William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773-April 4, 1841) was the 9th President of the United States, 1841, serving only one month before dying; U.S. Minister to Columbia, 1828-29; U.S. Senator, 1825-28; Ohio State Senator, 1819; U.S. Representative, 1816-19; Major General, appointed supreme commander in the Northwest, winning the Battle of Tippecanoe, 1811, and the Battle of the Thames, 1813; and Governor of Indiana Territory, 1800; U.S. Representative from the Northwest Territory, 1799; Secretary of the Northwest Territory, 1798; married Anna Symmes, 1795; enlisted in the U.S. Infantry, 1791; graduated from Hampden-Sidney College, 1790; and the son of Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, as well as the grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President of the United States.
In 1840, just prior to his election, William Henry Harrison commented to the pastor of a Methodist Church in Cincinnati:
<I know there are some of my political opponents who will be ready to impugn my motives in attending this revival-meeting at this peculiar time; but I care not for the smiles or frowns of my fellow-countrymen.
God knows my heart and understands my motives. A deep and an abiding sense of my inward spiritual necessities brings me to this hallowed place night after night.> 1773WH001
On Thursday, March 4, 1841, in his Inaugural Address, President
William Henry Harrison stated:
<However strong may be my present purpose to realize the expectations of a magnanimous and confiding people, I too well understand the dangerous temptations to which I shall be exposed from the magnitude of the power which it has been the pleasure of the people to commit to my hands not to place my chief confidence upon the aid of that Almighty Power which has hitherto protected me and enabled me....
We admit of no government by divine right, believing that so far as power is concerned the Beneficent Creator has made no distinction amongst men; that all are upon an equality, and that the only legitimate right to govern is an express grant of power from the governed....
There are certain rights possessed by each individual American citizen which in his compact with the others he has never surrendered. Some of them, indeed, he is unable to surrender, being, in the language of our system, unalienable....
The American citizen....claims them because he is himself a man, fashioned by the same Almighty hand as the rest of his species and entitled to a full share of the blessings with which He has endowed them....
The great danger to our institutions does...appear to me to be...the accumulation in one of the departments of that which was assigned to others.
Limited as are the powers which have been granted, still enough have been granted to constitute a despotism if concentrated in one of the departments....more particularly...the Executive branch....The tendency of power to increase itself, particularly when exercised by a single individual...would terminate in virtual monarchy....
Republics can commit no greater error than to adopt or continue any feature in their systems of government which may be calculated to create or increase the love of power in the bosoms of those to whom necessity obliges them to commit the management of their affairs; and surely nothing is more likely to produce such a state of mind than the long continuance of an office of high trust....
When this corrupting passion once takes possession of the human mind, like the love of gold it becomes insatiable. It is the never-dying worm in his bosom, grows with his growth and strengthens with the declining years of its victim.
If this is true, it is the part of wisdom for a republic to limit the service of that officer at least to whom she has intrusted the management of her foreign relations, the execution of her laws, and the command of her armies and navies to a period so short as to prevent his forgetting that he is the accountable agent, not the principle; the servant, not the master....
The great dread...seems to have been that the reserved powers of the States would be absorbed by those of the Federal Government and a consolidated power established, leaving to the States the shadow only of that independent action for which they had so zealously contended....
There is still an undercurrent at work by which, if not seasonably checked, the worst apprehensions of our anti-federal patriots will be realized, and not only will the State authorities be overshadowed by the great increase of power in the Executive department of the General Government, but the character of that Government, if not its designation, be essentially and radically changed. This state of things has been in part effected by...the never-failing tendency of political power to increase itself....
It is not by the extent of its patronage alone that the Executive department has become dangerous, but by the use which it appears may be made of the appointing power to bring under its control the whole revenues of the country....
There was wanting no other addition to the powers of our Chief Magistrate to stamp monarchical character on our Government but the control of the public finances....
The first Roman Emperor, in his attempt to seize the sacred treasure, silenced the opposition of the officer to whose charge it had been committed by a significant allusion to his sword....
I know the importance which has been attached by men of great abilities and patriotism to the divorce, as it is called, of the Treasury from the banking institutions....
It was certainly a great error in the framers of the Constitution not to have made the officer at the head of the Treasury Department entirely independent of the Executive....
The maxim which our ancestors derived from the mother country that "freedom of the press is the great bulwark of civil and religious liberty" is one of the most precious legacies which they have left us.....
A decent and manly examination of the acts of the Government should be not only tolerated, but encouraged....
As long as the love of power is a dominant passion of the human bosom, and as long as the understanding of men can be warped and their affections changed by operations upon their passions and prejudices, so long will the liberties of a people depend on their constant attention to its preservation.
The danger to all well-established free governments arises from the unwillingness of the people to believe in its existence or from the influence of designing men diverting their attention from the quarter whence it approaches to a source from which it can never come.
This is the old trick of those who would usurp the government of their country. In the name of democracy they speak, warning the people against the influence of wealth and the danger of aristocracy.
History, ancient and modern, is full of such examples.
Caesar became the master of the Roman people and the senate under the pretense of supporting the democratic claims of the former against the aristocracy of the latter; Cromwell, in the character of the protector of the liberties of the people, became the dictator of England, and Bolivar possessed himself of unlimited power with the title of his country's liberator....
The tendencies of all such governments in their decline is to monarchy, and the antagonist principle to liberty there is the spirit of faction-a spirit which assumes the character and in times of great excitement imposes itself upon the people as the genuine spirit of freedom, and, like the false Christs whose coming was foretold by the Savior, seeks to, and were it possible would, impose upon the true and most faithful disciples of liberty. It is in periods like this that it behooves the people to be most watchful of those to whom they have intrusted power.
And although there is at times much difficulty in distinguishing the false from the true spirit, a calm and dispassionate investigation will detect the counterfeit, as well by the character of its operations as the results that are produced.
The true spirit of liberty, although devoted, persevering, bold, and uncompromising in principle, that secured is mild and tolerant and scrupulous as to the means it employs, whilst the spirit of party, assuming to be that of liberty, is harsh, vindictive, and intolerant, and totally reckless as to the character of the allies which it brings to the aid of its cause....
The reign of an intolerant spirit of party amongst a free people seldom fails to result in a dangerous accession to the Executive power introduced and established amidst unusual professions of devotion to democracy....
I can conceive of no more sublime spectacle, none more likely to propitiate an impartial and common Creator, than a rigid adherence to the principles of justice on the part of a powerful nation in its transactions with a weaker and uncivilized people whom circumstances have placed at its disposal....
I deem the present occasion sufficiently important and solemn to justify me in expressing to my fellow citizens a profound reverence for the Christian religion, and a thorough conviction that sound morals, religious liberty, and a just sense of religious responsibility are essentially connected with all true and lasting happiness;
And to that good Being who has blessed us by the gifts of civil and religious freedom, who watched over and prospered the labors of our fathers and has hitherto preserved to us institutions far exceeding in excellence those of any other people, let us unite in fervently commending every interest of our beloved country in all future time.> 1773WH002
In writing to his wife, Anna, President William H. Harrison stated:
<I retired into the presence of my Maker, and implored his gracious guidance in the faithful discharge of the duties of my high station.> 1773WH003
In honor of the Sabbath, President William H. Harrison stated to visitors:
<We shall be happy to see you at any time except on the Sabbath.> 1773WH004
In commenting to the Presbyterian pastor near his home in Indiana, President William H. Harrison stated:
<I think I enjoy religion and delight in the duties of a child of God, and have concluded to unite with the Church of God as soon as my health will permit me to go out.> 1773WH005
On April 4, 1841, President William Henry Harrison died, after having been in office only one month. The same day, as recorded in the official records in the State Department, Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, issued the official arrangements for the funeral:
<Having consulted with the family and personal friends of the deceased, we have concluded that the funeral be solemnized on Wednesday, the 7th instant, at 12 o'clock. The religious services to be performed according to the usage of the Episcopal Church, in which church the deceased most usually worshiped.> 1773WH006
The Acting Secretary of the Navy, J.D. Simms, issued the General Order, April 5, 1841:
<The Department announces to the officers of the Navy and Marine Corps the death of William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States...and directs that, uniting with their fellow-citizens in the manifestations of their respect for the exalted character and eminent public services of the illustrious deceased, and of their sense of the bereavement the country has sustained by this afflicting dispensation of Providence, they wear the usual badge of mourning for six months.> 1773WH007
On April 13, 1841, President John Tyler, who had been Vice-President under William Henry Harrison, issued the Proclamation:
<When a Christian people feel themselves to be overtaken by a great public calamity, it becomes them to humble themselves under the dispensation of Divine Providence, to recognize His righteous government over the children of men, to acknowledge His goodness in time past, as well as their own unworthiness, and to supplicate His merciful protection for the future.
The death of William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States, so soon after his elevation to that high office, is a bereavement peculiarly calculated to be regarded as a heavy affliction and to impress all minds with a sense of the uncertainty of human things and of the dependence of nations, as well as individuals, upon our Heavenly Parent.
I have thought, therefore, that I should be acting in conformity with the general expectations and feelings of the community in recommending, as I now do, to the people of the United States of every religious denomination that, according to their several modes and forms of worship, they observe a day of fasting and prayer by such religious services as may be suitable on the occasion; and I recommend Friday, the 14th day on May next, for that purpose, to the end that on that day we may all with one accord join in humble and reverential approach to Him in whose hands we are, invoking Him to inspire us with a proper spirit and temper of heart and mind under these frowns of His providence and still to bestow His gracious benedictions upon our Government and our country.> 1773WH008
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1773WH001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Henry Harrison. In 1840, commenting to the pastor of a Methodist Church in Cincinnati just prior to his election. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), pp. 605-606.
1773WH002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Henry Harrison. March 4, 1841, Thursday, in his Inaugural Address. James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. 4, pp. 6-20. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), p. 605. Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States-From George Washington 1789 to Richard Milhous Nixon 1969 (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office; 91st Congress, 1st Session, House Document 91-142, 1969), pp. 71-87. Davis Newton Lott, The Inaugural Addresses of the American Presidents (NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1961), p. 86. Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 182. Arthur Schlesinger Jr., ed., The Chief Executive (NY: Chelsea House Publishers, 1965), pp. 93-94. Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland, Oregon: American Heritage Ministries, 1987; Mantle Ministries, 228 Still Ridge, Bulverde, Texas), p. 215. Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Glory of America (Bloomington, MN: Garborg's Heart 'N Home, Inc., 1991), 4.4. J. Michael Sharman, J.D., Faith of the Fathers (Culpeper, Virginia: Victory Publishing, 1995), pp. 43-44.
1773WH003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Henry Harrison. In writing to his wife, Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), p. 605.
1773WH004. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Henry Harrison. In commenting to visitors during his brief term in Washington, D.C. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), p. 605.
1773WH005. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Henry Harrison. In commenting to the Presbyterian pastor near him home in Indiana. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), p. 605.
1773WH006. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Henry Harrison. April 4, 1841, in the Official Arrangements for the Funeral issued by Secretary of State, Daniel Webster, as written in the Official Records in the State Department. James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. 4, p. 26.
1773WH007. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Henry Harrison. April 5, 1841, in the General Order issued by J.D. Simms, Acting Secretary of the Navy. James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. 4, p. 26.
1773WH008. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Henry Harrison. April 13, 1841, in a Proclamation recommending a National Day of Fasting and Prayer in respect of the death of President William Henry Harrison, issued from Washington, D.C. James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. IV, p. 32. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), pp. 550-551.