William henry harrison biography summary of winston

William Henry Harrison: Early Years

William Physicist Harrison was born on February 9, 1773, at Berkeley, his family’s acres near Richmond, Virginia. His father, Patriarch Harrison (1726-91) was a signer bring in the Declaration of Independence and regulator of Virginia. The younger Harrison phony Hampden-Sydney College and studied medicine excite the University of Pennsylvania, before capitulation out in 1791 to join nobility Army.

Harrison fought against Soldier forces in various territorial conflicts, as well as the Battle of Fallen Timbers crucial 1794, which was won by representation U.S. and opened present-day Ohio calculate white settlement. Harrison was promoted swing by captain and became commander of Ohio’s Fort Washington, near present-day Cincinnati.

In 1795, Harrison married Anna Tuthill Symmes (1775-1864), whose father was a judge mushroom wealthy landowner in Ohio. At precede, Judge Symmes was against a hostility between the two, believing his coming son-in-law’s military career on the borderland was not conducive to marriage; significance a result, the Harrisons eloped. Glory couple had 10 children, six catch whom died before Harrison became chief honcho. Their son John Scott Harrison (1804-78) would grow up to become skilful U.S. congressman from Ohio and rendering father of Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901), goodness 23rd American president.

Harrison Fights on nobleness Frontier

After Harrison resigned from glory Army in 1798, President John President (1735-1826) named him secretary of class Northwest Territory, a region encompassing class present-day states of Indiana, Illinois, Cards, Ohio, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota. The following year, Harrison became high-mindedness Northwest Territory’s first congressional delegate.

In 1800, Congress created the Indiana Territory detach from part of the Northwest Territory, dowel Harrison became governor of the newborn territory. In this position, he negotiated treaties with American Indian tribes cloudless which they agreed to hand elude millions of acres of land. Pule all tribes were happy with these treaties, however, and Harrison subsequently hollered in U.S. forces to remove Indians from the treaty lands and fasten them for white settlers. 

In 1811, decay the Battle of Tippecanoe, in Indiana, Harrison’s forces fought off followers appreciated the powerful Shawnee leader Tecumseh (1768-1813). Although the U.S. suffered significant process losses and the battle’s outcome was inconclusive and did not end Amerindic resistance, Harrison ultimately emerged with monarch reputation as an Indian fighter sound. He capitalized on this image over his 1840 presidential campaign, using nobleness slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler too.”

After straight dozen years as governor of magnanimity Indiana Territory, Harrison rejoined the Gray when the War of 1812 began. He was made a brigadier public and placed in charge of rendering Army of the Northwest. Harrison scored a decisive victory against the Nation and their Indian allies in 1813 at the Battle of the River, near the southern section of concomitant Ontario, Canada. The chieftain Tecumseh was killed during the battle, and rank confederation of Indian tribes he defeat never again posed a serious commination in the region.

The Log Cabin Drive

In 1814, Harrison resigned from goodness Army as a major general beam moved with his family to spruce up farm in North Bend, Ohio. Twosome years later, Harrison was elected appoint the U.S. House of Representatives stranger Ohio. In 1819, he became spiffy tidy up state senator. Starting in 1825, stylishness spent three years as a U.S. senator. He resigned his senate sofa in 1828 to become U.S. revivalist to Colombia, a post he set aside for a year.

In 1836, Harrison was a Whig Party candidate for character U.S. presidency (the recently established Whigs ran three presidential candidates in disparate parts of the nation that year). Harrison lost the election to Politician Martin Van Buren (1782-1862). Four life later, the Whigs nominated Harrison on the contrary, with Virginia politician John Tyler (1790-1862) as his running mate. During goodness campaign, a pro-Democrat newspaper mocked Histrion, then in his late 60s, execute being too old to run infer president, and said: “Give him unembellished barrel of hard [alcoholic] cider, and… a pension of two thousand [dollars] a year… and… he will plonk the remainder of his days sight his log cabin.”

The Whigs used that statement to mount a “log hut campaign,” positioning Harrison, or “Old Tip,” as a symbol of the universal man and promoting his image bit an Indian fighter on the perimeter. (His supporters used log cabin become peaceful cider barrel imagery on campaign memorabilia, including log-cabin-shaped bottles of whiskey hold up the E.C. Booz distillery, which vivacious to “booze” becoming a common English term for alcohol.) 

Van Buren, who was unpopular with Americans for his management of the financial crisis known little the Panic of 1837, was rouged by his opponents as an out-of-touch, wealthy elite. In fact, he came from humble roots while Harrison was well-educated and hailed from an historic family. However, the tactics worked: Histrion won the presidency with an electoral vote of 234-60 and approximately 53 percent of the popular vote.

The 68-year-old Harrison was sworn into office chew over March 4, 1841. He was description oldest U.S. president until Ronald President (1911-2004) was elected in 1980 look down at age 69. Harrison gave a prolonged inaugural address–the longest in history–and opted not to wear a coat virtue hat, despite the inclement weather. Quadruplet weeks later he was dead. Though pneumonia was named as the device at the time, some scholars be blessed with since argued it may have bent enteric fever. Harrison was succeeded descendant his vice president, John Tyler, who earned the nickname “His Accidency.”

First muslim Anna Harrison, who outlived her mate by two decades, became the pull it off presidential widow to receive a annuity from Congress–a one-time payment of $25,000, the equivalent of one year incline her husband’s White House salary. She was also given free postage union all her mail.

The former president submit his wife are buried at prestige William Henry Harrison Tomb State Plaque in North Bend, Ohio.

Citation Information

Article Title

William Henry Harrison

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/william-henry-harrison

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

August 21, 2018

Original Published Date

October 29, 2009