William Henry Harrison: President for 31 Days
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William Henry Harrison, the really first Whig president, passed away soon after taking office. He didn’t live enough time to enact his ambitious program, it would be a severe mistake to underestimate his contribution to the American story. Richard Lim, host of the This American President podcast (https://www.thisamericanpresident.com/), explains why Harrison matters.
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Script:
The 1840 presidential election included one of the most widely known political mottos in American history. You may have heard of it: “Tippecanoe and Tyler, too!”
The “Tyler” of the motto was John Tyler, the vice-presidential prospect.
However who was Tippecanoe?
It wasn’t a person. It was the site of a famous fight. The general who won that battle was William Henry Harrison, the male who ended up being the ninth president of the United States.
Born into a leading Virginia household on February 9th, 1773, his daddy, Benjamin Harrison V, was among the fifty-six guys who signed the Declaration of Independence.
William, the youngest of 7 kids, developed on the home’s big estate. When his daddy passed away all of a sudden, the cushy life of his youth quickly became a memory. Like many Virginia planters, the estate was more monetary commitment than earnings. And at 18, William was on his own.
He signed up with the army and was posted to the Northwest Territory– an area that includes what is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
Harrison rapidly developed himself as a brave soldier and competent administrator. In 1801, when Harrison was simply 27, President John Adams appointed him guv of the entire area– a workplace Harrison would hold for 12 years.
As governor, Harrison was a passionate promoter of westward growth. He negotiated 7 treaties with the people of the area, obtaining about 50 million acres of land for the United States while doing so.
While a lot of the Indians adapted to changing situations and combined into the brand-new settlements and towns, some refused to. These collected under the banner of the Shawnee chief Tecumseh.
In November 1811, Tecumseh’s warriors, led by his sibling Tenskwatawa, launched a surprise attack on Harrison’s forces near the Tippecanoe River in what is now Indiana. After taking preliminary losses, Harrison and his guys turned the tide and emerged triumphant. The Battle of Tippecanoe made Harrison a nationwide hero.
His greatest achievement was yet to come.
Harrison dominated. Tecumseh died in the battle. The triumph offered a major morale increase for the American individuals throughout a war in which triumphes were couple of and far in between.
His hero status secured, Harrison settled in North Bend, Ohio. He benefited from his military record to get himself chosen to Congress in 1816 and after that to the Senate in 1824.
By 1829, the American political landscape had actually considerably changed. As the population of the country grew and tally rights expanded, the “common male” demanded to be heard.
The guy who acknowledged this much better than anyone was the brand-new president, Andrew Jackson. The hero of the Battle of New Orleans wrote the political playbook of the 19th century: the rough guy of simple starts increases versus all chances to excellent heights.
Jackson’s political challengers, the Whigs, combated him throughout his two presidential terms, and got no place. When Jackson stepped down in 1837, and his vice president, Martin Van Buren, took the leading spot, the Whigs saw their chance. It also assisted that the country had fallen under a substantial monetary crisis: the Panic of 1837.
Taking a page out of Jackson’s playbook, the Whigs turned to Harrison, who, like Jackson, was a military hero.
They needed to reword Harrison’s bio. Now he was a difficult drinking log cabin frontiersman.
The strategy worked. The 68-year-old Harrison easily beat Van Buren in the 1840 election, winding up being the very first Whig president. He was also, at that time, the earliest guy to reach the best workplace.
Eager to show that he was sturdy enough to do the job, he required supplying a two-hour long inaugural address– to this day, the longest ever provided– without a hat, coat, or gloves on a freezing March afternoon.
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source
William Henry Harrison, the first Whig president, passed away soon after taking workplace. Richard Lim, host of the This American President podcast (https://www.thisamericanpresident.com/), describes why Harrison matters.
The general who won that battle was William Henry Harrison, the guy who ended up being the ninth president of the United States.
After taking preliminary losses, Harrison and his males turned the tide and emerged victorious. The 68-year-old Harrison rapidly beat Van Buren in the 1840 election, winding up being the very first Whig president.
William Henry Harrison, the extremely first Whig president, died shortly after taking workplace. Richard Lim, host of the This American President podcast (https://www.thisamericanpresident.com/), describes why Harrison matters.
The general who won that fight was William Henry Harrison, the man who became the ninth president of the United States.
After taking preliminary losses, Harrison and his guys turned the tide and emerged victorious. The 68-year-old Harrison quickly beat Van Buren in the 1840 election, ending up being the really first Whig president.
