Exhibit 5.1

                   [LETTERHEAD OF WILMER, CUTLER & PICKERING]


                                 March 11, 2002

Danaher Corporation
2099 Pennsylvania Avenue, 12th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20006-1813

Ladies and Gentlemen:

          We have acted as securities counsel for Danaher Corporation, a
Delaware corporation (the "Company"), in connection with (1) the Registration
Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-83186) (the "Registration Statement") filed
by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") on
February 22, 2002, (2) the issuance and sale of up to 6,900,000 shares of common
stock, par value $0.01 per share (the "Common Shares"), of the Company as
described in the Company's prospectus supplement, dated March 6, 2002 (the
"Prospectus Supplement") and related prospectus, dated March 5, 2002 (the
"Prospectus"), and the public offering of the Common Shares pursuant to an
Underwriting Agreement, dated March 6, 2002, between the Company and Salomon
Smith Barney Inc. and Lehman Brothers Inc. as representatives for the
underwriters listed on Schedule I attached thereto.

          We have examined originals, photocopies or conformed copies of all
such records of the Company and its subsidiaries, all such agreements and
certificates of public officials, and such other documents as we have deemed
relevant and necessary as a basis for the opinion hereinafter expressed. As to
any facts material to our opinion, we have made no independent investigation of
such facts and have relied, to the extent that we deem such reliance proper,
upon certificates of public officials and officers or other representatives of
the Company. In rendering the opinions set forth below, we have assumed that (i)
all signatures on all documents examined by us are genuine; (ii) all documents
submitted to us as originals are authentic and all documents submitted to us as
copies conform to the originals of those documents; (iii) each natural person
signing any document reviewed by us had the legal capacity to do so; and (iv)
each person signing in a representative capacity (other than on behalf of the
Company) any document reviewed by us had authority to sign in such capacity.

          Based upon and subject to the foregoing, we are of the opinion that
the Common Shares have been duly authorized and when issued and sold in the
manner set forth in the Registration Statement and the Underwriting Agreement,
will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

          We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the
Company's Current Report on Form 8-K. We also consent to the incorporation of
this opinion by reference in the Registration Statement and to references to us
under the headings "Legal Matters" in the Prospectus and in the Prospectus
Supplement.

          In rendering the foregoing opinion, we do not express an opinion
concerning any laws other than the laws of the State of New York, the general
corporate law of the state of Delaware and the federal laws of the United States
of America.

                                             Sincerely,

                                             WILMER, CUTLER & PICKERING


                                             By: /s/ Meredith B. Cross
                                                -------------------------------
                                                 Meredith B. Cross, a Partner