President for a Month
I haven't said much in this blog about William Henry Harrison, mainly because he had the shortest term in office of any President, 31 1/2 days. He also had the longest inaugural address of any president to date, speaking for almost two hours on a very cold day. This was after his friend Daniel Webster had edited the speech for length. The media of the day had made a big deal about his age (64) so to prove to them that he was robust, he spoke without gloves or an overcoat. After this he rode through Washington in the inaugural parade.
Contrary to popular belief that wasn't what killed him. About three weeks later, on March 26, Harrison caught a cold. The cold turned into pneumonia. Harrison tried to rest in the White House, but could not find any peace and quiet room because of the steady parade of office seekers. His doctors tried a variety of quackery cures ranging from opium, castor oil, leeches,ipecac and Virginia snakeweed.The treatments only made things worse, and Harrison became delirious. He died nine days later at 12:30 a.m. on April 4, 1841. He was the first United States president to die in office. Harrison served the shortest term of any American president: March 4 – April 4, 1841, 31 days, twelve hours, and 30 minutes.
It was a shame that he never had the chance to show what he could do as president. When Harrison was elected, Senator Henry Clay expected to have substantial influence in the new administration. The two men clashed on the issue of patronage appointments. Harrison was opposed to them and said so in his inaugural address. Clay argued that the Democrats under Andrew Jackson had appointed their people to all the best jobs and now it was payback time for the Whigs.Clay also wanted some say in who Harrison put in his cabinet. In telling Clay to go pound sand, Harrison said "Mr. Clay, you forget that I am the President."
Contrary to popular belief that wasn't what killed him. About three weeks later, on March 26, Harrison caught a cold. The cold turned into pneumonia. Harrison tried to rest in the White House, but could not find any peace and quiet room because of the steady parade of office seekers. His doctors tried a variety of quackery cures ranging from opium, castor oil, leeches,ipecac and Virginia snakeweed.The treatments only made things worse, and Harrison became delirious. He died nine days later at 12:30 a.m. on April 4, 1841. He was the first United States president to die in office. Harrison served the shortest term of any American president: March 4 – April 4, 1841, 31 days, twelve hours, and 30 minutes.
It was a shame that he never had the chance to show what he could do as president. When Harrison was elected, Senator Henry Clay expected to have substantial influence in the new administration. The two men clashed on the issue of patronage appointments. Harrison was opposed to them and said so in his inaugural address. Clay argued that the Democrats under Andrew Jackson had appointed their people to all the best jobs and now it was payback time for the Whigs.Clay also wanted some say in who Harrison put in his cabinet. In telling Clay to go pound sand, Harrison said "Mr. Clay, you forget that I am the President."