William Henry Harrison

“To you, citizens, has been given the custody of the Constitution, the preservation of public liberty, and the perpetuity of the free institutions of our country.”

“We admit of no government by divine right... the only legitimate right to govern is an express grant of power from the governed.”

“The great danger to our institutions does not appear to me to be in a usurpation by the government of power not granted by the people, but by the accumulation in one of the departments of that which was assigned to others.”

“It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes.”

“I contend that the strongest of all governments is that which is most free.”

“There is nothing more corrupting, nothing more destructive of the noblest and finest feelings of our nature, than the exercise of unlimited power.”

“The chains of military despotism, once fastened upon a nation, ages might pass away before they could be shaken off.”

“The boast of our country is that the humblest individual may aspire to the highest office in the gift of the people.”