 His name was Bill
Harrison, and he could give a killer speech. Literally speaking, it
was his last speech that resulted in his death.
Bill lived from 1773 until 1841. He grew up with four sisters and
two brothers in Berkeley, Va. He had a cow and a goat as pets.
Nothing unusual there, I guess.
He wanted to marry Anna Symmes of Cincinnati, and when her father
disapproved of their union, they eloped. Bill and Anna had nine
children -- five sons and four daughters. Bill and his new
father-in-law would eventually get along just fine.
Bill served as an Army officer who often fought Indians. He
fought in the Northwest, which in those days consisted of Indiana,
Ohio, Michigan and Illinois.
On two occasions, Bill Harrison and his men fought Tecumseh's
Indians. Bill won the first battle, in November of 1811 at Indiana's
Tippecanoe River, in what became known as the Battle of Tippecanoe.
That battle would play an important role in Bill's future. He also
defeated Tecumseh in the Battle of the Thames in 1813.
But how did he catch pneumonia?
At the age of 68, Bill died exactly one month after catching
pneumonia as he was about to settle into his new job. He stood out
in the cold and gave a speech. It wasn't a typical speech, though;
it lasted two hours.
There's a street in my hometown of Quincy that is named after
Bill Harrison. That street runs parallel to the streets of Van
Buren, Adams, Monroe, Madison, Jefferson and Washington.
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 You see, the two-hour speech that Bill Harrison, better known as
William Henry Harrison, gave was for his inauguration… as the ninth
president of the United States!
As I said at the beginning of this story, sometimes the answer is
right in front of you. But there's more to this story.
President Harrison served only one month as president. His
grandson, Ben Harrison, followed him into the family business when
he became our 23rd president in 1889.
As for the battle of Tippecanoe, this is where the campaign
slogan of "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" came from. John Tyler was
Harrison's vice president.
And who was it who wrote his two-hour speech -- the one that
literally cost him his life?
None other than Daniel Webster, who tried -- and failed -- three
times to win the presidency himself. He did become a United States
senator and the secretary of state, though.
Ironically, Webster would have become president on two separate
occasions if he had been willing to accept the vice presidency
position that he had been offered -- twice. Harrison offered him the
position as his running mate in 1840 and so did our 12th president,
Zachary Taylor, in 1848.
Webster turned down both future presidents. Since both later died
in office, he would have become president if he had accepted the
position of vice president.
But you knew that all along, didn't you?
[By
PAUL NIEMANN]
Paul Niemann may be reached at
niemann7@aol.com.
Copyright Paul Niemann 2007
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columns)
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