Harrison, William Henry (1773–1841)

9th president of the USA in 1841. Elected in 1840 as a Whig, he died one month after taking office. His political career was based largely on his reputation as an Indian fighter, and his campaign was constructed to give the impression that he was a man of the people with simple tastes and that the New Yorker, Martin Van Buren, his opponent, was a ‘foppish’ sophisticate.

Born in Charles City County, Virginia, he joined the army 1791 at the age of 18. He resigned from the army 1798 and served as secretary of the Northwest Territory 1798–1800 and governor of the Indiana Territory 1801–12, where he drove off a minor Indian attack at Tippecanoe Creek, which was reported as a rout. Recalled to the army during the War of 1812, Harrison led his troops in the recapture of Detroit and was victorious at the Battle of the Thames River in Ontario, Canada. He served in the US House of Representatives 1816–19 and the Senate 1825–28. Benjamin Harrison was his grandson.