William Henry Harrison

William Henry Harrison became president in March 1841 after a career as an army officer, territorial governor, congressman, senator, and diplomat. His national reputation rested largely on campaigns against Native nations in the Northwest. As governor of Indiana Territory, he pressed for land cessions; his forces fought the followers of Tenskwatawa at Tippecanoe in 1811. During the War of 1812, he commanded the American victory at the Thames, where Tecumseh was killed. ¹

The Whigs promoted Harrison’s military reputation in the 1840 election while attacking Martin Van Buren’s handling of the economic depression. Harrison’s inaugural address criticized the concentration of executive power and promised greater deference to Congress. He favored a restricted use of the presidential veto and pledged to serve only one term. His support for states’ authority over slavery accompanied warnings that sectional agitation could threaten the Union. ³

Harrison died on April 4, 1841, after thirty-two days in office. That interval produced no substantial presidential foreign policy program. His importance to the conduct of diplomacy lies chiefly in the earlier frontier conflicts that weakened Native resistance and expanded American control in the Great Lakes region. His death also created the first presidential succession crisis, which John Tyler resolved by assuming the full powers and title of president. ^{1, 2}