‘Called from a retirement which I had supposed was to continue for the residue of my life to fill the chief executive office of this great and free nation, I appear before you, fellow-citizens, to take the oaths which the Constitution prescribes as a necessary qualification for the performance of its duties; and in obedience to a custom coeval with our Government and what I believe to be your expectations I proceed to present to you a summary of the principles which will govern me in the discharge of the duties which I shall be called upon to perform.’
This is a section out of William Henry Harrison’s Inaugural Address speech. His speech was 8,445 words long. It was the longest Inaugural Address speech given in U.S. history. It took him around two hours to read and he did it without and protective clothing against the bad weather that day. He gave his Inaugural Address on March 4, 1841.
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This is a drawing of what some think William Henry Harrison’s Inaugural Address speech was like. When Harrison gave the speech it was a cold and wet day and he did it with no overcoat or gloves and rode on horseback to the ceremony. This was later thought to be the cause of Harrison’s death.
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