William Henry Harrison was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States in 1841.

In April 1791, Harrison entered the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied medicine under Doctor Benjamin Rush and William Shippen Sr. But his father died that same month, and Harrison discovered that his family's financial situation left him without funds for further schooling, so he abandoned medical school in favor of a military career.

On May 13, 1800, President John Adams appointed Harrison as the governor of the newly established Indiana Territory, based on his ties to the west and seemingly neutral political stances. Harrison was caught unaware and was reluctant to accept the position until he received assurances from the Jeffersonians that he would not be removed from office after they gained power in the upcoming elections. His governorship was confirmed by the Senate and he resigned from Congress to become the first Indiana territorial governor in 1801.

While governor of Indiana, Harrison spearheaded the acquisition of land that belonged to Native American tribes, which brought him into conflict with the legendary Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his brother, the self-proclaimed prophet Tenskwatawa. Harrison wrote a letter denouncing Tenskwatawa and dared him to "cause the sun to stand still--the moon to alter its course--the rivers to cease to flow--or the dead to rise from their graves" to prove his prophetic abilities. The letter reached Tenskwatawa, who said he would demonstrate his powers by darkening the sun in the summer of 1806. A few weeks later, a solar eclipse occurred, and Tenskwatawa claimed vindication.

In 1811, Harrison was authorized by Secretary of War William Eustis to march against a confederation of Native Americans led by the Shawnee chief Tecumseh. Harrison led an army north with more than 1,000 men to intimidate the Shawnee into making peace, but the tribes launched a surprise attack early on November 7 in the Battle of Tippecanoe. Harrison defeated the tribal forces and burned their village to the ground. Although his troops had greatly outnumbered the attackers and suffered many more casualties during the battle, Harrison was hailed as a national hero and gained the nickname "Tippecanoe", which would later be popularized in the campaign song "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" during the presidential election of 1840.

He died of typhoid, pneumonia or paratyphoid fever just 31 days into his term, making him the first president to die in office and the shortest tenured. His death sparked a brief constitutional crisis regarding succession to the presidency, because the Constitution was unclear as to whether Vice President John Tyler should assume the office of president or merely execute the duties of the vacant office.

He cultivated corn and established a distillery to produce whiskey, but he became disturbed by the effects of alcohol on its consumers and closed the distillery. In an address to the Hamilton County Agricultural Board in 1831, he said that he had sinned in making whiskey and hoped that others would learn from his mistake and stop the production of liquors.

Harrison was born in Charles City County, Virginia, a son of Founding Father Benjamin Harrison V and the paternal grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States. He was the last president born as a British subject in the Thirteen Colonies before the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Harrison faced incumbent Martin Van Buren in the 1840 election. His supporters nicknamed Van Buren "Van Ruin" to blame him for the weak U.S. economy. The Democrats, in turn, ridiculed Harrison by calling him "Granny Harrison, the petticoat general" because he resigned from the army before the War of 1812 ended. They would ask voters what Harrison's name would be when spelled backwards: "No Sirrah". They also cast him as a provincial, out-of-touch old man who would rather "sit in his log cabin drinking hard cider" than attend to the administration of the country. This strategy backfired when Harrison and running mate John Tyler adopted the log cabin and hard cider as campaign symbols. Harrison won a landslide victory in the Electoral College, 234 electoral votes to Van Buren's 60, although the popular vote was much closer.

Harrison was the first president elected as a Whig to the presidency. His inaugural address was a detailed statement of the Whig agenda, essentially a repudiation of the policies of previous presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.