They were bearing the dead body of Harrison to the grave. Hoping to deny the Democrats an electoral majority, the newly formed Whig Party picked Harrison as one of the partys four candidates because of his name recognition. He attempted to secure the post as Secretary of War under President Monroe in 1817 but lost out to John C. Calhoun. [91] In any case the plan, if there was one, failed. [7][8] His Episcopalian father removed him from the college, possibly for religious reasons, and after brief stays at an academy in Southampton County, Virginia, and with his elder brother Benjamin in Richmond, he went to Philadelphia in 1790. 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. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. His vice president, John Tyler, assumes the office of president. [59] Chief Winamac was friendly to Harrison, and he countered Tecumseh's arguments, telling the warriors that they should return home in peace since they had come in peace. John Adams named Harrison to succeed Winthrop Sargent as secretary of the Northwest Territory, a vast tract of land encompassing most of the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. This strategy backfired when Harrison and running mate John Tyler adopted the log cabin and hard cider as campaign symbols. His wife, too, expressed similar misgivings. [17] Harrison was promoted to captain in May 1797 and resigned from the Army on June 1, 1798. [19] Harrison asked the judge for permission to marry Anna but was refused, so the couple waited until Symmes left on business. [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. He named it Fort Meigs in honor of Ohio governor Return J. Meigs Jr. The president was William Henry Harrison, who had been sworn in on March 4, 1841. 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. William Henry Harrison's inaugural address lasted nearly two hours, but in the days before electronic media, oratory of such duration was common. [12] Congress had legislated a territorial policy that led to high land costs, a primary concern for settlers in the Territory; Harrison became their champion to lower those prices. The Whig Ladies of Alexandria presented a pro-Harrison banner to the local Tippecanoe club, which carried it in a Harrison campaign parade. After hearing news of her husbands election, Anna Harrison said: I wish that my husbands friends had left him where he is, happy and contented in retirement.. John Tyler (April 9, 1841), Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Charles Balthazar Julien Fvret de Saint-Mmin, William Henry Harrison 1840 presidential campaign, William Henry Harrison Tomb State Memorial, List of memorials to William Henry Harrison, List of presidents of the United States by previous experience, List of presidents of the United States who died in office, Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps, "William Henry Harrison: Life Before the Presidency", "Warren Harding and 5 other presidents who have faced 'love child' questions", "William Henry Harrison, 9th Pres. At Fort Meigs near the village of Toledo in Ohio, Harrisons forces withstood a siege by the British and their Native American allies led by Tecumseh. In his time as president, he delivered the longest inaugural speech in US history, followed by a swift and permanent exit from life and political office. WebAn illustrated chronology of key events in the life of William Henry Harrison (1773-1841), ninth president of the United States. [5] The British and their Indian allies greatly outnumbered Harrison's troops, so Harrison constructed a defensive position during the winter along the Maumee River in northwest Ohio. On April 4, 1841, having only served 31 days in office, President William Henry Harrison died. The following year Harrisons mother died. [116] A few days later, however, Treasury Secretary Thomas Ewing reported to Harrison that federal funds were in such trouble that the government could not continue to operate until Congress' regularly scheduled session in December; Harrison thus relented, and proclaimed the special session on March 17, in the interests of "the condition of the revenue and finance of the country". Old Tip he wore a homespun coat, he had no ruffled shirt: wirt-wirt, Harrison rose to the rank of captain and in 1796 became the commander of Fort Washington. Indian resistance to American expansion came to a head, with the leadership of Shawnee brothers Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa ("The Prophet"), in a conflict that became known as Tecumseh's War. 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. ", "Death in the White House: President William Henry Harrison's Atypical Pneumonia", "William Henry Harrison Funeral: April 7, 1841", "Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup", Hopkins, John Tyler and the Presidential Succession, John Tyler (April 9, 1841) Upon Assuming the Office of President of the United States, The White House, Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison, "Essays on Article II: Presidential Succession", "A controversial President who established presidential succession", "William Henry Harrison: Impact and Legacy", "William Henry Harrison Birthday Tribute", "The United States Mint Coins and Medals Program", "John Tyler and the Presidential Succession", "Address Upon Assuming the Office of President of the United States", Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, William Henry Harrison Papers Library of Congress, Papers of William Henry Harrison, 18001815, Announcement of William Henry Harrison Impending Death, Essays on Harrison, each member of his cabinet and First Lady, William Henry Harrison Biography and Fact File, Biography by Appleton's and Stanley L. Klos, "Life Portrait of William Henry Harrison", Representative of Ohio's 1st congressional district, Delegate of Northwest Territory's at-large congressional district, 1822 United States House of Representatives elections in Ohio, Equestrian statue of William Henry Harrison, Northwest Territory's at-large congressional district, Unsuccessful major party candidates for President of the United States, United States Senate Committee on Armed Services, First International Conference of American States, List of federal judges appointed by Benjamin Harrison, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Henry_Harrison&oldid=1151769568, 19th-century presidents of the United States, American people of the Northwest Indian War, Candidates in the 1836 United States presidential election, Candidates in the 1840 United States presidential election. [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. Harrison named his cabinet and called for Congress to return on May 31 for a special session. [37], Harrison was also instrumental in arranging the division of the Territory into two sections. Anna never moved into the White House. William Henry Harrison is born at Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County, the youngest of seven children of Benjamin Harrison V, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Elizabeth Bassett Harrison. [93] Van Buren won the election with 170 electoral votes. The White House state rooms were still hung with black mourning crapes. In his address to the nation, Tyler did not give any personal consolation to Harrison's widow Anna or family members. He condemned the financial excesses of the prior administration and pledged not to interfere with congressional financial policy. Sworn into office as president of the U.S. After resolution of an ambiguity in the constitution regarding succession to the powers and duties of the office, Tyler became president. "[114] His own cabinet attempted to countermand his appointment of John Chambers as Governor of the Iowa Territory in favor of Webster's friend James Wilson. [55] He donated $100 to encourage Lemen with abolition and other good works, and later another $20 to help fund the church known as Bethel Baptist Church. "[5] Matters eventually became cordial with the father-in-law, who later sold the Harrisons 160 acres (65ha) of land in North Bend, which enabled Harrison to build a home and start a farm. In fact, Harrison's condition had seriously weakened, and Cabinet members and family were summoned to the White Househis wife Anna had remained in Ohio due to her own illness. General James Winchester offered Harrison the rank of brigadier general, but Harrison wanted sole command of the army. [120] Harrison was then administered laudanum, opium, and camphor, along with wine and brandy. Never, the Cleveland Advertiser wrote, calling the precedent a bad one.. Andrew Jackson, in his second inaugural address, managed only 1,100 words. Daniel Webster ran in Massachusetts, and Mangum in South Carolina. [107], Following the speech, he rode through the streets in the inaugural parade,[103] stood in a three-hour receiving line at the White House, and attended three inaugural balls that evening,[108] including one at Carusi's Saloon entitled the "Tippecanoe" ball with 1,000 guests who had paid $10 per person (equal to $312 in 2021). [55] In Indiana, the planting of the anti-slavery church led to citizens signing a petition and organizing politically to defeat Harrison's efforts to legalize slavery in the territory.[55]. The house was his military headquarters from 1813 to 1814. In 1824, he was elected to the United States Senate, though his Senate term was cut short by his appointment as Minister Plenipotentiary to Gran Colombia in 1828. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Harrison was the seventh and youngest child of Benjamin Harrison V and Elizabeth (Bassett) Harrison, born on February 9, 1773, at Berkeley Plantation, the home of the Harrison family of Virginia on the James River in Charles City County. He was also passed over for a diplomatic post to Russia. [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. [111], Clay was not the only one who hoped to benefit from Harrison's election. William Henry Harrison negotiates the Treaty of Fort Wayne, under which the United States acquires 2.5 million acres of land from Native American tribes. Many of them began to pull their weapons, representing a substantial threat to Harrison and the town, which held a population of only 1,000. Encyclopedia Virginia, Virginia Humanities. It took him nearly two hours to read, although his friend and fellow Whig Daniel Webster had edited it for length. [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. He disputed that the Indian leaders who signed the Treaty of Greenville had the authority to sell lands he believed were held in common by all tribes. [145] Harrison's grandson Benjamin Harrison of Indiana served as the 23rd president from 1889 to 1893, making William and Benjamin Harrison the only grandparent-grandchild pair of presidents.[146]. Authors Gugin and St. Clair claim the resignation was forced upon him. In summary, President Harrisons speech mainly discussed how the [139] Harrison died nearly penniless, and Congress voted his wife Anna a presidential widow's pension of $25,000,[140] one year of Harrison's salary (equivalent to about $657,000 in 2021). Harrison then stood and declared: "William Henry Harrison, President of the United States, tells you, gentlemen, that, by God, John Chambers shall be governor of Iowa! The Whigs saw in Harrison a born southerner and war hero, who would contrast well with the aloof, uncaring, and aristocratic Van Buren. Although the Whig Party was in the minority in Illinios, Lincoln agreed with its policies and supported the party's 5 Fast Facts - Longest Inauguration Speech: William Henry Harrison | WebOn March 4, 1841, President William Henry Harrison gave the longest inaugural speech in American history. After Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perrys naval victory in the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813, Harrison no longer had to remain on the defensive. [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]. [59], Tecumseh launched an "impassioned rebuttal", in the words of one historian, but Harrison was unable to understand his language. [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. University of Kentucky, Copyright 2023. Harrison arrived in Washington on February 9, 1841, his sixty-eighth birthday. He was promoted to major general in the Army during the War of 1812, and led American infantry and cavalry to victory at the Battle of the Thames in Upper Canada. On November 25, 1795, Harrison eloped with twenty-year-old Anna Tuthill Symmes, the well-educated daughter of John Cleves Symmes, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey who was one of southwestern Ohios biggest land speculators. For other people, see, Articles related to William Henry Harrison, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's, Full Text: "FELLOW-CITIZENS: Before my arrival at the seat of Government the painful communication was made to you by the officers presiding over the several Departments of the deeply regretted death of William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States. On his 32nd [135] The cabinet consulted with Chief Justice Roger Taney and decided that, if Tyler took the presidential oath of office, he would assume the office of president. Hordes of office applicants came to the White House, which was then open to any who wanted a meeting with the president. He died one month later of pneumonia, believed to Harrison was born on February 9, 1773, at Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County to Benjamin Harrison V, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the fifth governor of Virginia (17811784), and Elizabeth Bassett Harrison. [51] Biographer Freehling asserts that the Indians perceived the ownership of land was as common to all, just as the air that is breathed. He regularly worked until after midnight and spent much of his time fending off office seekers, who could walk right into the White House. [12] He was initially assigned to Fort Washington, Cincinnati in the Northwest Territory where the army was engaged in the ongoing Northwest Indian War. William Henry Harrison received a classical education at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, where he was a student from 1787 to 1790. While Tecumseh was away recruiting allies, Harrison led approximately 1,000 troops to attack the settlement, camping a short distance from Prophetstown. [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. He developed an interest in military history, especially Roman military history. [4] William Henry often referred to himself as a "child of the revolution", as indeed he was, having grown up in a home just 30mi (48km) from where Washington won the war against the British in the Battle of Yorktown. [131][a] Tyler and his family moved into the White House one week after Harrison's funeral, before Harrison's 30 day time of mourning was over. The popular vote margin was much closer, at fewer than 150,000 votes, though he carried nineteen of the twenty-six states. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [5] Tecumseh informed Harrison that he had threatened to kill the chiefs who signed the treaty if they carried out its terms and that his confederation of tribes was growing rapidly. [13] Biographer William W. Freehling says that young Harrison, in his first military act, rounded up about eighty thrill-seekers and troublemakers off Philadelphia's streets, talked them into signing enlistment papers, and marched them to Fort Washington. It was Harrisons ambition to become governor of the reconstituted, more-populous eastern portion of the territory. Harrison drew his sword, and Tecumseh's warriors backed down when the officers presented their firearms in his defense. William Henry Harrison was buried near his home in North Bend, Ohio. [5] Biographer James Hall claims that Harrison found in Columbia a military despotism and that "his liberal opinions, his stern republican integrity, and the plain simplicity of his dress and manners, contrasted too strongly with the arbitrary opinions and ostentatious behaviour of the public officers, to allow him to be long a favourite with those who had usurped the power of that government. In response, Bolvar wrote that the United States "seem destined by Providence to plague America with torments in the name of freedom", a sentiment that achieved fame in Latin America.[80]. [119] The doctor then gave him castor oil and medicines to induce vomiting, and diagnosed him with pneumonia in the right lung. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, Notice of Non-Discrimination and Equal Opportunity. [95] The Democrats, in turn, ridiculed the elder Harrison by calling him "Granny Harrison, the petticoat general", because he resigned from the army before the War of 1812 ended. [5] He was elected to the Ohio State Senate in 1819 and served until 1821, having lost the election for Ohio governor in 1820. 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. The Village of North Bend, Ohio, honors Harrison every year with a parade to celebrate his birthday. The first large Whig rally took place in Columbus, Ohio, on February 22, 1840, which was George Washingtons birthday, a traditional day for public celebrations and parades. 9th Long the defender of my country's [5] A Shawnee friendly to Harrison cocked his pistol from the sidelines to alert Harrison that Tecumseh's speech was leading to trouble, and some witnesses reported that Tecumseh was encouraging the warriors to kill Harrison. He addressed the nation's already hotly debated issue of slavery. In May 1814, however, he resigned his commission in a dispute with Secretary of War John Armstrong Jr. As a war hero, Harrison won election from Ohio to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1816. 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. [70], The outbreak of war with the British in 1812 led to continued conflict with Indians in the Northwest. [36] He became chairman of the Committee on Public Lands and promoted the Land Act of 1800, which made it easier to buy Northwest Territory land in smaller tracts at a lower cost. In November 1791, at age 18, he enlisted in the army as an ensign in the 10th Regiment at Fort Washington near Cincinnati (in what is now Ohio). President Thomas Jefferson reappointed Harrison as governor of the Indiana Territory in 1801 and in 1804 added most of the Louisiana Purchase to the territory for one year. Harrison negotiated the 1809 Treaty of Fort Wayne under which the United States acquired about 2.5 million acres of land from the Delaware, Shawnee, Potawatomi, Miami, Kickapoo, and Eel River tribes. "[115], Harrison's only other official decision of consequence was whether to call Congress into a special session. WebAt 68 years, 23 days of age at the time of his inauguration, he was the oldest president-elect to take office until Ronald Reagan in 1981 . His funeral on April 7 was the first for a sitting president. He ran a successful horse-breeding enterprise that won him acclaim throughout the Northwest Territory. He would serve as governor for 12 years. He became governor of the newly established Indiana Territory in 1801 and negotiated multiple treaties with American Indian tribes, with the nation acquiring millions of acres. Harrison was appointed governor of the new Indiana Territory in 1800, where he served until 1812. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. [29], Harrison had many friends in the eastern aristocracy and quickly gained a reputation among them as a frontier leader. Voter turnout shot to a spectacular 80%, 20 points higher than the previous election. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. He ignored his own platform plank of overturning the "spoils" system and attempted to influence Harrison's actions before and during his brief presidency, especially in putting forth his own preferences for Cabinet offices and other presidential appointments. Additionally, and FYI, Harrison's inaugural speech was the longest in history, to date. He was the oldest man, at age 67, ever elected president up to that time, the last president born under British rule, and the first to die in officeafter only one months service. [5] He led an army north with 950 men to intimidate the Shawnee into making peace, but the tribes launched a surprise attack early on November 7 in the Battle of Tippecanoe. [120] Anna was still in Ohio packing for the trip to Washington when she learned of her loss. He was serving in the Army at the time and sold the land to his brother. [7][23], Professor Kenneth R. Janken, in his biography of Walter Francis White, claims that Harrison had six children by an enslaved African-American woman named Dilsia and gave four of them to a brother before running for president to avoid scandal. Clay pressed him on the special session on March 13, but Harrison rebuffed him and told him not to visit the White House again, to address him only in writing. Tecumseh berated the condescending Harrison repeatedly, and insisted that the Fort Wayne Treaty was illegitimate, arguing that one tribe could not sell land without the approval of the other tribes. On December 4, 1839, the Whigs opened their first convention in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to choose a nominee for the 1840 presidential race. An invitation-only funeral service was also held on April 7 in the East Room of the White House, after which Harrison's coffin was brought to Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., where it was placed in the Public Vault. Lucy Kenney of Fredericksburg was among the first women to be a paid political pamphleteer, writing two campaign pamphletson behalf of Harrison. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. [129], On April 5, Fletcher Webster, the son of Secretary of State Daniel Webster, notified Tyler that Harrison had died in office. However, the death of his father caused Harrison to discontinue his studies. The session would have begun on May 31 as scheduled if Harrison had lived. William Henry Harrisons funeral is held in Washington, D.C. William Henry Harrisons casket is entombed at North Bend, Ohio. [20] They honeymooned at Fort Washington, since Harrison was still on military duty. Harrison was hailed as a hero in the Battle of Tippecanoe and became known as Old Tippecanoe.. This act was the spontaneous burst of ten thousand grateful hearts. William Henry Harrison is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio. [144], Harrison's son John Scott Harrison represented Ohio in the House of Representatives between 1853 and 1857. [119] A reporter for the New York Commercial indicated that "the country's people were deeply distressed and many of them in tears. President John Quincy Adams wrote in his diary that Harrison, who he said had a lively and active but shallow mind, had become the greatest beggar and the most troublesome of all office-seekers. Nevertheless, on May 24, 1828, Adams named Harrison minister to Gran Colombia (which included present-day Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, and parts of Peru and Brazil). [98] The Whigs invented a chant in which people would spit tobacco juice as they chanted "wirt-wirt", and this also exhibited the difference between candidates from the time of the election:[90]. 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. "[122] Harrison died at 12:30a.m. on April 4, 1841, Palm Sunday, nine days after becoming ill and exactly one month after taking the oath of office;[119] he was the first president to die in office. [59] Tecumseh then began shouting at Harrison and called him a liar. "William H. Harrison" redirects here. Harrison was against devising financial schemes for the nation, rather he left that wholly to Congress. [130][132][133] Harrison's wife Anna was still in Ohio packing to be with her husband in Washington, scheduled for May, when she was informed of Harrison's death. Exactly one month after taking the oath of office, Harrison was dead. But Harrison, who had mounting debts, kept seeking higher-paying federal jobs. In 1800, Adams appointed Harrison governor of the new Indiana Territory, the first territory to be carved from the Northwest Territory. [66] When no second attack came, the Shawnee defeat had become more certain. "[5], In August 1810, Tecumseh led 400 warriors down the Wabash River to meet with Harrison in Vincennes. Could words have killed our ninth president? In 1825, the Ohio Legislature elected him to the U.S. Senate. Harrison grew up at Berkeley, a tobacco plantation owned by his family and farmed by enslaved African Americans. How Long? 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. WebWithin five minutes of an infantry attack toward the Indian lines and a mounted militia attack towards the British center, the British retreated in panic, led by their general Henry Proctor, who reportedly galloped past his men in the retreat back towards Moraviantown. William Henry Harrison, (born February 9, 1773, Charles City county, Virginia [U.S.]died April 4, 1841, Washington, D.C., U.S.), ninth president of the United Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Emeritus Professor of Humanities Journalist Richard Smith Elliott later wrote that Elder knew passion and prejudice, properly aroused and directed, would do about as well as principle and reason.. The following year, Harrison was elected the territorys delegate to Congress in Philadelphia. Harrison launched a successful counterattack after Admiral Oliver Hazard Perry defeated British ships on nearby Lake Erie and sent Harrison the famous dispatch: We have met the enemy, and they are ours. On October 5, 1813, Harrison defeated retreating British and Native American forces at the Thames River in what is now the province of Ontario. Harrison waited for the election results in Cincinnati. 2020 Virginia Humanities, All Rights Reserved , Native Lands Appropriated for White Settlement in the Northwest Territory. [34][35] He had no authority to vote on legislative bills, but he was permitted to serve on a committee, to submit legislation, and to engage in debate.

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