from Tennessee so they take to the streets to find some guy to be the Tennessee delegate and pledge all their votes to MVB.
It doesn’t matter, it’s the show Jackson wants to see, and he gets one. Martin Van Buren is almost assuredly going to be the next president of the United States.
MVB’s Veep is also handpicked by Jackson: Richard Johnson. This guy is also a supposed hero of the War of 1812. And may or may not have killed famous Shawnee Chief, Tecumseh. But he does have the nerve to openly live with a black woman- and they have two daughters together. This guy even *gasp* brings his mixed race family out in public.
But, it shouldn’t be a problem: Jackson was a charismatic popular president, and while MVB doesn’t inspire the same passion, he should be able to ride Andrew Jackson’s coat tails to the presidency, even without the southern vote (they hate MVB’s New York ‘smoothness’ and his Vice Presidential pick). MVB accepts the nomination-in his own words- “to perfect the work which Jackson has so gloriously begun.”
MVB is not going to run unopposed for the presidency, but things on the other side are dicey. There’s a brand new political party, and they don’t quite know what they’re doing yet.
What they do know: They’re going to call themselves the Whigs, named after a British Reform Party that battled for supremacy of parliament over the king. And their basic premise is “we’re a bunch of guys who hate Andrew Jackson and his policies!” They were there to battle “King Andrew the first” and his war on the banks.
One of the most famous Whigs in early 1836 is Tennessee Congressman, Davy Crockett (Of king of the wild frontier fame!) Crockett loathes Martin Van Buren with a passion. He says MVBis “laced up in corsets” (ie. Dresses like a girl), and “it’s difficult to tell if he’s a man or a woman, but for his large red and grey whiskers”. He says MVB has forgotten his poor friends and become an insufferable snob and calls him a “Dandy”.
But, the 1836 headlines include Davy Crocket being skewered on a Mexican Bayonet at the Alamo, and there’s no need for MVB to worry about him. The Big Bad- Davy Crockett- wolf is gone.
But, three little Whigs remain. The Whigs are united in their hatred for Jackson and his war on the banks (we’ll get to that in March), but for a party born out of a common hatred, it’s hard to find one candidate they can all agree on. Instead, they hope to put out three candidates and split the vote, sending it to the House of Representatives where they think they have a chance.
Whig #1: Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster
Whig #2: Tennessee Senator Hugh White
And Whig #3: William Henry Harrison
The Democrats aren’t really threatened though. They put out some half-assed attacks calling the Whigs nullifiers and bank men. They say, Webster is an old federalist. White is an “ingrate who deserted Jackson for his own selfish agenda”, and William Henry Harrison is a failure as a military leader and a governor.
But, MVB stayed calm and steady. He’d sit there, smug or stoic (depending on if you ask a Democrat or a Whig), and take it all. He’s a little evasive, in fact “VanBurenish” is a new political term now, meaning evasiveness in politics (He Schruted it!)
MVB was called Jackson’s political puppet, but remained unphased. He relied on party loyalty, efficient organization, and state and local committees to hold rallies, dinners, and barbecues to raise money.
He didn’t really have anything to worry about, he easily won the election. Martin Van Buren won 170 electoral votes. All of the three Whigs together didn’t even top 125.
But there was one Whig who did decidedly better than the others: William Henry Harrison racked up 73electoral votes and over half a million popular votes. After all, he’s got that good-three-Anglo- Saxon-names that never hurt.
Martin Van Buren, for now, was inaugurated as our 8th president, and Andrew Jackson spent that MVB’s inauguration day talking about his two regrets. He never shot Henry Clay, and he never hung John C. Calhoun.
Who knows how William Henry Harrison spent the next four years, besides attending his children’s funerals. By the time the election of 1840 came around, six of his ten kids had died. Those Harrison kids had a strikingly high mortality rate in their 20s and 30s.
Anna spent most of it relieved. Well, at least about William. She was not thrilled at the prospect of him being president. She was ready to finally enjoy some time with him in retirement.
But Martin Van Buren spent most of the next four years getting blamed for the Panic of 1837. It was a vicious cycle of Jackson’s bad bank plan, high inflation and a complete crop failure in 1835 that had brought economic life in the United States to a standstill. Factories had closed, families were begging on the streets: it was the OG of Depressions. Van Buren is a decent guy, with lots of government experience, but he had no idea how to handle an economic crisis.
But, he gets nominated for re-election by the Democrats again in 1840. And now we’ve come to one of the most fascinating, precedent-setting elections in US History.
The Whigs are a more unified party now. It’s a party gaining steam, and appealing to a lot of people: from farmers to disgruntled bankers, from pro tariff to anti tariff forces, from slave holders to abolitionists.
And the new, unified Whigs are going to take a play right out of Andrew Jackson’s playbook. They need someone to excite the country, they need a war hero! Don’t have one? Make one!
Enter William Henry Harrison.
The Democrats take one look at William Henry Harrison, and are like “are you kidding me with this guy? He’s not presidential material. He’s an illiterate, drunken, backwoodsman, frontier farmer.” They publish a Henry Clay quote about William Henry Harrison hoping to trash him: “Give William Henry Harrison a barrel of hard cider, and a pension of $2,000 a year, and he’ll sit for the remainder of his days in a log cabin.”
And the Whigs are like, “yup! Sounds about right!” This guy is a ‘guys guy’. He’s the “log cabin and hard cider candidate” throwing back beers with his friends while wearing a coon skin cap. To the Whigs, a Log Cabin sounds like just the thing to make this guy sound relatable, and so they slap it on everything!
They put it on song books and pamphlets and badges, they shape their newspapers like log cabins, and then they make log cabin shaped bottles for their Whiskey (Fun fact: the log cabin shaped bottles come from the E.C. Booz distillery, and this is how the word Booze enters the English Language).
Never mind that William Henry Harrison is not a guys guy, or a man of the people. He’s not a drinker. He actually wanted to close all distilleries. He wasn’t born in a log cabin. He was born into wealth, on a plantation in Virginia. He didn’t live in a humble log cabin. At this point he owned more have 2,000 acres and his house wasn’t a log cabin as much as a mansion built around a log cabin. He didn’t have a ton of money, but that was just because he was terrible with it, not because he never had any.
But that doesn’t matter. Here are the Whigs transforming him into “just a log cabin folksy guy”. Voters are eating it up, and the Whigs are creating a marketing campaign that’s creating a whole lot of buzz. This guy must be seen to be believed! He’s having huge rallies, attended by thousands. He’s giving the first ever “stump speeches”, and people are coming out in droves.
The Democrats say William Henry Harrison is talking but he isn’t SAYING anything. And that’s true: Whig party bosses have said: “Let him not say one word about his principles, let him say nothing, promise nothing.” Again, voters don’t seem to care, they just love to hear him talk.
Harrison supporters have now moved on to singing, and holding parades that are 4 to 5 miles long. William Henry Harrison has picked up a running mate, too: John Tyler, a Virginia Senator big on States Rights. There’s not really a reason to it, but there is a very memorable rhyme: Tippecanoe and Tyler too!
The Whigs have other slogans, nicknames and catchphrases too. He’s the “Farmer’s President”, “the Hero of Tippecanoe”, and “Harrison, $2 a day, and Roast Beef”, whatever that’s about. But none of these will withstand the next 180 years the way Tippecanoe and Tyler too would.
Of course, they’ve moved on to props now too. They make giant balls out of tin, twine, paper, or leather, and roll them down streets from town to town, encouraging people to “Keep the ball rolling” for Tippecanoe and Tyler too.
Woman can’t vote, were still 80 years away from that- but that doesn’t mean they can’t get out the vote for their guy. They’re proposing “lady toasts” to their hero, William Henry Harrison. They’re sewing banners and flags with “Harrison our Protector”, and they’re riding on floats and carrying brooms in parades, to ‘sweep Democrats out of office.’
Democrats, meanwhile, cry fake news! This guy wasn’t born in a log cabin, he doesn’t drink hard ciders, and he’s not even a war hero, he’s a mediocre strategist that took on heavy casualties at Tippecanoe. How is that even a catch phrase? They’re stunned.
They attempt their own exciting campaign. The first Democratic Donkey appears in this election, in a cartoon with Jackson riding the donkey, and Martin Van Buren walking behind saying “I shall tread in the footsteps of my illustrious predecessor”. Not exactly the riveting stuff going on over there at the Whig camp.
Supporter of MVB form the ‘Ok Club’, in honor of his hometown, Old Kinderhook. But “Vote OK” is probably not the best slogan. (OK would eventually come to mean ‘alright’, and some suggest it started here). They try and come up with a disparaging slogan for their opponents: after all Harrison backwards is “No-Sir-Son!”, but that doesn’t roll off the tongue the same way as “Tippecanoe and Tyler too.”
The Democrats write William Henry Harrison off as a senile old. They give him their own nickname: “Granny”. They say he’s “an old gentleman in leading strings”, basically he’s a political puppet for the Whig bosses.
And maybe he is. But he’s a damn popular puppet. Democrats call him pompous and incoherent, and says he uses “Shocking profanity”, but that does nothing but further excite William Henry Harrison fans. Because he doesn’t just have voters anymore, he has fans. For the first time, a presidential candidate isn’t running on policies, he’s running on an image.
And those fans are cheering on not only William Henry Harrison, but the smear campaign the Whigs are now unleashing on MVB.
It’s not enough to paint William Henry Harrison as the people’s candidate, they have to show MVB as a complete aristocrat elitist (which is ironic because MVB was anything but!)
This leads us to possibly the strangest and most twisted lies ever argued in the US House of Representatives. Congressman Charles Ogle (name not important), gets up and gives a three day long speech where he goes on and on about Martin Van Buren’s elitest ways.
He says the White House has been outfitted as though MVB was Caesar, and it’s been richly adorned with mirrors that are 9 feet high, MVB is sleeping on French linens, eating from silver plates, and forks of gold, wearing rubies on his neck, and diamonds on his fingers. And to top it all off, he has the fanciest toilet that has it’s own oils and perfumes. The speech is distributed nationwide.
Democrats were horrified (even some Whigs gave a pause here), what exactly was happening here? The Whigs were just saying things, without any truth to them, and the public seemed to be buying it. The voters were literally singing William Henry Harrison’s praises, and they sung him all the way into the White House.
80% of eligible voters voted in the 1840 election, a ridiculously high number. The only two elections with higher turnout: Lincoln’s first election, and Hayes vs. Tilden.
And they overwhelming turned out for William Henry Harrison. In those days it took weeks to get voter returns, but it became obvious very quickly that William Henry Harrison has won. It’s also obvious for the rest of history: smear campaigns work.
The Democrats are embarrassed: “We have been sung down, lied down, drunk down, and our only consolation is the 1840 election is over”.
The Whigs, it’s no surprise, are sore winners. They feel redeemed, and say that the WHH election proves voters “placed their seal of condemnation upon a band of the most desperate, unprincipled demagogues that have ever graced the annals of despotism.” (the exercise of absolute power, especially in a cruel and oppressive way.)
Anna is horrified that her husband is now president, feeling like the presidency would rob her of last years of her husband’s life (spoiler alert: she’s not wrong).
She tells him to go ahead to DC without her. She needs to pack, or she’s sick, or another kid just died- depends on where you get your facts. But, we know she didn’t go to DC right away, instead the oldest Harrison daughter, or maybe her daughter in-law (again, murky) went along to take care of first lady duties.
Anna might be upset, but the voters are thrilled. They’re going to need to have one last rally to send their president off to the White House.
On January 26, 1841, William Henry Harrison, newly elected, gets on a Steamboat (named The Ben Franklin), in North Bend, Ohio. Bands come to play, hundreds of people cheer him on, and toss their hats and hankies into the air. They even blast celebratory ammunition. William Henry Harrison leaves them all by saying “ Perhaps this may be the last time I may have the pleasure of seeing you.” Foreshadowing perhaps?
Harrison arrives in DC, to put together his cabinet. But there’s a hiccup: Henry Clay is expecting to take over his puppet strings from other party leaders. But, William Henry Harrison is not having it, and gets into it with Henry Clay, telling him not to forget which one of them is president. Making matter worse for Henry Clay, William Henry Harrison appoints Daniel Webster, Henry Clay’s arch rival to Secretary of State.
William Henry Harrison also has to work on his inaugural address. He’s got a lot to say! After all, he can finally actually SAY something.
He’s got so much to get off his chest, in fact, that when he delivered his inaugural address on March 4, 1841 after he was sworn in, the whole thing was 8,445 words. He rambled on for two and a half hours about such riveting topics a the history of the veto power, the pros and cons of allowing presidents to seek re-election, and the different currency states were using. When he ran out of US history to talk about, he switched over to Roman history.
The speech went on in the cold, wet, gross DC March weather for two hours, and Daniel Webster had even helped edit the thing down! (Andrew Jackson, was unimpressed calling WHH “the present imbecile in chief”.)
It’s true the weather that day was cold and wet, and William Henry Harrison didn’t wear a coat, either to prove he wasn’t too old, or because he wasn’t used to wearing a coat as a General who fought in Ohio. He didn’t ride in the covered carriage offered to him for the parade, but instead rode horseback.
Still wet, he attended three balls (including the Tippecanoe ball where tickets ran a whopping $10/person), staggered up the stairs of the White House at the end of the night, and took a bunch of “stimulants”.
But, William Henry Harrison wouldn’t fall sick for another three weeks, so it’s unlikely his poor decisions that day led to his ultimate demise. Again, history with William Henry Harrison is murky, remember?
Instead, William Henry Harrison spent the first few weeks of his presidency meeting with prospective employees. During those days, the first few weeks of a new president’s tenure, anyone could show up hoping to get a job. Hoards of applicants came out to the White House, hoping to meet with Tippecanoe! Maybe that’s how he got sick. He should have hand sanitized after shaking hands!
At least someone was having a good time. His Pet goat Whiskers and his new cow Sukey (one of William Henry Harrison’s very last purchases) were living it up on the White House lawn.
By March 26th, he was sick- and he just kept getting sicker. Doctors were inept. The public became concerned holding large vigils outside. After all, this is the people’s president.
But William Henry Harrison’s pneumonia turned to delirium (he thought his doctor was John Tyler- telling him to carry out the principles of the government), and his delirium turned to death.
Just after midnight on April 4, 1841 William Henry Harrison died. He had the shortest term of any US President: 30 days, 12 hours, and 30 minutes.
The death incited different reactions from former presidents. John Quincy Adams, who had never been a WHH fan, released a statement: “Amiable and benevolent. Sympathy for his suffering and his fae in the prevailing sentiment of his fellow citizens.” It’s today’s equivalent of : “nice guy, sorry for your loss”.
But Andrew Jackson had himself a different reaction, he thanked God for doing in William Henry Harrison, and added “let the nation rejoice”, and even throwing in a dig at Henry Clay calling him a ‘demagogue’. Basically, it’s what you’d expect from Andrew Jackson: no sympathy and a few insults.
It marked the first time a sitting president died, and it incited a whole Constitutional Crisis. It wasn’t exactly clear who would become president. It said that the Vice President was to take over the “powers and duties” but it wasn’t clear if he’d be an acting president, or a real president.
Harrison’s cabinet wasn’t a John Tyler fan, so they insisted he was simply “acting president”. But Tyler wanted the full duties of the presidency. It took two days, but the Chief Justice decided that if he took the oath of office, he’d be president-president, not just acting president.
While that was all being sorted out, everyone else was trying to figure out exactly how you put together a funeral for a sitting president. Secretary of State Daniel Webster issued a proclamation of death, saying: “His life has been patriotic, useful and distinguished”.
With no models for how to handle such a thing, so they took a look see at how Europeans handle royal funerals. They draped the whole city in black, there were public ceremonies and an invitation only funeral in the East Room of the White House.
Except, there is no grave. He died suddenly, and even if he went to Ohio for burial, there’d be no where to put him. Instead he stayed in the Congressional Cemetery’s Public Vault.
A lot of old white guys also (and pretty much exclusively) ruled Congress in the 1800s, and old white guys tend to die. So, this cemetery in DC was in the practice of holding bodies until their home states were ready for them.
William Henry Harrison’s body would spend three months at the Congressional Cemetery, three times longer than he was president.
Washington stayed draped in black for a whole month- just as long as Harrison was president. The party for the Whigs had come to a screeching halt.
Not only was their beloved Tippecanoe gone, but now John Tyler was in office, and this guy wasn’t a Whig at all. He was abandoning their agenda. The Whigs are shocked and saddened and stupefied at Tyler’s decisions. They have nothing left to do but drown their sorrows in hard cider and remember the good old days.
Anna, who had the title of the oldest first lady (at 65), would live for 23 more years. But her tragic life would continue: outlived 9 of her 10 children. Only two made it past the age of 35.
The one child that outlived her? That was John Scott Harrison, father to the other Benjamin Harrison- the one that becomes the 23rd president of the United States.
William Henry Harrison had done his wife no favors in event of his death. When he died, Anna had to pay off all of his debts with the $25,000 pension a sympathetic Congress had voted to award her, and she lived the rest of her life in relative poverty. She had to move in with her remaining son, John. But hey, at least she got to help raise another president: John’s son, Benjamin.
William Henry Harrison had a badly timed death, and became a badly remembered president as a result. And that’s kind of why so much about him is so murky. When he keeled over dead a month into his term, historians didn’t find him as important. And what you do have is tons of propaganda out there from that 1840 election that painted Harrison as the war hero, Tippecanoe. Records were sketchy back then, there was no National Archives to keep all his papers, and a lot of his papers ended up being burned.
But so many things you read about William Henry Harrison are conflicting. Don’t go to his Wikipedia page, it’s a complete wreck. Some things are clear though, his funeral set a tone for how we send off a president who dies in office; we give them a service fit for kings.
But, it’s also important to note, the election of 1840 changed political campaigns forever. Style over substance was now important. And more than that, it set the precedence that untrue smear campaigns can totally get you elected. Those annoying, propaganda filled political commercials you see today? Go ahead and thank William Henry Harrison for that one.
So what do you think? A Scathing Reveiw of William Henry Harrison?
Or, Rose Colored Glasses?
Hayden went with Rose Colored glasses, and we added some things to the board.
But, he also put him close to Dumpster fire (right after Millard Fillmore). I suspect he was being contridictory because that fits with William Henry Harrison.
Of course, the 1836 barely registered on the Sleze-O-Meter, with just a two. But, 1840 ranks as an 8, according to Hayden.
We're also keeping a Presidential Tally, it doesn't show up for everyone- but for William Henry Harrison he makes it onto the 'guys who died in office' and 'election rematches'.
If you're looking for a William Henry Harrison meal, we also have you covered. His dinner for us got lost in the shuffle. We've had so many visitors lately, plus with the boy's stuff, it's hard to fit it in. We're trying though!
Of course, Hayden also drew in his sketch book, usually he does the winner and the loser, but since he'll have to do Martin Van Buren in December for MVB's birthday, he decided to do the two "versions" of William Henry Harrison. I appreciated the creativity.
And that's it for William Henry Harrison, I'm also three blogs down in one night (while I'm trying to catch up), so I'm doing pretty good.
Next Up: My mom visited! It seems like forever ago now, but it really was just over 2 weeks ago.
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