William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773 - April 4, 1841) was the ninth (1841) President of the United States. A Western statesman of Ohio and general on the frontier, Harrison was born at the family estate, Berkeley Plantation in Virginia, and thus both Ohio and Virginia claim him as a native son. Harrison, like many other early presidents, was a Virginia plantation owner.
Harrison was born to Benjamin Harrison V and Elizabeth Basset. His father was a signatory to the Declaration of Independence, and his brother was a member of the United States House of Representatives.
When he was 18, Harrison enlisted in the army, and he quickly rose through the ranks to become the first military governor of the Indiana territory. It was in this capacity that he defeated a rebellion of Native Americans under the leadership of Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. Modern revisionists claim that the troops under Harrison's command murdered numerous civilian indians and that the battle was actually a war crime. "Tippecanoe" was used as a nickname for Harrison, as in the campaign slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler too"
Harrison was promoted to general and fought with distinction in the War of 1812, in which Tecumseh was killed fighting as an ally of the British.
After the war, he was elected to various political offices, including the House of Representatives and the United States Senate. He was the Northern Whig candidate for President in 1836, but lost the election to Martin Van Buren. He was a candidate again in 1840, when he won largely because of his heroic military record and the fact that the United States had suffered a severe economic downturn. His vice president was John Tyler. Their campaign slogans of "Log Cabins and Hard Cider" and "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" are among the most famous in American politics.
It was an extremely cold and windy day, March 4, 1841, when Harrison was to take the oath of office. Nevertheless, he faced the weather with no coat on, and delivered the longest inaugural address in American history, at nearly two hours. During this address he caught a cold, which developed into pneumonia. He passed away a month later, becoming the first American president to die in office. Harrison served the shortest term of any American president, a total of only 31 days. John Tyler succeeded him to the Presidency shortly thereafter.
Harrison's grandson, Benjamin Harrison of Ohio, became the 23rd president in 1889, making them the only grandparent-grandchild pair of presidents to date (There have been two father-son pairs: George H. W. Bush - George W. Bush, and John Adams - John Quincy Adams). It was a Harrison family tradition to name the first born son of each generation Benjamin.
Harrison was a tall man, and when in Congress he was referred to by fellow westerners as a Buckeye, as were other tall pioneers on the Ohio frontier, as a term of endearment in respect of the Buckeye chestnut tree.
Cabinet
Related articles
