I felt like screaming. No, No, NO! I didn’t want to buy a book on William Henry Harrison! It’s not faaaaiiiirrrrr…
But here I am without any other options.
Per usual, I headed to my library, but was stunned to discover the only William Henry Harrison bios were in juvenile literature. From thence, I recommenced my search on Amazon, only to learn there that really is only one adult biography on this man and it is Old Tippecanoe: William Henry Harrison and His Time by Freeman Cleaves (Newton, CT: American Political Biography Press, 1939). Gazing longingly at the juvenile books, I sigh as I press the “buy” button. Amazon has yet to let me down.
As I stared down at my new hardback (that’s all there was) from Amazon (they were the only one to sell it), I seriously questioned this single-minded pursuit of mine to read each presidential biography. First the James Madison tome and now this! And I can’t help but shutter as I look ahead at the no-names coming up. And I already know…I’m going to be dead broke because of these presidents! (Just to update you, I have just now pre-ordered my copy of Millard Fillmore. Library, you’re supposed to be in business to handle this sort of useless information so what’s happening?)
This book was written in 1939 and totally destroys my plan to keep current on these biographies. Not to mention, the books looks like it’s a first edition no less and I feel like I’m the Only One in the World to have opened it since its publication nearly a century ago (we hadn’t even gotten into WWII by that point!) It looks like Freeman Cleaves succeeded to “achieve the peculiar immortality we reserve for the writers of very long books that are never checked out of the library” (Widmer, 2005, p. 162). And I’m sure you’ll hear me grumble about this again but the book is freaking 340 pages and smells of my grandma’s winter coat closet. Gak! For the first time in my life, I’m seriously considering Kindle.
William Henry Harrison was born on February 9, 1773 to an old, aristocratic family from Virginia. The Harrisons had been in America practically since the British landed on these shores and had done extremely well thereby as farmers, soldiers, and the odd politician for the House of Burgess. “The Harrison family was one of the oldest in the Colony and was highly respected; none could boast of more extensive and influential connections” (p. 1). William’s father, Benjamin Harrison V, garnered fame as a signer of the Declaration of Independence, which allowed him to be away when the British burned the Harrison homestead during the War. William, one of seven children, was the third son and the beneficiary of nothing in particular. He was enrolled in University of Pennsylvania’s medical school but dropped out to join the army after his father’s death in 1791.
The United States Army was a shambles after the Revolutionary War due to the Founding Fathers’ fears of a dictatorship assumed by any military man. Also the army had relatively little to do after the Treaty of Paris except fight Indians in the West. Harrison, being one of the few recruits during this time period, was made an ensign and immediately set out west to the nascent town of Cincinnati where he won recognition from his superiors to his devotion to duty and calm good sense. He even served under “Mad” Anthony Wayne who grew to respect the young man. At one point while traveling in Kentucky for the army, Harrison came across a woman, Anna Symmes, who he determined to marry. They were married in North Bend, Indiana on November 25, 1796.
Harrison resigned from the army to make his home with new wife in what was then called the Northwest Territory. He was noticed by President John Adams and was appointed as Secretary of the Northwest Territory which paid an exorbitant salary of $1200 a year! But political interests beckoned and Harrison was elected the sole Congressman of the Territory to uphold small landowners in that area. He also had a hand in establishing the line between the Ohio and Indiana territories.
In one of his last acts as President, John Adams appointed Harrison as governor to the Indiana Territory and thus, Harrison moved with his growing family to the capital city of Vincennes, Indiana. It was considered a beautiful area on the edge of the wilderness but with its own issues inherent. “The inviting prospect was marred, however, by the rapacity of French and American traders, the drunkenness and degradation of the near-by tribes” (p. 34). As the newest American BMOC, Harrison was the point-of-contact between all the neighboring Indian tribes and the American settlers. In an effort to gain more land for settlement and thereby gain statehood, Harrison offered a bloodless solution to the tribes by having them sign a treaty in which the United States purchased the land. “If the rich country along the Ohio could be obtained from the Indians and immigration thus encouraged, it was argued, funds to bear the expense of second-grade government would be forthcoming from additional taxes on lands” (p. 41). Harrison was successful with this treaty, winning whole plots of land for American use.
But the Indian problem just wouldn’t go away. Even as Harrison lobbied each tribal chief for more land, a young Shawnee called Tecumseh became a thorn in the governor’s side. Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, were outraged at what the American’s were doing to the Indians and believed that the Indians, instead of fighting, were quietly selling away their birthrights. Slowly Tecumseh began amassing an Indian army which tried to break the precedent of peaceful American acquisition. “About the year 1805, Tecumseh adopted the principle that all the tribes should unite and that none should sell their lands without the consent of all” (p. 52). Plus the British were an added factor, giving the Indians succor, guns, and the promise of many scalps if they succeeded against the Americans. But the battle was premature. While Tecumseh was away, the Prophet decided to attack the American position, headed by William Henry Harrison, at Tippecanoe but lost.
With the War of 1812 imminent and discord along the frontier, Harrison became the sole commander of the Army of the Northwest, especially after the loss of Detroit to the British. As Major General, he resigned as governor and led the ragged American army against the best troops in the world. Harrison won a decisive engagement against the British and their Indian allies at the Battle of the Thames (now isn’t that ironic!?!) where Tecumseh was killed (some say he was killed by Martin Van Buren’s VP, Col. Johnson). Due to a variety of factors, Harrison suffered many defeats and disappointments thereafter, especially when John Armstrong bedame Secretary of War. Either distrustful of talent in general or of Harrison in particular, Armstrong started a smear campaign against him in Washington and with a revamping of the military hierarchy, Harrison decided to resign. Harrison himself wrote to the Secretary of War, “Having some reasons to believe that the most malicious insinuations have been made against me at Washington, it was my intention to have requested an Enquiry into my conduct from the commencement of my command. Further reflection has, however, determined me to decline the application because from the proud consciousness I have palpably done my duty, I can not believe that it is necessary either for the satisfaction of the government or the people that I should pay so much respect to the suggestions of Malice & Envy…I therefore pledge myself to answer before a court martial at any future period to any charge that may be brought against me” (p.222).
It just so happened that with Harrison’s resignation in May of 1814, Armstrong was able to promote Andrew Jackson to Major General in the West, leading him to events in New Orleans.
Don’t think that old Tippecanoe is out of the picture just yet though! First of all, James Madison appointed Harrison to extend peace treaties to the Indian tribes of the West which he accomplished with diligence. Secondly, Harrison was elected to Congress for the state of Ohio in 1819 where he proposed a bill (and it passed) extending the pension for war widows and orphans. The only problem that the state of Ohio had with their congressman was that Harrison was vehemently pro-slavery and Ohio wasn’t. This situation created a conundrum in which it was clear that one must eventually go: slavery or Harrison. Ohio chose the end of slavery and Harrison lost the election of 1822.
I’m convinced that nothing could keep this guy down for long. In 1824, he came back from the political grave and became one of Ohio’s senators. He resigned in 1828 to serve as minister plenipotentiary under JQA to the country of Columbia. His tenure in Columbia though was brief, only lasting a year because, under the “spoils system”, President Jackson recalled him and sent a Jacksonian Democrat in his place. It was probably for the best; Harrison had made enemies among the generals of Bolivar’s military dictatorship junta.
Harrison returned to the United States at a very low point in his life. He had a very large family of 10 children and some of them had gotten into debt. Not only that but he was badly in debt as well due to some faulty investments. In a nutshell, the needs of his family and farm far exceeded his governmental income. On top of all that, weather conditions were so poor for a couple years that it ruined the Harrison crops and the profits involved.
Slowly though Harrison again rose in the national esteem. He ran as a candidate in the 1836 presidential election against Clay and Van Buren but lost to Van Buren. However, the Panic of 1837 soon set in and Van Buren’s stock sunk to an all-time low. Harrison’s crowd gained momentum and they decided to try for the Whig nomination in the election of 1840. This goal was not an easy one however; the Whig party was hardly an organized mechanism. “With a Whig party made up of Federalists, Anti-Federalists, Masons, Anti-Masons, states’ rights men, free constructionists, slavery men and abolitionists, 1840 was to prove the year of the great straddle” (p. 312). But apparently Harrison straddled issues like a champ.
With renewed vigor, Harrison and his supporters won the Whig nomination and the fight was on from there. The famous “Hard Cider and Log Cabin” campaign began, depicting General Harrison as the down-home, American hero sent to battle the aristocracy, personified by Van Buren. “The log-cabin motif, incidentally, had originated in the remark of a Clay partisan at Harrisburg. Why not, the Clay man suggested, allow the General to enjoy his log cabin and hard cider in peace?” (p. 320). John Tyler was added to the Whig ticket as Vice President and the slogan “Old Tippecanoe and Tyler too” resounded across the nation. In fact, special songs about Harrison were written and their catchy tunes were heard ad infinitum by the nation’s youth. Glee clubs were de rigueur as well because “songs were written especially for them of the most patriotic and exciting character” (p. 325).
Van Buren never had a chance. In a huge victory, William Henry Harrison became the ninth President of the United States in 1840.
Did sudden glory finally turn the head of this remarkable man? No it didn’t. Harrison remained imperturbable, per usual, and made his way leisurely to Washington to pick up the reins of government. I think it says something about him that he easily disposed of an outdated taboo against the president-elect visiting the current president. “Harrison promptly placed himself on good footing with Martin Van Buren. Precedent was shattered when the President-Elect called at the White House to chat pleasantly with his late rival for half an hour. Properly consoled over his defeat, Van Buren dismissed the old rule that the President should not return visits, taking his entire Cabinet with his to call on the General at Gadsbys” (p. 333).
As the inauguration drew nearer, it only remained for Harrison to write the speech with which he would address a record crowd. “Secluded in his mother’s room at Berkeley, Harrison wrote an overlong inaugural message leavened with patriotic idealism and weighted with allusions to the ancient republics” (p. 335). On March 4, 1841, Harrison was sworn in as president and in the cold, windy winter afternoon, decidedly dishabille, he spoke to his people. “Early March weather in Washington has dimmed the glory of many an inaugural. A chilly northeast wind nipped the extremities off the shivering multitude yet Harrison stood there bareheaded and with gloves or overcoat, his address one hour and forty minutes long” (p. 336).
I know what you’re expecting. “And then….he died.” But no! He was president a good 3 weeks before he caught a cold by walking through the slush and was dead by April 4th from pneumonia and intestinal inflation.
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