Presidency of William Henry Harrison

Historical Context Note

Lucas Paul Richert (University of Saskatchewan)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.2: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth Century, 1783-1900.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

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Changes of government, elections and reigns

Dates

Date of occurrence 1841-03-04-1841-04-04

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United States (Location)

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The presidency of William Henry Harrison was brief. In 1840, Harrison won the Whig nomination over Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky. Harrison was a war hero – the Whigs saw him as a Jackson type – and he was packaged as a patriotic frontiersman. The dominant campaign slogan was “tippecanoe and Tyler too” – a reference to Harrison's military service and the vice presidential candidate John Tyler of Virginia. The Whig ticket proved victorious, winning 234 electoral votes to Martin Van Buren's 60. Harrison did not serve long, however. Harrison delivered his inaugural address in the cold and wet. And he did so under-dressed. He promised that he would serve but one term and to limit his use of the veto. Harrison would not have the chance to carry out his promises. A cold that he had…

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161 words

Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "Presidency of William Henry Harrison". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 January 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=5500, accessed 26 November 2024.]

Presidency of William Henry Harrison

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