While we've been waiting, we've done every chore imaginable to get the house ready. We're saving some Netflix shows for the hospital and for the days and weeks to come. To relieve some stress, I've taken up coloring. My friends Amy and David got me a President Coloring Book for Christmas and I've just now gotten around to using it. At first, I started coloring the presidents in a way that lends respect to the office, but then I started to notice that the illustrations allowed for some fun artistic interpretation. So I will share one that I finished tonight:
This is William Henry Harrison. He was president for something like 31 days. Why, you ask? Well, Ol' Tippecanoe was a bit long-winded. He gave his inaugural address on a very cold day, without a coat no less. Instead of wrapping it up and heading to the ball, Harrison droned on and on for about two hours, caught pneumonia and died a few weeks later. What a dumbass, right? Every time I told that story to students, they'd ask, "Why didn't he just wear a heavy coat?" I''ve always wondered the same thing myself. Well, wonder no longer.
As the picture below suggests, Harrison loved his slip-on coat/cape. He felt like a new person in that coat. When he wore that coat, he approached life with a new confidence. The only problem--the pink candy stripe lining made him a bit self-conscious. We might laugh today, but this was 1841, guys. John Tyler said there's no way in hell he's going to be on the ticket with someone who dresses like that. The rest is history.
