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Tecumseh
William Henry Harrison, born in Charles
City County, was America’s ninth president.
Harrison was also the shortest serving president, dying thirty-one days
into his first term. A military hero in
his younger days, the new president wanted to demonstrate his virility when he
came to Washington. He took the oath of
office outside on a cold, wet day, without wearing a hat or overcoat. Harrison’s inaugural speech dragged on for
almost two hours (the longest inaugural speech ever), after which Harrison rode
a horse in his own inaugural parade. On
March 26, Harrison was ill with cold like symptoms. The next day he developed chills, and then a
high fever. The doctors were called in
to treat the ailing president. As was
often the case in those days, calling in the doctors was tantamount to signing
the man’s death warrant. A team of
doctors administered a regime of bloodletting to drain off the “bad
humors”. When this failed to produce the
desired results, the doctors tried ipecac, castor oil, calomel, mustard
plasters, a boiled mixture of crude petroleum, and Virginia snakeroot. All of this expert medical treatment only
weakened Harrison to the point of death, at which point the doctor’s concluded
that he was beyond hope and would not recover.
William Henry Harrison was the first president to die in office, and around his death arose the legend of the Curse of Tippecanoe.
