Watching • Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too!
In the 1840 presidential campaign, William Henry Harrison and John Tyler of the Whig party ran against Democratic party founder and President Martin Van Buren (our first president born a U.S. citizen, and the only one—thus far!—speaking English as a second language). An Ohioan jeweler named Alexander Coffman Ross wrote clever lyrics celebrating Harrison’s military victory at Tippecanoe in 1811, and knocking Van Buren as “Little Van.” The song spread like wildfire across the country, eventually acquiring a dozen verses, and significantly outlasting Harrison’s monthlong and Tyler’s one-term presidencies. This video features They Might Be Giants’ 2004 cover of “Tip and Ty.” —Meave GallagherSHARE THIS • EMAIL THIS • FILE UNDER: Alexander Coffman Ross, John Tyler, Martin Van Buren, They Might Be Giants, Tippecanoe, William Henry Harrison
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