William Henry Harrison

William Henry Harrison was born on February 9, 1773, in Berkeley, Virginia. He had six older siblings. Harrison's father was Benjamin Harrison, who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and had been the Governor of Virginia.

Harrison was tutored at home for his early education and attended Hampden-Sydney College. Apparently he never graduated college. In 1790, he attended an academy in Southampton, Virginia, and also in the same year began to study medicine. He never, however, became a doctor.

His father died in 1791. His death caused Harrison to re-examine his own life and he turned to a military career. He joined the Army and was posted in the Northwest Territory, based at Fort Washington, in the Cincinnati area. He fought against the Indians in 1794 under Gen. "Mad Anthony" Wayne. The next year, he married Anna Symmes, who was the daughter of a permeate land speculator and colonizer. They eventually had six sons and four daughters.

Harrison remained in the Army for three more years and then resigned. After that point, he served as Secretary of the Northwest Territory. In addition, he became the first Delegate to Congress from the Northwest Territory, a position he held from 1799 to 1800. In that capacity, he was successful in obtaining legislation separating Indiana Territory from the Northwest Territory. The next year, President John Adams appointed Harrison to be the Governor of Indiana Territory. He performed this job for eleven years. He was supposed to be protecting the rights of the Indians, but in truth his primary goal was to take the Indians' land so as to be able to have more white settlements.

The Indians realized what Harrison was doing and had several battles. The most famous one occurred at Prophet's Town, near the Tippecanoe Creek. Harrison's forces burned the town of and the Indians had no choice but to leave. The battle pushed Harrison into the public's eye and he became a national hero. Ironically, his soldiers' deaths greatly outnumbered the number of deaths of the Indians and the battle was not a clearcut victory for the Army because the Indians began working more closely with the British.

Harrison got another opportunity to fight the Indians during the War of 1812. His started the was as a brigadier general in the regular Army, and Harrison was chosen to command the forces of the old Northwest. His training of the troops was thorough, and they were eventually able to recapture Detroit from the British. He defeated the British and their Indian partners in the Battle of the Thames in Canada in 1813, by which time Harrison was a major general. The death of the Indian leader Tecumseh in that battle caused Indian resistance to deteriorate and the British were unable retake Detroit.

Following a disagreement with the Secretary of War in 1814, Harrison left the Army and returned to Ohio. He worked primarily as a farmer, but also participated in some unsuccessful tries at politics. He did serve, however, as a U.S. Representative from 1816 to 1819, a State Senator from 1819 to 1821, a U.S. Senator from 1825 to 1828, and Minister to Colombia from 1828 to 1829. After that, he returned to Ohio and his farm, where he worked for the next seven years. During that period, he held minor local governmental positions.

Harrison first ran for President in 1836 as a Whig, unsuccessfully challenging Van Buren. A major economic depression in the United States caused the Whigs to realize they could win the next election over Van Buren. Harrison was nominated, running on his military fame. The campaign was bitter, but Harrison achieved a strong victory.

At the time of his inauguration in 1841, he was 68 years old. One of the first actions Harrison did as President was call a special session of Congress to deal with the country's economic problems.

However, within a month after taking office, Harrison contracted pneumonia. This possibly happened because of a rainy inaugural day. He died April 4, 1841.