1831, to July, 1832, when he resigned; was Governor of the
State of New York, 1833-1839; was Secretary of War under President
Polk, March 5th, 1845, to March 3d, 1849; was Secretary of State
under President Pierce, March 7th, 1853, to March 4th, 1857, and
died at Ballston Spa, New York, July 4th, 1857.

CHAPTER XVII.
THE LOG CABIN AND HARD CIDER CAMPAIGN.

The Presidential campaign of 1840 surpassed in excitement and
intensity of feeling all which had preceded it, and in these respects
it has not since been equaled. It having been sneeringly remarked
by a Democratic writer that General Harrison lived in a log cabin
and had better remain there, the Whigs adopted the log cabin as
one of their emblems. Log cabins were raised everywhere for Whig
headquarters, some of them of large size, and almost every voting
precinct had its Tippecanoe Club with its choristers.

For the first time in our land the power of song was invoked to
aid a Presidential candidate, and immense editions of log cabin
song-books were sold. Many of these songs were parodies on familiar
ballads. One of the best compositions, the authorship of which
was ascribed to George P. Morris, the editor of the New York
_Mirror_, was a parody on the Old Oaken Bucket. The first verse
ran:

"Oh! dear to my soul are they days of our glory,
The time-honored days of our national pride;
When heroes and statesmen ennobled our story,
And boldly the foes of our country defied;
When victory hung o'er our flag, proudly waving,
And the battle was fought by the valiant and true
For our homes and our loved one, the enemies braving,
Oh! then stood the soldier of Tippecanoe--
The iron-armed soldier, the true-hearted soldier
The gallant old soldier of Tippecanoe."

Mass conventions were held by the Whigs in the larger cities and
in the central towns at the great West. They were attended by
thousands, who came from the plow, the forge, the counter, and the
desk, at a sacrifice of personal convenience and often at considerable
expense, to give a hearty utterance to their deep-felt opposition
to the party in power. Delegations to these conventions would
often ride in carriages or on horseback twenty-five or thirty miles,
camping out during the excursion. They carried banners, and often
had a small log cabin mounted on wheels, in which was a barrel of
hard cider, the beverage of the campaign. On the day of the
convention, and before the