Looking again at Lundberg's book on Greeley. The Tribune's first printing was a run of 5,000 copies, only about 500 of them sold. That was only one of the snowballs of bad news that nearly buried the new project at its start. This was 1841. Greeley had enthusiastically supported William Henry Harrison's campaign for President the previous year. But that victory turned sour when Harrison, barely inaugurated, took ill and, weeks later, died. When the company started its life in the red, Greeley looked to political allies for help. But he was caught between two sets of Whigs -- an Albany-centered crowd associated with the state government and the New York City crowd -- and neither was solidly behind the new project. Fortunately, help came. In May. Greeley found a business-savvy partner: Thomas McElrath. McElrath infused an immediate $2000 and took over management duties, leaving to Greeley all decisions about content. Fourteen years later, an enthusiastic adm...