[75], Harrison and Michigan Territory's Governor Lewis Cass were responsible for negotiating the peace treaty with the Indians. Pennsylvania senator James Buchanan marveled that the people had abandoned their ordinary business for the purpose of electioneering. At a rally in Richmond, a pickpocket being marched off to jail jumped on a box to deliver an impromptu speech for Old Tippecanoe. But Matt he has the golden plate, and he's a little squirt: wirt-wirt! [95], The Whigs blamed Van Buren for the economic problems and nicknamed him "Van Ruin". Benjamin Harrison was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and in 1781 he became the fifth elected governor of Virginia. It was a pivotal American victory in the war, and Harrison was celebrated as the hero of the Battle of the Thames. 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. The Whigs encouraged womens participation throughout Virginia, overturning long-standing cultural constrains on public partisanship by women. [20] They honeymooned at Fort Washington, since Harrison was still on military duty. [105] The address began with Harrison's sincere regard for the trust being placed in him: However strong may be my present purpose to realize the expectations of a magnanimous and confiding people, I too well understand the dangerous temptations to which I shall be exposed from the magnitude of the power which it has been the pleasure of the people to commit to my hands not to place my chief confidence upon the aid of that Almighty Power which has hitherto protected me and enabled me to bring to favorable issues other important but still greatly inferior trusts heretofore confided to me by my country. WebWilliam Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773 April 4, 1841) was the 9th president of the United States. As a soldier, farmer, and outdoorsman, Harrison had spent much of his life in bad weather. "[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. Harrison returned to private life in North Bend, Ohio, until he was nominated as one of several Whig Party nominees for president in the 1836 United States presidential election; he was defeated by Democratic vice president Martin Van Buren. Van Buren didnt attend the inauguration, following the lead set by the two other one-term presidents, John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams. He died one month later of pneumonia, believed to have been brought on by prolonged exposure to the elements on his Inauguration Day. 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 . On January 26, 1841, Harrison left Cincinnati for the March 4 inauguration in Washington, D.C. [103], Harrison wrote in a letter dated March 10, "I am so much harassed by the multitude that calls upon me that I can give no proper attention to any business of my own. View this answer. [17] Harrison was promoted to captain in May 1797 and resigned from the Army on June 1, 1798. They were bearing the dead body of Harrison to the grave. [153] On February 19, 2009, the U.S. Mint released the ninth coin in the Presidential $1 Coin Program, bearing Harrison's likeness. [1] This was a prominent political family of English descent whose ancestors had been in Virginia since the 1630s;[2] he became the last American president not born as an American citizen. [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. [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]. William Henry Harrison was the 9th president of the United States, a term that lasted barely a month. [72] Armstrong and Harrison had disagreed over the lack of coordination and effectiveness in the invasion of Canada, and Harrison resigned from the army in May. A few months after the War of 1812 broke out with Great Britain, Harrison was made a brigadier general and placed in command of all federal forces in the Northwest Territory. Andrew Jackson, in his second inaugural address, managed only 1,100 words. He did not discuss the tariff and distribution. But Harrison continued stumping for himself, suspending his speaking tour later in June after his son Benjamin Harrison died, but resuming in September to huge crowdsan estimated 100,000 people turned out for a speech in Dayton, Ohio. After funding for his education was discontinued in 1791, he joined the United States Army as a low-ranking officer. [119] According to papers in Washington on Friday, Harrison had rallied, despite a Baltimore Sun report that his condition was of a "more dangerous character". [5] He was elected to the Ohio State Senate in 1819 and served until 1821, having lost the election for Ohio governor in 1820. [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. [123], The prevailing theory at the time was that his illness had been caused by the bad weather at his inauguration three weeks earlier. [96] Freehling relates that, "One bitter pro-Van Buren paper lamented after his defeat, 'We have been sung down, lied down and drunk down.' Harrison was appointed governor of the new Indiana Territory in 1800, where he served until 1812. In summary, President Harrisons speech mainly discussed how the Eustis demanded to know why Harrison had not taken adequate precautions in fortifying his camp against the initial attack, and Harrison said that he had considered the position strong enough. Upon him you had conferred your suffrages for the first office in your gift, and had selected him as your chosen instrument to correct and reform all such errors and abuses as had manifested themselves from time to time in the practical operation of the Government. It was a cold and windy day, but Harrison didnt wear a coat or hat. Back in Washington, he practiced the speech while riding along Rock Creek on horseback. Speaking from the deck of the steamship Ben Franklin, he said, perhaps presciently, Fellow-citizens; perhaps this may be the last time I have the pleasure of speaking to you on earth or seeing you. WebWe're going to talk about William Henry Harrison, who's the president who gave us the longest inaugural address it was nearly two hours long and then had the shortest presidency. WebWilliam Henry Harrison's inaugural address lasted nearly two hours, but in the days before electronic media, oratory of such duration was common. Harrison responded, "by my sword, and my own right arm, sir". 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.. He reported to the Secretary of State that the country was on the edge of anarchy, and that Simn Bolvar was about to become a military dictator. [5] Freehling claims that his expenses then well exceeded his means and he fell into debt, that Harrison chose "celebrity over duty", as he sought the adulation found at parties in New York, Washington, and Philadelphia, and that he became an office seeker. 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. He was also passed over for a diplomatic post to Russia. 2020 Virginia Humanities, All Rights Reserved , Native Lands Appropriated for White Settlement in the Northwest Territory. [99] While Van Buren campaigned from the White House, Harrison was on the campaign trail, entertaining with his impressions of Indian war whoops, and took people's minds off the nation's economic troubles. Harrison's significance in presidential history does not lie in his brief term in office, but rather in the innovative campaign techniques designed by his party to secure him the office. On March 26, a team of doctors was summoned to treat the president for pneumonia, although he also displayed gastrointestinal symptoms. Women couldnt vote in 1840, but they could influence the votes of their husbands and suitors, and the Whigs were the first to harness their power. . [49] The Treaty of Fort Wayne (1809) raised new tensions when Harrison purchased more than 2.5million acres (10,000km2) from the Potawatomi, Delaware, Miami, and Eel River tribes. He had accumulated no substantial wealth during his lifetime, and he lived on his savings, a small pension, and the income produced by his farm. The assertion is based upon the White family's oral history. He addressed the nation's already hotly debated issue of slavery. The Whigs saw in Harrison a born southerner and war hero, who would contrast well with the aloof, uncaring, and aristocratic Van Buren. He declared he would only serve for one term in office and not abuse his veto power. The president was William Henry Harrison, who had been sworn in on March 4, 1841. Voter turnout shot to a spectacular 80%, 20 points higher than the previous election. [111], Clay was not the only one who hoped to benefit from Harrison's election. White House portrait of William Henry Harrison. It left the former struck by Harrison's "deeply imbued principles of liberty". https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/william-henry-harrison-1773-1841 [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 was against devising financial schemes for the nation, rather he left that wholly to Congress. He was the first president-elect to arrive in the capital by train. [119] A reporter for the New York Commercial indicated that "the country's people were deeply distressed and many of them in tears. Harrison resigned from the army in 1798 and was appointed secretary of the Northwest Territory by President John Adams. She was less-than-happy about the prospect. [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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [107] On Wednesday, March 24, 1841, Harrison took his daily morning walk to local markets, without a coat or hat. Harrison grew up at Berkeley, a tobacco plantation owned by his family and farmed by enslaved African Americans. 9th Long the defender of my country's [106], Harrison promised to re-establish the Bank of the United States and extend its capacity for credit by issuing paper currency in Henry Clay's American system. [5] While benefiting from land speculation on his own behalf, and acquiring two milling operations, he was credited as a good administrator, with significant improvements in roads and other infrastructure. Old Tip he wore a homespun coat, he had no ruffled shirt: wirt-wirt, Illustration by Sterling Hundley. Never, the Cleveland Advertiser wrote, calling the precedent a bad one.. [10] With the influence of his father's friend, Governor Henry Lee III, he embarked upon a military career. [15][16], At his mother's death in 1793, Harrison inherited a portion of his family's Virginia estate, including approximately 3,000 acres (12km2) of land and several slaves. The Village of North Bend, Ohio, honors Harrison every year with a parade to celebrate his birthday. [32] The eastern section continued to be known as the Northwest Territory and consisted of Ohio and eastern Michigan; the western section was named the Indiana Territory and consisted of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, a portion of western Michigan, and the eastern portion of Minnesota. His army defeated the British, and Tecumseh was killed, on October 5, 1813, at the Battle of the Thames. With his homespun image in mind, he left his silk hat at home and wore his farmers clothes. [59], Tecumseh launched an "impassioned rebuttal", in the words of one historian, but Harrison was unable to understand his language. Today we are talking about William Henry Harrison. William Henry Harrison marries Anna Tuthill Symmes in North Bend, Ohio. On March 4, 1841, Harrison led the grandest inaugural parade to date, featuring floats, citizen marchers, and military bands, up Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol on his horse Whitey. He won recognition for his bravery during the Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794). This letter is addressed to general Harrison; he demands that the Indian lands be returned. Burr references M. Chavalier, who encountered Harrison in Cincinnati at this time, and described Harrison as "poor, with a numerous family, abandoned by the Federal government, yet vigorous with independent thinking". 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. [83], In May of 1817, Harrison served as one of the founding vestry members of the Episcopal congregation, Christ Church in downtown Cincinnati (now Christ Church Cathedral). 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. After his father dies, William Henry Harrison leaves medical school at what is now the University of Pennsylvania and joins the army. William Henry Harrison Tomb: Our shortest serving president - See 56 traveler reviews, 85 candid photos, and great deals for North Bend, OH, at Tripadvisor. Harrison was promoted to captain in 1797 and, for a brief period, served as commander of Fort Washington, resigning from the army in June 1798. In subsequent years Harrison held several government positions. The following year he was made a lieutenant and subsequently served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Anthony Wayne, who was engaged in a struggle against the Northwest Indian Confederation over the westward encroachment of white settlers. WebTranscript. "William H. Harrison" redirects here. William Henry Harrison received a classical education at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, where he was a student from 1787 to 1790. All this only weakened Harrison further, and three weeks after taking office, he was clearly dying. [35] He ran in the 1822 election for the United States House of Representatives, but lost to James W. They then eloped and were married on November 25, 1795, at the North Bend home of Stephen Wood, treasurer of the Northwest Territory. [117][118], Harrison had been physically worn down by many persistent office seekers and a demanding social schedule. His son died seven years later; eight of the ten Harrison children would die by 1846, a high toll even by nineteenth-century standards. [42] Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were members of the Democratic-Republican Party, and they reappointed him as governor in 1803, 1806, and 1809. William Henry Harrison becomes the commander of Fort Washington. 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. [63] Harrison countered and defeated the tribal forces at Prophetstown next to the Wabash and Tippecanoe Rivers; the battle became famous and he was hailed as a national hero. WebAt age sixty-eight, Harrison was the oldest President elected in his century. He condemned the financial excesses of the prior administration and pledged not to interfere with congressional financial policy. He won the Electoral College by a landslide: 234 electoral votes to 60 for Van Buren. "[110] The dispute escalated when Harrison named as Secretary of State Daniel Webster, Clay's arch-rival for control of the Whig Party. Their campaign used the symbols on banners and posters and created bottles of hard cider shaped like log cabins, all to connect the candidates to the "common man". As a slaveholder himself, he agreed with the right of states to control the matter: The lines, too, separating powers to be exercised by the citizens of one state from those of another seem to be so distinctly drawn as to leave no room for misunderstandingThe attempt of those of one state to control the domestic institutions of another can only result in feelings of distrust and jealousy, the certain harbingers of disunion, violence, and civil war, and the ultimate destruction of our free institutions.[106]. During his early military career, Harrison participated in the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers, an American military victory that ended the Northwest Indian War. [5] He therefore withdrew from medical school, though school archives record him as a "non-graduate alumnus of Penn's medical school class of 1793". [80] He arrived in Bogot on December 22, 1828, and found the condition of Colombia saddening.