American President

William Henry Harrison (1773–1841)

Facts at a Glance

Term: 9th President of the United States (1841)

Born: February 9, 1773, Berkeley plantation, Charles City County, Virginia

Nickname: “Old Tippecanoe”; “Old Tip”

Education: Hampden-Sydney College

Marriage: November 25, 1795, to Anna Tuthill Symmes (1775–1864)

Children: Elizabeth Bassett (1796–1846), John Cleves Symmes (1798–1830), Lucy Singleton (1800–1826), William Henry (1802–1838), John Scott (1804–1878), Benjamin (1806-1840), Mary Symmes (1809–1842), Carter Bassett (1811–1839), Anna Tuthill (1813–1865), James Findlay (1814–1817)

Religion: Episcopalian

Career: Soldier

Political Party: Whig

Died: April 4, 1841, Washington, D.C.

Buried: William Henry Harrison Memorial State Park, North Bend, Ohio

A Life in Brief: William Henry Harrison served the shortest time of any American President—only thirty-two days. He also was the first President from the Whig Party. He had won his nickname, “Old Tip,” as the tough commanding general of American forces who defeated hostile Native Americans at the Battle of Tippecanoe in the Ohio River Valley in 1811. More »

Essays on William Henry Harrison and His Administration

William Henry Harrison: A Life in Brief; Life Before the Presidency; Campaigns and Elections; Domestic Affairs; Foreign Affairs; Death of the President; Family Life; The American Franchise; Impact and Legacy; Key Events
First Lady: Anna Harrison
Vice President: John Tyler (1841)
Secretary of State: Daniel Webster (1841)
Secretary of War: John Bell (1841)
Postmaster General: Francis Granger (1841)
Secretary of the Treasury: Thomas Ewing (1841)
Attorney General: John J. Crittenden (1841)
Secretary of the Navy: George E. Badger (1841)

Consulting Editor: William Freehling

Professor Freehling is a senior fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the emeritus Singletary Professor of the Humanities at the University of Kentucky. His writings include:

The Road to Disunion, 1776–1861 (2 volumes; Oxford University Press, 1990 and 2007)

The Reintegration of American History: Slavery and the Civil War (Oxford University Press, 1994)

Prelude to Civil War: the Nullification Controversy in South Carolina, 1816–1836 (Oxford University Press, 1992)

Presidential Speeches

Below are selections from the Miller Center’s William Henry Harrison speech collection.

March 4, 1841—Inaugural Address

Scholarship and Speakers

The Miller Center is a national nonpartisan center to research, reflect, and report on American government, with special attention to the central role and history of the presidency. Below is a selection of Miller Center resources on William Henry Harrison.

Listen to Leonard Emmerglick’s 1987 presentation at the Miller Center on Presidential Disability and Presidential Succession.

William Harrison came to the presidency with experience as a military commander. Learn more about the Miller Center’s National War Powers Commission.

Learn more about the Center’s National Commission on Presidential Disability and the 25th Amendment and its relationship to Harrison.

Scripps Library Reference Resources

Below are links to reference resources prepared by the Miller Center’s Scripps Library, designed to help students and scholars conduct their research quickly.

Information on William Henry Harrison’s Private and Public Papers

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