Speaking of Disappointing Politics and Snowstorms
William Henry Harrison gave the longest damn inaugural speech any president’s ever given, on March 4th, 1841. For an hour and forty five minutes a 68 year old guy shouted at a crowd IN THE MIDDLE OF A SNOWSTORM without wearing a hat, gloves or coat. After that, rather than getting some rest in the white house, he headed out to whoop it up at *multiple* parties.
His speech ended with “I have this day given to discharge all the high duties of my exalted station according to the best of my ability, and I shall enter upon their performance with entire confidence in the support of a just and generous people.”
What he actually managed to accomplish was to catch a cold, which turned into pneumonia and he died on April 4, 1841 exactly one month after taking the oath of office.
(This is historical entertainment. Rare for me to talk about government. Posting this does not mean I’m open to debate about current events. History sometimes lends perspective when faced with challenges.)
Lori Alden Holuta
Lori Alden Holuta lives between the cornfields of Mid-Michigan, where she grows vegetables and herbs when she’s not writing, editing, or playing games with a cat named Chives.
