ntier did not care
for him. They suspected that he ate from "gold plate" and they could not
forgive him for being an astute politician from New York. Still the
Democratic party, remembering Jackson's wishes, renominated him
unanimously in 1840 and saw him go down to utter defeat.

=The Whigs and General Harrison.=--By this time, the National
Republicans, now known as Whigs--a title taken from the party of
opposition to the Crown in England, had learned many lessons. Taking a
leaf out of the Democratic book, they nominated, not Clay of Kentucky,
well known for his views on the bank, the tariff, and internal
improvements, but a military hero, General William Henry Harrison, a man
of uncertain political opinions. Harrison, a son of a Virginia signer of
the Declaration of Independence, sprang into public view by winning a
battle more famous than important, "Tippecanoe"--a brush with the
Indians in Indiana. He added to his laurels by rendering praiseworthy
services during the war of 1812. When days of peace returned he was
rewarded by a grateful people with a seat in Congress. Then he retired
to quiet life in a little village near Cincinnati. Like Jackson he was
held to be a son of the South and the West. Like Jackson he was a
military hero, a lesser light, but still a light. Like Old Hickory he
rode into office on a tide of popular feeling against an Eastern man
accused of being something of an aristocrat. His personal popularity was
sufficient. The Whigs who nominated him shrewdly refused to adopt a
platform or declare their belief in anything. When some Democrat
asserted that Harrison was a backwoodsman whose sole wants were a jug of
hard cider and a log cabin, the Whigs treated the remark not as an
insult but as proof positive that Harrison deserved the votes of Jackson
men. The jug and the cabin they proudly transformed into symbols of the
campaign, and won for their chieftain 234 electoral votes, while Van
Buren got only sixty.

=Harrison and Tyler.=--The Hero of Tippecanoe was not long to enjoy the
fruits of his victory. The hungry horde of Whig office seekers descended
upon him like wolves upon the fold. If he went out they waylaid him; if
he stayed indoors, he was besieged; not even his bed chamber was spared.
He was none too strong at best and he took a deep cold on the day of his
inauguration. Between driving out Democrats and appeasing Whigs, he fell
mortally ill. Before the end of a month he lay dead at the cap