After the War of 1812 Harrison had a steady if unspectacular political career, with service in the House of Representatives, Senate, and diplomatic corps. New York political boss Thurlow Weed took on Harrison’s political fortunes after the 1836 election and managed his upset nomination over Henry Clay and Daniel Webster in 1840. The ticket was completed, and a slogan born, with the nomination of former Democrat John Tyler of Virginia for vice president. It was now ‘Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.’

Subscribe Today

• Did you enjoy our article?
• Read more in American History magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!!
 

While the Democrats adopted a platform denouncing federal assumption of state debts, opposing internal improvements, and calling for separation of public money from banking institutions, Weed decided to keep Harrison quiet and emphasize his war-hero record and humble character.

The Democrats took aim at Harrison’s silence, calling him ‘General Mum.’ Yet when they went after Harrison’s character, their attacks rebounded in a spectacular fashion. ‘Give him a barrel of hard cider and a pension of two thousand a year,’ the Baltimore Republican said of Harrison, ‘and, our word for it, he will sit the remainder of his days in a log cabin . . . and study moral philosophy.’ The attack delighted Democratic editors across the nation, and they reprinted the hard cider/log cabin joke in their newspapers. Their joy was short-lived. Whigs quickly jumped at the chance to compare Harrison’s hard cider and log cabin to Van Buren’s Madeira and mansion. Horace Greeley, a Weed protégé and future newspaper editor, seized upon the symbolism and begin a campaign paper entitled Log Cabin. On the back page were lyrics, often penned by Greeley, to be sung to the tunes of popular melodies.

Let Van from his coolers of silver drink wine,
And lounge on his cushioned settee,
Our man on a buckeye bench can recline,
Content with hard cider is he.

And:

Oh where, tell me where, was your Buckeye cabin made?
Oh where, tell me where, was your Buckeye cabin made?
T’was built among the merry boys
That wield the plow and spade,
Where the Log Cabins stand in the bonnie Buckeye shade.

The Log Cabin sold some 80,000 copies each week, and the New York Times called it ‘the most effective campaign paper ever printed.’ ‘Our songs are doing more good than anything else,’ Greeley wrote Weed. Recognizing what he had wrought, Greeley expanded the song sheet into the Log Cabin SongBook. Included was the battle hymn of the campaign, ‘Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too,’ along with ‘Buckeye Cabin,’ ‘The Soldier of Tippecanoe,’ ‘The Flag of Tippecanoe,’ and ‘A Tip-Top Song About Tippecanoe.’ In Illinois a young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln took over direction of the ‘Old Soldier’ campaign sheet, complete with musical scores. Singing groups such as the ‘Tippecanoe Glee Club’ and ‘Tippecanoe Boys’ and solo acts such as the famed ‘Titus of Toledo’ began headlining rallies with their renditions of the Log Cabin songs. Democratic Senator Thomas Hart Benton dismissed these antics as ‘doggerel ballads,’ but Greeley wisely observed that ‘people like the swing of the music.’

‘We could meet the Whigs on the field of argument and beat them without effort,’ the New York Evening Post cried, ‘but when they lay down the weapons of argument and attack us with musical notes, what can we do?’ Some Democrats recalled an earlier campaign in which the homespun hero, General Andrew Jackson, had been their candidate, and the dandied incumbent was John Quincy Adams. That recollection led the Democratic Review to lament: ‘We have taught them how to conquer us.’

When Martin was housed like a chattel,
opposed to the war as you know,
Our hero was foremost in battle,
and conquered at Tippecanoe.

‘We are far ahead in singing and in electioneering emblems,’ Greeley wrote. His efforts produced other campaign papers: the Flail in Vermont, Old Tip’s Broom in Ohio, the Pilot in Baltimore, and the Hard Cider Press in Chicago. These penny newspapers contained not only songs but anecdotes and campaign updates as well. In addition, those so inclined could purchase Harrison and Tyler neckties, ‘Tippecanoe tobacco,’ ‘Tippecanoe shaving soap,’ and buttons and ribbons. Farmers gained local press coverage by naming their horses ‘Tip’ and ‘Ty.’ One couple in Cincinnati baptized their twins ‘Harrison’ and ‘Tyler.’ Another proud mother named her newborn triplets ‘William,’ ‘Henry,’ and ‘Harrison.’

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to