Serving the shortest presidential term in American history, William Henry Harrison never had the opportunity to demonstrate his skills as the chief executive.
— Like Andrew Jackson, Harrison was elected largely on the basis of his reputation as an Indian fighter and a successful major general in the War of 1812.
— When Harrison ran for president in 1840, his campaign was like no other—parades, slogans, whiskey, and songs rallied the populace to come out and vote for the old frontiersman and war hero.
— In the presidential campaign, he carefully avoided taking a stand on important national issues, rather, “Old Tip,” as he was known, ran a campaign based on the themes the common man could relate to. The public shouted the campaign slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler too!” and turned out in record numbers, and General Harrison and his running mate John Tyler won by a landslide over the incumbent president Martin Van Buren.
— For a reason not known to history, William Henry chose not to wear an overcoat on the cold March day of his inauguration. –After a parade up Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol, he then delivered one of the longest inaugural speeches in presidential history. That evening was filled with inaugural balls and by the end of that long day, the sixty-eight-year-old president was worn out.
— After a few hectic weeks, the cold he had been fighting off turned into pneumonia and he became bedridden. Just a month after being sworn in as the ninth president of the United States, William Henry Harrison died, going down in history as the president with the shortest term in office.
— Though his term in office was short, he had accomplished much for the public good in his long military and political career leading up to the presidency. “William Henry Harrison: A Short Biography” reveals the life and times of the ninth president of the United States.