PERIODIC PRESIDENTS on BOBBLEHEAD GEORGE

Heading into the presidential election of 1840, the disastrous economic policies inherited by  Martin Van Buren made the incumbent president so unpopular that the Whig party could have run anybody for president and won.  That anybody was William Henry Harrison who gained fame on the strength of his military heroics in the War of 1812.  The Whig Party’s “Log Cabin Campaign'' was one of the first attempts to market a presidential candidate.  It borrowed tactics used by the Democrats during Andrew Jackson’s presidential campaigns and portrayed the well connected Virginian as a common man of the people.  The strategy worked and propelled the 68 year old Harrison to the Presidency.

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Unlike his long and successful military career, William Henry Harrison’s time as our 9th president was short lived.  POTUS #9 is  mostly known today, not for any accomplishments, but the brevity of his time in office.  Harrison’s inauguration address, the longest in American history…8,455 words long…took almost two hours to read was delivered outside in inclement weather.  Within weeks, Harrison developed a cold, which soon turned into pneumonia, and then pleurisy.  President Harrison was treated with remedies such as opium, castor oil, and even leeches.  None of which helped and, more than likely, worsened his illness.  William Henry Harrison passed away on April 4, 1841 after serving thirty one days, twelve hours, and thirty minutes as president…the shortest presidency to date…but hey…for Harrison, it may have been the best month ever!