William Henry Harrison attained national recognition at an early age for
his military victory over Shawnee leader Tecumseh (1768–1813) at the
Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. He enjoyed a long political career before
winning the presidential election of 1840, but he died soon after taking
office as the ninth president.
Harrison was born on February 9, 1773, in Virginia into one of the
state’s leading families. His father had been one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence. Young Harrison briefly studied medicine before joining the U.S. Army in 1791. In 1795, Harrison married
Anna Symmes; together they would have ten children. A grandson,
Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901; served 1889–93), would become
president of the United States in 1889.
Harrison served in campaigns against the Indians in the Northwest
Territory (the early U.S. region including lands that would become
Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota)
for seven years. In 1799, Harrison, an avid spokesman for westward expansion, became the Northwest Territory’s first delegate to Congress.
Harrison was soon appointed governor of the newly created Indiana
Territory. He had the nearly impossible mission of winning the trust of
Native Americans while at the same time acquiring as much of their land
as he could for the government. In 1809, he negotiated a treaty that transferred almost 2.9 million acres to the United States, bringing tensions between Native Americans and white settlers to a boiling point.
Around that time, Tecumseh developed the idea of a confederation
of all Indian tribes to fight against U.S. invasion of their lands. His
brother, Tenskwatawa (c. 1768–1834), founded a religious movement
that preached a return to traditional Indian values and a rejection of the
ways of the white man. Together, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa, also
known as the Shawnee Prophet, drew a large group of followers from
various tribes. These followers settled in a village called Prophetstown,
ready to fight for their land.
Battle of Tippecanoe
As Harrison continued to seek Indian lands for the government,
Tecumseh’s resistance became an obstacle. In 1811, Harrison marched
about one thousand soldiers to a camp near Prophetstown; Tecumseh
was away at the time. Early on the morning of November 7,
Prophetstown warriors launched a surprise attack against Harrison’s
troops. Harrison’s forces beat back the attackers. He was able to take possession of their settlement, but 188 of his men were killed or wounded
in the process and a few months later the Indians returned to their village. Some viewed Harrison as a hero, but others questioned his victory
as an incomplete job.
Commander in War of 1812
During the War of 1812, a conflict over trading between England and
the United States, Harrison served in several military positions, including supreme commander of the Army of the Northwest. After many difficult battles, he led the victorious Battle of the Thames in 1813 near
Chatham, Ontario, where Tecumseh was killed in battle. Once again, he
received a hero’s welcome by some, but others criticized his military performance. In May 1814, he resigned from the army and moved to a farm
in Ohio. Between 1816 and 1829 Harrison served as a congressman,
senator, and U.S. minister to Colombia.
“Tippecanoe and Tyler too”
During the 1830s, there was a growing reaction against the alleged abuse
of power by President Andrew Jackson (1767–1845; served 1829–37) in the Democratic Party. In response, a mixed group of politicians and
others formed the Whig Party. Harrison became the Whig candidate for
the presidential nomination in 1840. He was nominated as a military
hero and a spokesman for development of the West.
The Whigs did not offer a real political platform, only a pledge to
correct the abuses of the current administration. Whig strategists created
a winning campaign by portraying Harrison (widely known as “Old
Tippecanoe”) as a man of the people. They waged the first modern presidential campaign by selling souvenirs, distributing campaign materials,
flooding the country with speakers, and using songs, slogans, and verses.
The most famous cry was “Tippecanoe and Tyler too.” (John Tyler
[1790–1862] was Harrison’s running mate.) Harrison won the election
with ease.
Inauguration day was chilly and rainy, and the new president caught
a cold that quickly developed into pneumonia. On April 4, 1841, after
only one month in office, Harrison died in the White House.