Harrison, William Henry, as ninth President

Engraved broadside document signed ("W. H. Harrison") on vellum (10 3/4 x 14 1/4 in.; 272 x 361 mm, sight), accomplished in a neat clerical hand, Washington, D.C., 5 March 1841, being John J. Crittenden's appointment as Attorney General of the United States, countersigned by the Secretary of State ("Danl Webster"), embossed paper seal of the United States, docketed on the verso by Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story indicating that Crittenden had sworn the oath required by the Constitution to accept the position as Attorney General; dampstained at edges obscuring first line of Story's docket and Harrison's name (not his signature) at top of document, a bit soiled, some wrinkling, portions of accomplishment lightly faded. Matted, double-glazed, and framed.

John J. Crittenden—by descent through the family to the present owner

An unusual example of the rarest Presidential signature: William Henry Harrison's appointment of John J. Crittenden as Attorney General. John J. Crittenden was one of the most influential statesmen in nineteenth-century America, serving as Attorney General twice (being later appointed to the post by Millard Fillmore), as well as being elected by Kentucky to serve in the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Senate, and the state's executive mansion. A steadfast Whig, Crittenden resigned from the Cabinet (with most of his colleagues) a few months after John Tyler succeded Harrison in the White House. Largely due to his efforts, Kentucky remained ostensibly neutral during the Civil War, though his own family was rent by it: one son fought for the United States, the other for the Confederacy. 

William Henry Harrison's brief term in the White House—less than five weeks, during most of which he was very ill—makes his signature as chief executive by far the scarcest of any presidential autograph. Since 1965, a dozen documents signed by Harrison as President have been sold at auction (some more than once). Ship's passports are by far the most common form of document (several of these were signed in advance by Harrison and either issued posthumously or never accomplished). Neither these nor any of the other documents—pardons, regional appointments of customs collectors, marshals, and district attorneys—approach the significance of the present cabinet appointment document.