Chapter 41: A Whig wins the White House but dies a month later

Van Buren’s vulnerability by 1840 provides the Whigs with a chance to finally defeat the Democrats. Clay wisely selects war hero William Henry Harrison to head the ticket, with an afterthought in John Tyler of Virginia to add sectional balance. Their campaign slogan becomes “Tippecanoe & Tyler Too,” and a solid victory follows.

Votes in the 1840 Popular Election

Then, one month after the election, Harrison dies suddenly. Possibly tracing to a severe cold exacerbated by counterproductive medical purges leading to pneumonia. Others suggest typhoid fever from drinking water pumped into the White House from the polluted Potomac.

Harrison is the first President to die in office and procedures to replace him are uncertain. But Tyler quickly jumps at the chance and prevails – earning the title “His Accidency.”

When he begins to block the entire Whig agenda, Clay realizes his nominating mistake and boots Tyler out of the Party, albeit not the White House. Tyler proves himself a dedicated Democrat, although not well liked enough to get re-elected.