Was it curse or coincidence?

Sandra Cunningham Billieu

February 22, 2008 07:57 am

— Perhaps the workplace is on holiday, possibly not, but the date of Feb. 18 is denoted to honor U.S. presidents. We in Indiana have the opportunity to recognize a man who walked strongly in the presence of our state before statehood and during troubled times.
The home of William Henry Harrison, our ninth president, stands tall in Indianapolis history and awaits Hoosiers' entrance to encounter various selections of our country's past.
The home is presently under renovations to return the original wallpaper style discovered behind bookshelves and the earliest interior paint hues found beneath hidden layers. His home will reacquaint the public with the glory of yesteryear styles, furnished with period pieces, historical documents and living information while wandering through the estate.
William Henry Harrison was the last president born as a British subject and the last to sport a beard while in office. He started college in Hampden-Sydney for premed at the tender age of 14 and attended the University of Pennsylvania with full intentions of a physician's degree.
His father died in 1791, requiring him to cut his educational life short due to lack of funds. He was 18 years old.
A commissioned ensign for the U.S. Army, William Henry served in the Northwest Territory, where he lived much of his life, learned to command an army and actively participated with General “Mad Antony” Wayne's victory of Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 to bring the Northwest portion of the Indian Wars to an end. In 1798 he resigned from the Army to become the secretary of the Northwest Territory and continued to make a name for himself.
In 1799 the first delegate to represent the Northwest Territory became essential and William Henry Harrison was elected into the sixth U.S. Congress, but later resigned to become the first governor of the Indiana Territory at Vincennes. Surprisingly, Indiana Territory consisted of the future states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and the eastern portion of Minnesota.
Governor Harrison built a brick home, Grouseland, which was the first brick structure in the entire territory. Restored now, the house is a popular tourist attraction and worth the time to explore.
During his capacity as governor, Harrison supervised treaties and secured the majority of present day Indiana from Native American Indian leaders.
After 1809, tensions increased following the Treaty of Fort Wayne, Harrison had illegally bought more than 2.5 million acres of Indian land, outraging Shawnee brothers Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa. They told the governor to nullify the Treaty of Fort Wayne, and warned hostilities against whites venturing onto the land in question.
Angered, the governor authorized the march against the brothers at Prophetstown in 1811 and won the famous victory, next to the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers. During the War of 1812, Harrison commanded the Battle of the Thames, where Tecumseh died.
As the legend goes, Tecumseh placed a curse on Governor Harrison, calling for every president elected in a year ending with the number zero to die in office. The curse became authentic, because Harrison and the six next eligible presidents – Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Harding, Roosevelt and Kennedy – succumbed. Ronald Reagan's survival of an assassination attempt appears to have broken the curse.
The presidential campaign touted Governor Harrison's old age and lack of energy, depicting him on posters in a log cabin with a corn whiskey jog.
His campaign reversed the theory, using the picture to identify with the average man and he won by a landslide against the incumbent, Van Buren. 'Tippecanoe and Tyler Too' has turned into one of the most famous presidential slogans in American political history.
Since the opposite party had described him to be a helpless old man, William Henry concentrated on proving himself the unwavering hero of Tippecanoe in everything he did after the election.
The inauguration was March 4, 1841, and although profoundly low temperatures and rain prevailed, he delivered his record two-hour address without an overcoat or umbrella. Following this, he rode through the streets openly during the inaugural parade.
A few days later a cold ensued, which developed into pneumonia and pleurisy. At that time they had no knowledge he had contracted a viral infection, but blamed it on his inaugural activities. His doctors worked frantically to cure him using everything within their limited scope. Unsuccessfully, they used opium, castor oil, Virginia snakeweed and actual snakes, but eventually he fell into delirium and on April 4, 1841, he died of right lower lobe pneumonia, jaundice and overwhelming septicemia.
Before dying, he spoke his last words: “Sir, I wish you to understand the true principles of the government. I wish them carried out and ask nothing more.”
On this Presidents Day week, why would we ask more from our leaders?
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