William Henry Harrison: Short-Lived

01VOA Learning English presents America's Presidents.

02Today we are talking about William Henry Harrison.

03Although he was elected in 1840, many Americans still remember his catchy campaign slogan, Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.

04For Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.

05For Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.

06Tyler referred to John Tyler, Harrison's partner on the ticket.

07In other words, Harrison was the candidate for president and Tyler was the candidate for vice president.

08That seems straightforward enough, but Tippecanoe?

09That was Harrison's nickname.

10It came from a battle he had fought nearly 30 years before the presidential campaign.

11At that time, Harrison led troops against an alliance of Native American tribes.

12The alliance was fighting white American settlers who were taking Native people's territory.

13Harrison and his men wanted to prevent the alliance from getting the supplies and warriors it needed to fight a long war.

14They planned to attack an important Native American base in what is today the state of Indiana.

15But Native American warriors attacked first.

16They struck at dawn when Harrison's men were still sleeping in a camp near the river Tippecanoe.

17The battle was confused and bloody.

18Many fighters on both sides died.

19It was not really clear who won, but Harrison declared victory.

20His presidential campaign reminded voters about the battle.

21The nickname Tippecanoe suggested Harrison was a simple yet tough Westerner who would fight for white Americans.

22But that image of Harrison was not entirely true.

23Harrison did not come from a simple Western family.

24Instead, he was the youngest child of a wealthy family from the southern state of Virginia.

25The Harrisons were active in the politics of the young nation.

26His father signed the Declaration of Independence and became the governor of Virginia.

27Young William Harrison received a good education, but he did not want to become a doctor or lawyer.

28He joined the military instead.

29Harrison succeeded quickly as an army officer.

30He earned a reputation as an able leader in fights against Native Americans.

31Harrison became the governor of what was known as Indiana Territory.

32In that job, he persuaded Native Americans to enter into treaties that sold their land to the U.S.

33government, often for very little money.

34Harrison's insistence on securing land for white settlers was one reason Native American tribes formed an alliance against the United States.

35A member of the Shawnee tribe, Tecumseh, was one of their most prominent leaders.

36It was Tecumseh's men who fought against Harrison in the Battle of Tippecanoe.

37Tecumseh's men clashed again with Harrison during the War of 1812 at a battle in Ontario, Canada, near the River Thames.

38In that battle, both the British and Native Americans were clearly defeated.

39Tecumseh was killed.

40After that, the Native American alliance fell apart, and Harrison became famous again.

41Although Harrison was a well-known fighter against Native Americans, he could not find lasting success as a politician.

42He served briefly in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, but he did not stay in those positions long.

43He struggled with debt.

44His home in Indiana was very expensive.

45He also had to provide for his ten children.

46The emotional cost of his family was also high.

47Only four of his children lived past the age of 40.

48In 1836, Harrison's fortunes seemed to change.

49A new party, called the Whigs, looked to him as a presidential candidate.

50The Whigs strongly opposed President Andrew Jackson and his policies.

51They did not want Jackson's vice president and right-hand man, Martin Van Buren, to become president.

52But they understood that Jackson was very popular with everyday Americans.

53So, the Whigs thought that Harrison, a military hero from the West, just as Jackson was, would appeal to voters.

54At the time, voting was limited mostly to white men.

55The Whigs nominated Harrison as one of their candidates.

56Harrison did well, but not well enough.

57Van Buren won the 1836 election.

58But the next election belonged to Harrison.

59His campaign developed that memorable song about Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.

60Supporters also turned an insult against Harrison into an advantage.

61Harrison's opposition said he would be happy to spend the rest of his life just sitting in a log cabin and drinking hard cider, an alcoholic drink made from apples.

62The opposition wanted to suggest that Harrison was not really interested in becoming president and working hard for the American people.

63But Harrison's supporters used the images of a log cabin and hard cider to portray Harrison as a humble man who could relate to common Americans.

64In 1842, the plan was a success.

65Harrison won the election.

66Sure let him talk about hard cider, cider, cider, cider, and lock heavens, too.

67We'll only help to speed the ball for Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.

68For Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.

69And with him we'll beat little Van, Van.

70Van is a used-up man.

71And with him we'll beat little Van.

72At 68, Harrison was the oldest person yet to take office.

73On his inauguration day, he reportedly wanted to show that he was strong enough to serve as president by delivering a very long speech without wearing a coat or hat.

74Several weeks later, Harrison became sick.

75He complained of many problems.

76Anxiety, fatigue, and pain in his stomach.

77His health grew worse and worse.

78One month after he was sworn in, Harrison died.

79It was the first time in the country's history that a president had died in office.

80The event raised many questions about who would become president.

81That question is answered in the next episode of this series.

82For future generations, it also raised a question about what Harrison died of.

83The traditional story is that his long inaugural speech led to a fatal pneumonia.

84But researchers in 2014 proposed a different reason.

85Jane McHugh and Philip Makoviak wrote in the New York Times that, while Harrison was in office, Washington, D.C.

86did not have a good sewer system.

87Human waste simply flowed onto public grounds a short distance from the White House.

88The researchers conclude that Harrison probably died from problems related to drinking dirty water in the president's house.

89So, for Harrison, winning the White House may not have been good fortune at all.

90I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.