William Henry Harrison rose to become the 9th president of the United States through his time spent in the military and leading the Northwest Territory. Mary shares a quick biography of Harrison including his time spent in Ohio and his untimely death in office.
Class Discussion Questions:
1) When William Henry Harrison ran for president, he offended some by holding events to get voter support. How does that compare to today's political campaigns?
2) Why are "precedents" important?
Read the script:
Both Ohio and Virginia claim to have produced more presidents than any other state...so who is right? Well, it depends on how you look at it. Both states claim eight presidents -- including one that was born in Virginia, but spent most of his life here.
His name was William Henry Harrison.
Harrison was born in Charles City County, Virginia in 1773 on his family’s plantation. His father Benjamin had been a delegate in the Continental Congress, and even signed the Declaration of Independence. Clearly, an interest in politics ran in the family!
After his father passed away, Harrison entered the military, where he fought in the Northwest Indian War. He was part of the decisive victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in modern day Maumee, Ohio, which ended the war in 1794. The victory gave the United States control over a sizable patch of land in the Great Lakes Region, which they called the Northwest Territory -- and it included Ohio, of course!
When he was 22, Harrison married Anna Tuthill Symmes who was from present-day North Bend, Ohio. With his new bride at his side, he decided to step away from the army and started his political career as the Secretary of the Northwest Territory, which included Ohio until it became a state in 1803.
When the Indiana Territory broke off from the Northwest Territory, he became its governor. He was in charge of defending the territory from Native American tribes and extending into new settlements, and he did so through military force. During what was called the War of 1812, he had major victories at the Battle of the Thames and the Battle of Tippecanoe -- giving him the nickname “Tippecanoe.”
After all this, Harrison was ready to return to civilian life, but at that point he was a celebrated military hero, and the newly-founded Whig Party nominated him as their candidate for president. He ran with John Tyler as his vice president. The two held rallies and events to get voter support which at the time was seen as inappropriate. Their campaign slogan was “Tippecanoe and Tyler too!”
And, of course, with a slogan like that, he had a big win, becoming the ninth president of the United States...but sadly, his tenure was cut short.
Harrison caught pneumonia and died after only serving 31 days in office. He became the first president to die in office. But his death and the events thereafter set an important precedent in American history. Precedent means an earlier event or action that is regarded as an example or guide to be considered in future similar circumstances.
Harrison’s vice president, John Tyler, assumed the role of president, which set the precedent for the transfer of power after the deaths of presidents in the future. It wasn’t until after the assassination of President John F Kennedy that an amendment was added to the Constitution in 1967 to include that the Vice President will take control of the office of President if the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office.
And by the way, Harrison’s grandson Benjamin later became the 23rd president.
And that President Harrison was born in the Buckeye State - in North Bend, the city where his grandparents had settled many decades before.