William Henry Harrison Biography

HARRISON, William Henry, (son of Benjamin Harrison [1726-1791], father of John Scott Harrison, brother of Carter Bassett Harrison, grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, and great-great-grandfather of William Henry Harrison [1896-1990]), a Delegate from the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, a Representative and a Senator from Ohio, and 9th President of the United States; born on ‘Berkeley Plantation,’ Charles City County, Va., February 9, 1773; pursued classical studies; attended Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia; studied medicine; entered the Army in 1798 as an ensign in the First Infantry, served in the Indian wars, and rose to the rank of lieutenant; resigned from the Army in 1798; appointed secretary of the Northwest Territory 1798-1799; elected as a Delegate from the Northwest Territory to the Sixth Congress and served from March 4, 1799, to May 14, 1800, when he resigned to become Territorial Governor of Indiana 1801-1813 and also Indian commissioner; defeated the Indians at Tippecanoe in November 1811; major general in the United States Army in the War of 1812; resigned from the Army in 1814; head commissioner to treat with the Indians; elected to the Fourteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John McLean; reelected to the Fifteenth Congress and served from October 8, 1816, to March 3, 1819; unsuccessful candidate for governor, Ohio in 1820; member, State senate 1819-1821; presidential elector in Ohio in 1822; unsuccessful candidate for House of Representatives in 1822; elected to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1825, to May 20, 1828, when he resigned to become Minister to Colombia 1828-1829; chairman, Committee on Military Affairs (Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses); unsuccessful Whig candidate for president in 1836; elected President of the United States in 1840 and served from March 4, 1841, until his death in Washington, D.C., April 4, 1841; interment in William Henry Harrison Memorial State Park, opposite Congress Green Cemetery, North Bend, Ohio.

Biografía de William Henry Harrison

(09/02/1773 - 04/04/1841)
William Henry Harrison
9º presidente de Estados Unidos (1841)

Nació el 9 de febrero 1773 en el condado de Berkeley (Virginia). Gracias a la influencia de su padre, el antiguo gobernador de Virginia, Benjamin Harrison, fue gobernador del Territorio del Noroeste, y en 1801 deIndiana.
Desde su cargo se dedicó a negociar con las tribus del oeste la cesión de millones de hectáreas. Llevó a cabo en 1811 una expedición para impedir una revuelta de la tribu shawnee en Tippecanoe (Indiana). La victoria le otorgó la reputación que le ayudaría a conseguir la presidencia algunos años después.
Al estallar la Guerra Anglo-estadounidense de 1812 venció otra importante batalla que concedió el control de los territorios occidentales a Estados Unidos. En 1828 fue ministro plenipotenciario en Colombia, pero el presidente John Quincy Adams, calificó de deficiente su labor. En 1836 los dirigentes del Partido Whig le presentaron como su candidato presidencial. En 1840, beneficiándose de la campaña electoral de su partido,ganó las elecciones presidenciales. Los whigs relegaron en 1840 a su líder, Henry Clay, y eligieron en su lugar a Harrison. Para atraerse al Sur, escogieron a John Tyler, como candidato a la vicepresidencia. Tras una dura campaña electoral, fue elegido presidente.
William Henry Harrison falleció el 4 de abril de 1841.