|
William Henry Harrison ( February 9 , 1773 - April 4
, 1841 ) was the ninth ( 1841) President of the
United States. He was born at the family estate,
Berkeley Plantation in Virginia.
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Order: |
9th
President |
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Term of
Office: |
March 4 ,
1841 - April 4 , 1841 |
|
Followed: |
Martin Van
Buren |
|
Succeeded
by: |
John Tyler |
|
Date of
Birth |
February 9
, 1773 |
|
Place of
Birth: |
Berkeley,
Virginia |
|
Date of
Death: |
April 4 ,
1841 |
|
Place of
Death: |
Washington, D.C. |
|
First Lady
: |
Anna
Tuthill Symmes |
|
Occupation: |
soldier |
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Political
Party : |
Whig |
|
Vice
President : |
John
Tyler |
Harrison, like many other early presidents, was a
Virginia plantation owner. His father, Benjamin
Harrison V , was a signatory to the Declaration of
Independence , and his brother 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 ; 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 , became the
31st preisdent in 1889 , making the two of them the
only grandparent-grandchild pair of presidents to
date. |
