Page:Life of Henry Clay (Schurz; v. 2).djvu/207

Rh would regard “partisan interference in popular elections,” or “the payment of any contribution or assessment on salaries or official compensation for party or election purposes,” on the part of any officer or employee of the government, as cause for removal. But this did not accord with the views and objects of a large class of active Whig politicians like Thurlow Weed, who wanted public officers of “skill in planning and combining, and untiring industry in executing,” to help them carry elections. The rush for place continued, and the party managers were busy in organizing a Whig “machine,” determined to overcome the reform tendencies of the administration.

President Harrison died, after a short illness, on April 4, 1841, one month after his inauguration. The presidential office devolved upon the Vice-President, John Tyler of Virginia. Grievous as Clay's disappointment had been at the beginning of Harrison's administration, worse was now to come.