William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773 – April 4, 1841)
was the ninth President
of the United States (1841), an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in
office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when inaugurated, the oldest president to
take office until Ronald Reagan in 1981. Harrison died on his 32nd
day in office of complications from pneumonia, serving the shortest tenure in United States
presidential history. His death sparked a brief constitutional
crisis, but
its resolution settled many questions about presidential succession left unanswered by theConstitution until the passage of the 25th Amendment in 1967. He was the grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, who was the 23rd President from
1889 to 1893.
Before election as president, Harrison served
as the first territorial
congressional delegate from the Northwest
Territory,governor of the Indiana Territory and later as a U.S. representative and senator from Ohio. He originally gained national fame for
leading U.S. forces against American Indians at the Battle
of Tippecanoe in 1811, where he earned the nickname "Tippecanoe" (or "Old
Tippecanoe"). As a general in the subsequent War of 1812, his most notable action was in the Battle
of the Thames in 1813, which brought an end to hostilities in his region. This battle
resulted in the death of Tecumseh and the dissolution of the Indian
coalition which he led.
After the war, Harrison moved to Ohio, where he
was elected to the United States House of Representatives. In 1824 the state legislature
elected him to the US Senate. He served a truncated term after
being appointed as Minister
Plenipotentiary to Colombia in May 1828. In Colombia, he spoke
with Simón Bolívar urging his nation to adopt American-style
democracy.
Returning to his farm in Ohio, Harrison lived
in relative retirement until nominated for the presidency in 1836. Defeated, he
retired again to his farm. He was elected president in 1840, and died of pneumonia in April 1841, a month after taking
office.
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