Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Who was William Henry Harrison?

William Henry Harrison (1773–1841) was the oldest man to become president and the first to die in office. Also, he was the last to be born during British rule. His grandson later served as president as well.
He came from an affluent and well-connected Virginia family. His father was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He had a classical education and later studied medicine. After his father's death, he started his military career in the 1790s. Then he served as secretary and governor of the Northwest territories. As settlers flooded into this area, Harrison had to protect them from Indian attacks.
Harrison secured his reputation as a military hero at the battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. He was courageous and steadfast in defeating Shawnee Indians in a hard battle.
That victory helped give the U.S. its most popular slogan for a presidential campaign: "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too!" This was used in the 1840 presidential election when John Tyler was his running mate.
Harrison died after only one month in the White House. Tyler was the first vice president to replace a deceased president.

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