Throughout history, a number of American presidents have traveled to their inauguration by train. Here is the brief story of three such trips taken by William Henry Harrison, Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama. William Henry Harrison (our 9th president who died after 32 days in office, March 4th 1841- April 4th, 1841) became the first president-elect to travel by train to an inauguration. (He was also first to campaign via rail). Harrison’s journey to Washington DC began in early February 1841 and included travel by boat and stagecoach as well as rail. Travelling east from Cincinnati, Harrison boarded the Baltimore and Ohio RR (the oldest U.S. RR, which began construction in the late 1820s) in Frederick, MD and reached Washington D.C. via Baltimore. In what is considered to be the longest inaugural speech in history, Harrison spoke for close to two hours, uttering more than 8,800 words (George Washington’s second inaugural address is by far the shortest at 135 words). Read more in our blog. http://www.trovestar.com/generic/blog.php?Article=61
