President Harrison dies after one month in office
Only 31 days after assuming office William Henry Harrison the ninth president of the United States dies at the White House. The cause of death was officially reported as pneumonia.Born in Charles County Virginia in 1773 Harrison served in the U.S.Army in the old Northwest Territory and in 1800 was made governor of the Indian Territory where he proved an able administrator.In 1811 he led U.S.
forces against an Indian confederation organized by Shawnee Chief Tecumseh and victory at the Battle of Tippecanoe brought an end to Tecumsehs hopes for a united Indian front against U.S.expansion.In the War of 1812 Harrison gained his greatest fame as a military commander recapturing Detroit from the British and defeating a combined force of British and Native Americans at the Battle of the Thames.In 1816 he was elected to the House of Representatives and in 1825 to the Senate.
Gaining the Whig presidential nomination in 1840 he and his running mate John Tyler ran a successful campaign under the slogan Tippecanoe and Tyler too.At the inauguration of Americas first Whig president on March 4 1841 a bitterly cold day Harrison declined to wear a jacket or hat made a two-hour speech and attended three inauguration balls.Soon afterward he developed pneumonia.
On April 4 President Harrison died in Washington and Vice President John Tyler ascended to the presidency becoming the first individual in U.S.history to reach the office through the death of a president.
