At a Glance Video Search Life Portrait Survey Result. Harrison waited for the election results in Cincinnati. [119] The doctor then gave him castor oil and medicines to induce vomiting, and diagnosed him with pneumonia in the right lung. [26][27] In her 2012 biography of Harrison, author Gail Collins describes this as an unlikely story, although White believed it to be true. However, he is remembered for his Indian entreaties, and also his inventive election campaign tactics. Tyler arrived in Washington on the morning of April 6. [5], Harrison was tutored at home until age 14 when he attended HampdenSydney College, a Presbyterian college in Virginia. Mary Steger of Richmond wrote excitedly to a friend about the events at the local Log Cabin Whig headquarters and said, I never took so much interest in politics in my life. Democrats derided these women as shameless and reminded them that their husbands represented them in politics, but Whigs argued that womens presence could purify the public sphere. Did William Henry Harrison Really Die From [128], That June, Harrison's body was transported by train and river barge to North Bend, Ohio, and he was buried on July 7 at the summit of Mt. The official cause of death was pneumonia. Burr describes the letter as "replete with wisdom, goodness, and patriotismand the purest of principles". [120] Washington society had noticed his uncharacteristic absence from church on Sunday. It was a pivotal American victory in the war, and Harrison was celebrated as the hero of the Battle of the Thames. [80] He arrived in Bogot on December 22, 1828, and found the condition of Colombia saddening. William Harrison: Death of the President | Miller Center The popular vote margin was much closer, at fewer than 150,000 votes, though he carried nineteen of the twenty-six states. His farm stretched over 2,800 acres and the original log cabin had been expanded to a twenty-two-room home to house his growing familythe Harrisons had ten children, and Anna Harrison was often in poor health because of frequent pregnancies. [59], Tecumseh launched an "impassioned rebuttal", in the words of one historian, but Harrison was unable to understand his language. In an address to the Hamilton County Agricultural Board in 1831, he said that he had sinned in making whiskey and hoped that others would learn from his mistake and stop the production of liquors. In May 1834, Harrison was appointed clerk of courts of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas in Cincinnati, a lowly position for a man of his political ambitions. The traditional story is that his long inaugural speech led to a fatal pneumonia. William Henry Harrison | Biography, Presidency, & Facts After the War of 1812, he moved to Ohio where, in 1816, he was elected to represent the state's 1st district in the House of Representatives. William Henry Harrison Harrison grew up at Berkeley, a tobacco plantation owned by his family and farmed by enslaved African Americans. [70], The Americans suffered a defeat in the siege of Detroit. William Henry Harrison had the longest inaugural address at 8,460 words and took one hour and 45 minutes to deliver. [11], On August 16, 1791, within 24 hours of meeting Lee, Harrison, age 18, was commissioned as an ensign in the Army and assigned to the First American Regiment. Delegates to the Whig Party convention in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, nominate William Henry Harrison as the 1840 presidential candidate, and former Virginia senator John Tyler as the vice presidential candidate. The Village of North Bend, Ohio, honors Harrison every year with a parade to celebrate his birthday. But he was far from young now, and when he followed the address with a round of receptions in his wet clothing, it resulted in a bad chill. Authors Gugin and St. Clair claim the resignation was forced upon him. A modern theory is that he died from typhoid fever contracted from bacteria ingested through the White House water supply, which likely was contaminated by a nearby depository for raw sewage. [35][138], Harrison's long-term impact on American politics includes his campaigning methods, which laid the foundation for modern presidential campaign tactics. Harrison argued that the Great Spirit would have made all the tribes speak one language if they were to be one nation. William Henry Harrison was inaugurated as the ninth president of the United States on March 4, 1841, but died thirty-one days later, making him the shortest-serving U.S. president. On January 26, 1841, Harrison left Cincinnati for the March 4 inauguration in Washington, D.C. 9 minutes. In one sentence, this described the new American political process. WebWilliam Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773 April 4, 1841) was the 9th president of the United States. Their campaign used the symbols on banners and posters and created bottles of hard cider shaped like log cabins, all to connect the candidates to the "common man". Learn about Old Tippecanoe's marches against Native Americans and brief term as president of the United States. For a few months after the division in 1804 of the Louisiana Purchase into the Orleans Territory and the Louisiana Territory, Harrison also acted as governor of the Louisiana Territory (all of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 33rd parallel), the largest jurisdiction ever exercised by a territorial official in the United States to that date. He ran a successful horse-breeding enterprise that won him acclaim throughout the Northwest Territory. [21] Judge Symmes confronted him two weeks later at a farewell dinner for General Wayne, sternly demanding to know how he intended to support a family. The following year Harrison was sent to Congress as a territorial delegate. Some of Harrisons grown children lived in his house; one grandson born there was Benjamin Harrison, who in 1889 became the twenty-third president of the United States. [43], In 1805, Harrison built a plantation-style home near Vincennes that he named Grouseland, in tribute to the birds on the property. Could words have killed our ninth president? [119] The next day, Saturday, the doctor was called again, and arrived to find Harrison in bed with a "severe chill", after taking another early morning walk. This act was the spontaneous burst of ten thousand grateful hearts. Omissions? The following year Harrisons mother died. In 1800, Adams appointed Harrison governor of the new Indiana Territory, the first territory to be carved from the Northwest Territory. William Henry Harrison - Simple English Wikipedia, the [70], The outbreak of war with the British in 1812 led to continued conflict with Indians in the Northwest. His vice president, John Tyler, assumes the office of president. Tyler did compliment Harrison by saying Harrison had been elected for a "great work" of purging the federal government of corruption. He had accumulated no substantial wealth during his lifetime, and he lived on his savings, a small pension, and the income produced by his farm. INAUGURAL ADDRESS In Seneca Falls, New York, soon-to-be woman suffrage activist Amelia Bloomer helped her husband edit his Whig newspaper. He stepped into the barouche but the crowd pressed forward so impetuously, that the horses became frightened and reared frequently. [99][102], When Harrison came to Washington, he wanted to show that he was still the steadfast hero of Tippecanoe and that he was a better educated and more thoughtful man than the backwoods caricature portrayed in the campaign. After his father dies, William Henry Harrison leaves medical school at what is now the University of Pennsylvania and joins the army. [59] Tecumseh then began shouting at Harrison and called him a liar. William Henry Harrison resigns from the army and is appointed secretary of the Northwest Territory by President John Adams. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Tecumseh and the War of There are public statues of him in downtown Indianapolis,[147] Cincinnati's Piatt Park,[148] the Tippecanoe County Courthouse,[149] Harrison County, Indiana,[150] and Owen County, Indiana. Corrections? Timeline | Articles and Essays | William Henry Harrison Sworn into office as president of the U.S. He narrowly lost Virginia even though both he and Tyler were born there. [63] Harrison countered and defeated the tribal forces at Prophetstown next to the Wabash and Tippecanoe Rivers; the battle became famous and he was hailed as a national hero. His critics called him His Accidency. Harrisons body lay in state for two days in the East Room of the White House. He won recognition for his bravery during the Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794). He was the first president-elect to arrive in the capital by train. At age fifty-six, Harrison returned to his home in North Bend, Ohio. Infectious disease deaths in Washington, D.C. National Republican Party United States senators, People from Charles City County, Virginia, Presidents of the United States who died while in office, Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio, United States Army personnel of the War of 1812, Whig Party presidents of the United States, Whig Party (United States) presidential nominees, Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, Pages using Sister project links with wikidata namespace mismatch, Pages using Sister project links with default search, Pages using Sister project links with hidden wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, John Cleves Symmes (17981830), who married the only surviving daughter of, This page was last edited on 26 April 2023, at 03:30. Six white horses pulled a hearse carrying Harrisons casket draped in black velvet in a long funeral procession up Pennsylvania Avenue to Congressional Cemetery, where Harrison was temporarily entombed in the Public Vault. Harrison is often omitted in historical presidential rankings due to his brief tenure, with the rankings where he is ranked placing him significantly below average. [48] Harrison thought that the Treaty of Grouseland (1805) appeased some of the Indians, but tensions remained high along the frontier. Speaking from the deck of the steamship Ben Franklin, he said, perhaps presciently, Fellow-citizens; perhaps this may be the last time I have the pleasure of speaking to you on earth or seeing you. He would be promoted to the rank of major general in March 1813. He then received reinforcements in 1813, took the offensive, and led the army north to battle. While Tecumseh was away recruiting allies, Harrison led approximately 1,000 troops to attack the settlement, camping a short distance from Prophetstown. He won the Electoral College by a landslide: 234 electoral votes to 60 for Van Buren. In 1790, he entered what is now the University of Pennsylvania medical school in Philadelphia to study under Dr. Benjamin Rush, who was also a signer of the Declaration of Independence. [96] Freehling relates that, "One bitter pro-Van Buren paper lamented after his defeat, 'We have been sung down, lied down and drunk down.' (White House Historical Association) It is unlikely, however, that the long-winded speech caused the presidents University of Kentucky, Copyright 2023. Harrison, after leaving his post but while still in the country, wrote his roughly ten-page letter to Bolivar, which is reproduced in full in the Hall and Burr biographies. He then studied medicine in Richmond, Virginia, and in Philadelphia with Benjamin Rush. They noted for the voters what Harrison's name would be when spelled backwards: "No Sirrah". [133], Harrison's death called attention to an ambiguity in Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the Constitution regarding succession to the presidency. He is the youngest man to hold the office to date and the first vice president to assume office after a president's death. Virginia Humanities acknowledges the Monacan Nation, the original people of the land and waters of our home in Charlottesville, Virginia. The campaign slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too" became one of the most famous in American politics. A very long speech and a very short Presidential term. But Harrison continued stumping for himself, suspending his speaking tour later in June after his son Benjamin Harrison died, but resuming in September to huge crowdsan estimated 100,000 people turned out for a speech in Dayton, Ohio. The Whigs saw in Harrison a born southerner and war hero, who would contrast well with the aloof, uncaring, and aristocratic Van Buren. William Henry Harrison Inaugural Speech Analysis In 1798 Pres. Americas Shortest-Serving President Vice President Tyler rushed back from his Williamsburg house and was sworn in as the tenth president of the United States, becoming the first vice president to assume the presidency following the death of the president. William Henry Harrison becomes the commander of Fort Washington. Harrison was born into the Harrison family of Virginia at their homestead, Berkeley Plantation. William Henry Harrison -- who also served as Indiana territorial governor -- holds the record for the longest speech, delivering 8,460 words during his 1841 inaugural The Inaugural Address - White House Historical Association [94][91][92], Harrison faced incumbent Van Buren as the sole Whig candidate in the 1840 election. [121], No official announcements were made concerning Harrison's illness, which fueled public speculation and concern the longer he remained out of public view. Troops led by William Henry Harrison defeat Native Americans led by the Shawnee chief Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe near the Tippecanoe River in Indiana. The following year, on November 25, he married Anna Tuthill Symmes. The popular vote was closer with Harrison getting 52.9 percent of the total. They move into a log cabin on the Ohio River near Cincinnati. Harrison told friends that he was so busy that he hardly had time to perform the necessary functions of nature., Harrison took daily walks around Washington, sometimes in the rain and cold. Life Facts. [90] The Village of North Bend, Ohio as well as the alumni of Ohio State University claim that the state's use of the nickname "Buckeyes" began with Harrison's campaign message. The assertion is based upon the White family's oral history. He was also the first United States president to die in office, and a brief constitutional crisis Harrison responded, "by my sword, and my own right arm, sir". Contemporary presidents typically give speeches in the 2,000-3,000-word range. Harrison found himself at odds with the legislature after the abolitionists came to power, and the eastern portion of the Indiana Territory grew to include a large anti-slavery population. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. [124] Jane McHugh and Philip A. Mackowiak did an analysis in Clinical Infectious Diseases (2014), examining Miller's notes and records showing that the White House water supply was downstream of public sewage, and they concluded that he likely died of septic shock due to "enteric fever" (typhoid or paratyphoid fever).[125][126]. John Symmes disapproved of the match despite Harrisons elite Virginia background because he had no occupation outside of the army and Symmes didnt want his daughter living the difficult life of a military wife in frontier forts. On April 3, Harrison uttered his final words, apparently directed at Vice President Tyler: Sir, I wish you to understand the true principles of the government. [104] Freehling opines that speeches like this were actually common at the time, and that its irony was rich, as Harrison, "a lifelong office seeker, elected by deeply partisan politics, criticized both".[105]. [90] The Democrats charged that, by running several candidates, the Whigs sought to prevent a Van Buren victory in the electoral college, and force the election into the House. [66] When no second attack came, the Shawnee defeat had become more certain. However, the death of his father caused Harrison to discontinue his studies. [96] A memorable example was the Gold Spoon Oration that Pennsylvania's Whig representative Charles Ogle delivered in the House, ridiculing Van Buren's elegant White House lifestyle and lavish spending. [137], Among Harrison's most enduring legacies is the series of treaties that he negotiated and signed with Indian leaders during his tenure as the Indiana territorial governor. In June 1840, a Harrison rally at the site of the Tippecanoe battle drew 60,000 people. Democrats mocked him as General Mum and said the Whigs were keeping their aged candidate locked in an Iron Cage. Then Harrison accepted an invitation to speak at a celebration of the siege at Fort Meigs. [111], Clay was not the only one who hoped to benefit from Harrison's election. [83], In May of 1817, Harrison served as one of the founding vestry members of the Episcopal congregation, Christ Church in downtown Cincinnati (now Christ Church Cathedral). William Henry Harrison was the 9th president of the United States, a term that lasted barely a month. Marshal of the District of Columbia Alexander Hunter recalled an incident in which Harrison was besieged by office seekers who were preventing him from getting to a cabinet meeting; when his pleas for their consideration were ignored, Harrison finally "accepted their petitions, which filled his arms and pockets". Harrisons predecessor, Martin Van Buren, gave a speech of 3,800 words. Harrison resigned from the army in 1798 and was appointed secretary of the Northwest Territory by President John Adams. [52] Though Harrison asserted that the suspension was necessary to promote settlement and make the territory economically viable and ready for statehood, the proposal failed. [113], Harrison took seriously his pledge to reform executive appointments, visiting each of the six cabinet departments to observe its operations and issuing through Webster an order that electioneering by employees would be considered grounds for dismissal. [64][65], When reporting to Secretary Eustis, Harrison had informed him of the battle near the Tippecanoe River and that he had anticipated an attack.
