William Henry Harrison
| William Henry Harrison | |
|---|---|
| File:William Henry Harrison Presidential Portrait.jpg | |
| Order | 9th President of the United States |
| In office | March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841 |
| Vice President | John Tyler |
| Preceded by | Martin Van Buren |
| Succeeded by | John Tyler |
| Born | February 9, 1773 Charles City County, Virginia, United States |
| Political Party | Whig |
| Spouse | Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison (m. 1795–1841) |
| Children | 10 (including John Scott Harrison) |
| Profession | Soldier, administrator, diplomat, politician |
| Alma mater | Hampden–Sydney College (attended) University of Pennsylvania (medicine, no degree) |
| Signature | 
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William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773 – April 4, 1841) was the 9th president of the United States. A famed frontier general and territorial governor, he won national renown at the Battle of Tippecanoe (1811) and in the War of 1812. Elected in 1840, he served the shortest presidency in U.S. history—31 days—before dying in office, after which John Tyler assumed the presidency.
Early Life and Military Career
Born into a prominent Virginia family, Harrison briefly studied medicine before joining the U.S. Army in 1791. He served under “Mad Anthony” Wayne, helping secure the Northwest Territory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794). Harrison later became secretary, then governor of Indiana Territory (1801–1813), negotiating treaties and clashing with the confederation led by Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa.
Tippecanoe and War of 1812
Harrison’s 1811 strike on Prophetstown brought him fame as the “Hero of Tippecanoe.” During the War of 1812, he commanded U.S. forces in the Northwest, culminating in victory at the Battle of the Thames (1813), where Tecumseh was killed and British-allied resistance collapsed.
Political Career
After the war he served as a U.S. representative, senator from Ohio, and minister to Gran Colombia. A Whig by the late 1830s, Harrison ran for president with the hard-cider, “Log Cabin” image that energized voters discontented with Democratic rule.
Presidency and Death (1841)
Inaugurated March 4, 1841, Harrison delivered the longest inaugural address to date and signaled Whig priorities of fiscal reform and revisiting banking policy. He fell ill within weeks and died on April 4, 1841. Contemporary reports cited “bilious pleurisy” or pneumonia; modern analyses debate the exact cause. His death triggered the Tyler Precedent, establishing that the vice president fully becomes president upon a president’s death.
Legacy
Though his term was brief, Harrison’s military reputation shaped early U.S. expansion in the Old Northwest, and his death set a vital constitutional norm for presidential succession. His 1840 campaign also pioneered mass-appeal political marketing.