William Henry Harrison: The American Presidents Series: The Ninth President 1841

William Henry Harrison: The American Presidents Series: The Ninth President 1841 by Gail Collins

My second ‘American Presidents Series’ book that I’ve read. These books are handy for the obscure presidents that don’t get a lot of attention. Speaking of obscure, William Henry Harrison has the distinction of being in the office the least amount of time of any commander in chief: 1 month. Yep. That’s it. He actually died before his wife could make the trip from native Ohio to live with her husband. Travel was a bit slower back in 1841, remember.

Not surprisingly, this was a very brief read. Give author Gail Collins credit for writing a respectable biography of a subject without there being much to say. Most presidential biographies have a decent amount to say about the man prior to being office, and then contain much about their comings and goings as president, and finally a fair amount of detail after they’ve retired from public life. Collins doesn’t really have the luxury for the latter two.

When we read the early life of Harrison, it seemed to me that large chunks of the man’s life were ignored. It could be because there just wasn’t much to say. His biggest claim to fame was as a general during the war of 1812. He wasn’t necessarily known for fighting against the British, but rather the Native Americans. He acquires the nickname “Old Tippecanoe” and was famous for instrumenting the death of the famed warrior Tecumseh.  Even this, the author claims, was more luck than anything. It seemed that Harrison happened to be at the right place and the right time with a far greater force than his adversaries. We’re left to believe that there wasn’t really that much substantial about his military career despite all the hoopla.

Following the war, a life of politics leads him to be the governor of the Ohio territory, and we quickly jump to when he eventually runs against incumbent Martin Van Buren in the election of 1840 for President. Van Buren is one of the least liked Presidents ever at this time, and Harrison’s major advantage and campaign strength is….well…that he’s not Van Buren. In fact, his political party – the ‘Whig’ party – really doesn’t have any substantial platform other than they oppose Van Buren and his ilk.  It’s a bit amusing to see politics played rather dirty during the election – something that would never change. The famed Harrison easily wins the race. Even before he takes office, others claim that he looks “old”, “tired” and “not well”.   During his inauguration, he makes a 2-hour inaugural address in the cold rain. Not surprisingly, the 68 years old succumbs to a bad case of pneumonia.  30 days into his term, he’s dead.

Well, that’s about it. Short and not too sweet all things considered.  This book isn’t a bad read, and one (such as myself) really shouldn’t expect much. I only read this book because it’s a bucket list of mine to read at least one bio of every American president.  On that note, I’m glad I read it.  I’m also glad it was quite brief.  Not a necessary addition to most people’s reading collection, but it sets out to do exactly what it should do. And that fact warrants merit.