The presidency of John Tyler began on April 4, 1841, when John Tyler became President of the United States upon the death of President William Henry Harrison, and ended on March 4, 1845. He had been Vice President of the United States for only 31 days when he assumed the presidency. The tenth United States president, he was the first to succeed to the office intra-term without being elected to it. Tyler delivered an inaugural address before Congress on April 9, in which he reasserted his belief in fundamental tenets of Jeffersonian democracy and limited federal power. Tyler's claim to be president was resisted by many members of Congress. Also among those who questioned Tyler's authority was Senator Henry Clay, who had planned to be 'the real power behind a fumbling throne' while Harrison was alive, and intended the same for Tyler. Clay saw Tyler as the 'vice-president' and his presidency as a mere 'regency'.