The 9th President

Most people forget some Presidents of the United States. Some are easy to forget, and some are impossible to forget. Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, the current President - these are usually the easiest to remember. Usually the ones that are forgotten the most are weak Presidents or Presidents who really didn't do much to remember. One President who literally didn't do anything was the 9th President: William Henry Harrison. He is, however, full of expendablenlightenment.

This man was a war hero in the War of 1812, a Senator, a Representative, a Governor, and a US ambassador. He was involved in the Battle of Tippecanoe, which was a major victory for the US, and which led to the Presidential campaign slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler too!" He ran for the Presidency in 1836 as a Whig (a now defunct political party), but so did Martin Van Buren, which is the only time in US history a major political party has intentionally run two candidates at the same time. Harrison didn't get elected, but he ran again in 1840 (with running mate John Tyler, hence the campaign slogan above) and was elected. He was the oldest elected President until Ronald Reagan in 1980.

The man has a very rich and illustrious history, but why have most people not heard of him? His Presidency is but a mere footnote in the annals of American History because the only thing he did in office was die. That sounds cold, but it's true. His opponents joked that he was too old for the Presidency, so to show them up, he read his inaugural address on March 4, 1841, without "bundling up for the weather", and proceeded to give the longest inaugural address in the history the Presidents: close to two hours in length. It was a cold and rainy day anyway, and after his two hour speech, he then went through the streets on a parade. He subsequently caught a cold, which turned into pneumonia. He was the first President to die in office, and he had the shortest Presidency: just 30 days. The only act of any notable rememberance in office was to call a special session of Congress, which he then vetoed.

Interestingly enough, 1841 is one of two times there have been three Presidents in one year (Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler). The other year was 1881.

Bet you didn't know that!