William Henry Harrison: Ninth President of the United States (Encyclopedia of Presidents)

Rating:
Summary: Remembering the nation's most forgotten President
Review: It is rather easy to dismiss a president who caught pneumonia during his inauguration and dies a month later, the shortest term of office in American history. I would have said I was already able to tick off the salient facts about It is rather easy to dismiss a president who caught pneumonia during his inauguration and dies a month later, the shortest term of office in American history. I would have said I was already able to tick off the salient facts about William Henry Harrison on the fingers of one hand: the first Whig elected to the White House, famous as the general who won the battle of Tippecanoe, his grandson Benjamin was also elected President, he was the first President to die in office, and, of course, serving the shortest amount of time in American history. The only problem with that list is that Harrison did not become a general until after the battle of Tippecanoe and unlike other famous generals who went on to the White House, such as fellow Whig Zachary Taylor (who also died in office) and Ulysses Grant following the Civil War, William Henry Harrison was a career politician with one of the most impressive resumes I have ever seen. Oh, and his fatal pneumonia was the result of a cold caught while doing his customary early-morning shopping in late March, not during the inaugural.

In this volume for the Encyclopedia of Presidents series, Christine Maloney Fitz-Gerald focuses on that length political career, along with its military highlights, since his Presidency is reduced to a few paragraphs describing his illness and the office-seekers who wanted jobs from the new President. William Henry Harrison might be the most forgotten President, but this informative juvenile biography will soon convince you this should not be the case. Given that his father was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, it becomes clear the Harrison were a major political family in this country. As for Harrison's political resume, while he did indeed start out to be a career soldier he resigned from the army to become secretary of the Northwest Territory before going on to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, appointed governor of the Indiana Territory, reelected to the U.S. House, then elected to the Ohio State Senate and then the U.S. Senate from Ohio, before being appointed minister to Columbia. His political career apparently ended by Andrew Jackson's election and the dictates of the "Spoils System," Harrison actively campaigns for the presidency as early as 1835 before joining the Whig Party and being elected in 1840. In the middle of this political career he had time to be a general during the War of 1812, so while he was a soldier, he was also a formidable politicians.

One of the most notable things about Harrison is that he actively campaigned for the presidency, actually trying to get the Whig nomination in 1836 before being elected four years later. Most readers have probably heard of the "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" slogan, but Fitz-Gerald goes into considerably more detail about the 1840 campaign and the book is illustrated with several choice examples of political broadsides, cartoons, and such from that period. While there is an early photograph of Tyler, the book does not include one of Harrison, although I understand he was the first sitting president to have his picture taken; however, I have yet to stumble across it. This is an informative volume that will allow young readers assigned to research this forgotten President to learn a lot more than they will ever find out about him in their history textbook.

Rating:
Summary: Remembering the nation's most forgotten President
Review: It is rather easy to dismiss a president who caught pneumonia during his inauguration and dies a month later, the shortest term of office in American history. I would have said I was already able to tick off the salient facts about It is rather easy to dismiss a president who caught pneumonia during his inauguration and dies a month later, the shortest term of office in American history. I would have said I was already able to tick off the salient facts about William Henry Harrison on the fingers of one hand: the first Whig elected to the White House, famous as the general who won the battle of Tippecanoe, his grandson Benjamin was also elected President, he was the first President to die in office, and, of course, serving the shortest amount of time in American history. The only problem with that list is that Harrison did not become a general until after the battle of Tippecanoe and unlike other famous generals who went on to the White House, such as fellow Whig Zachary Taylor (who also died in office) and Ulysses Grant following the Civil War, William Henry Harrison was a career politician with one of the most impressive resumes I have ever seen. Oh, and his fatal pneumonia was the result of a cold caught while doing his customary early-morning shopping in late March, not during the inaugural.

In this volume for the Encyclopedia of Presidents series, Christine Maloney Fitz-Gerald focuses on that length political career, along with its military highlights, since his Presidency is reduced to a few paragraphs describing his illness and the office-seekers who wanted jobs from the new President. William Henry Harrison might be the most forgotten President, but this informative juvenile biography will soon convince you this should not be the case. Given that his father was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, it becomes clear the Harrison were a major political family in this country. As for Harrison's political resume, while he did indeed start out to be a career soldier he resigned from the army to become secretary of the Northwest Territory before going on to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, appointed governor of the Indiana Territory, reelected to the U.S. House, then elected to the Ohio State Senate and then the U.S. Senate from Ohio, before being appointed minister to Columbia. His political career apparently ended by Andrew Jackson's election and the dictates of the "Spoils System," Harrison actively campaigns for the presidency as early as 1835 before joining the Whig Party and being elected in 1840. In the middle of this political career he had time to be a general during the War of 1812, so while he was a soldier, he was also a formidable politicians.

One of the most notable things about Harrison is that he actively campaigned for the presidency, actually trying to get the Whig nomination in 1836 before being elected four years later. Most readers have probably heard of the "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" slogan, but Fitz-Gerald goes into considerably more detail about the 1840 campaign and the book is illustrated with several choice examples of political broadsides, cartoons, and such from that period. While there is an early photograph of Tyler, the book does not include one of Harrison, although I understand he was the first sitting president to have his picture taken; however, I have yet to stumble across it. This is an informative volume that will allow young readers assigned to research this forgotten President to learn a lot more than they will ever find out about him in their history textbook.