The Presidents #9: William Henry Harrison

[Ardent15]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Harrison

Discuss him and his brief Presidency.

[kestrel91316]

1. Who??

:rofl:

[Ardent15]

2. Lol. He gave an hour-and-a-half long Inaugural Address

And the best part, it wasn't even memorable!

[Renew Deal]

4. You're talking about it.

And some suspect it lead to his death.

[lazarus]

6. from the biography I read of him

He took a walk in the rain a few days before his death, and that's likely what caused it.

[Ardent15]

7. The text of the speech wasn't memorable

Of course we know about it, because like you said, it probably lead to his death.

[kestrel91316]

12. Oh, he's THAT one - died of pneumonia after what, a month in office?

[Renew Deal]

3. Poor guy died a month into office.

:shrug:

[grantcart]

5. lol

[stellanoir]

8. best presidency

*EVAHHHHHHH*

[Zomby Woof]

9. Son of a Declaration of Independence signer

Grandfather of another president - still the only grandfather/grandson presidents in our history. Both father and grandson were named Benjamin Harrison.

The first Whig president.

His 1840 campaign was the most influential until the age of television came along 120 years later with Kennedy and Nixon. It was the first with a slogan ("Tippecanoe and Tyler too"), campaign songs, and it even added a new phrase to our vocabulary. Supporters performed the publicity stunt of rolling great big balls of leather and tin, imprinted with his name. Hence the phrase, "Keep the ball rolling."

He gave the longest inaugural speech of all the presidents, and served the shortest term in office.

In fact, his death helped set a clear precedent. VP John Tyler took it upon himself to take the oath of office and actually become the new president. The Constitution stated that in case of the president's death, the powers and duties of the office shall "devolve on the Vice President". So it's clear that Tyler was authorized to assume the "powers and duties" of the presidency, but he interpreted it broadly by actually becoming the president, establishing a practice that would serve the nation well until Amendment XXV codified presidential succession once and for all.

[JVS]

10. A monster!

[ashling]

11. murderer

Massacred native Americans in Indiana.

[kestrel91316]

13. In all fairness, I don't think that was DURING his presidency. But there was that

not insubstantial bit of unsavoriness.

[Arkana]

14. Um, the greatest accomplishment of Harrison's presidency is his inaugural address.

Seriously. Dude died one month in because he refused to put on a goddamn coat at the inauguration.

[Alexander]

15. He was expected to promote the Whig agenda. Tyler changed that.

Harrison was often time at odds with Henry Clay, as Clay wanted extreme influence with his administration. Nevertheless, Harrison was supportive of the Whig platform and wanted to resurrect the Bank of the United States.

John Tyler was a former Democrat and was agreed with Democrats on issues more so than the Whigs. He vetoed pro-Whig legislation several times and got kicked out of the party.

[proteus_lives]

16. Jackson pretty much laughed his ass off when he heard what happened to Harrison.