Country Vacations & Resorts

Time in Office: Just under 32 days in 1841. Died while President.
Terms: One
Birthday: February 9, 1773
Birth Place: Berkeley Plantation, Charles City County, Virginia
Date of Death: April 4, 1841
Place of Death: The White House, Washington, DC
Buried: William Henry Harrison State Tomb Memorial, North Bend, Ohio

Notes:
~ Eloped when refused permission to marry his sweetheart, Anna
~ First sitting President to be photographed
~ Harrison’s Grandson Benjamin was 23rd President
~ Before Reagan, the oldest US President
~ Shortest term in office
~ Longest inaugural address in US history

William Henry Harrison caught a cold in mid-March 1841. By April 4th – he was dead. He was the United States’ ninth President at the time…

Harrison as President obviously did little travel, but travel before his Presidency he did!

At the age of 14 Harrison was enrolled in Hampton-Sydney College, Virginia. Additional stages of his education, including some medical training, took place in Southampton County and Richmond, Virginia, and eventually Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Military Man and Politician

From 1791 to 1797 William Henry Harrison served in the military, taking him to the Northwest Territory where he served with distinction under General “Mad Anthony” Wayne. By the end of 1797, he had resigned his commission and was appointed Secretary to the Territory – while frequently sitting in as acting Governor. Making a name for himself, Harrison was appointed as the Territory’s Representative to the Sixth United States Congress in Philadelphia. Harrison was very successful promoting the growth and improvement of the Northwest Territory and in fact, was then appointed by President John Adams, as Governor.

In 1800 Harrison moved to Vincennes – capital of the Indiana Territory where he built it’s first known brick home he called “Grouseland.” He later built a second home nearby and spent most of the next 10 years traveling and living in the Northwest Territory. He was successful leading his army at the Battle of Tippecanoe. Harrison was still in the Territory at the onset of the War of 1812, in which he remained active as head of the Army of the Northwest. He defeated the British at the Battle of the Thames in 1813 during which the Shawnee Chief, Tecumseh, was killed.

Young William Henry

After the war, William Henry continued on his political path as both a Representative and as Senator from Ohio from 1816 to 1828. He was then appointed minister plenipotentiary to Gran Columbia arriving in Bogota December 1828 and serving there until June 1829.

Harrison returned to his home in North Bend, Ohio where he opened a distillery (which he closed after deciding “drink” was not a good thing!), and also served as Clerk of Court. This was one of the first periods in nearly 40 years that Harrison was able to live as a private citizen. But this didn’t last long.

By the 1840 Presidential Campaign, Harrison finds himself the lead character in the famous political slogan…”Tippecanoe and Tyler too.” Harrison was elected due to his heroic military career and long-standing service to his country. The fact that his predecessor and opponent, Martin Van Buren, had been in charge during a disastrous time for the US economy – didn’t hurt Harrison’s campaign.

After so many years of service to his country, so many years of surviving Indian wars, and finally, being elected President of the United States, William Henry Harrison did not live long to enjoy his final success. At the age of 68, having had a cold that developed into pneumonia and pleurisy (a nasty combination I actually had myself), Harrison died in office after being President only 31 days. His funeral took place in Cinncinati, he was then interred in the public vault at the Congressional Cemetery, and finally made his way home for the last time to North Bend, Ohio.

President? Or “Acting” President? Up next – John Tyler…