William Henry Harrison

[angrychair]

For no particular reason thought I'd share the story of inauguration day of president William Harrison

When Harrison came to Washington, he wanted to show that he was still the steadfast hero of Tippecanoe and that he was a better educated and more thoughtful man than the backwoods caricature portrayed in the campaign. He took the oath of office on Thursday, March 4, 1841, a cold and wet day. He braved the chilly weather and chose not to wear an overcoat or a hat, rode on horseback to the grand ceremony, and then delivered the longest inaugural address in American history at 8,445 words. It took him nearly two hours to read, although his friend and fellow Whig Daniel Webster had edited it for length. Freehling opines that speeches like this were actually common at the time, and that its irony was rich, as Harrison, "a lifelong office seeker, elected by deeply partisan politics, harshly criticized both practices"

Unfortunately he became very sick shortly afterwards and died a month later becoming the first president to die in office as well as the shortest term as president in our history at 31 days.This is before the 25th amendment and a formal succession plan existed. His VP John Tyler did end up taking office shortly after Harrison's passing.