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As Harrison arrived in Washington he focused on showing that he was still the stalwart hero of Tippecanoe. He was to take the oath of office on March 4, 1841, an extremely cold and windy day. Nevertheless, he faced the weather without his overcoat and delivered the longest inaugural address in American history, at nearly two hours (his friend and fellow Whig, Daniel Webster, had edited it for length). He later caught a cold, which then developed into pneumonia and pleurisy. (According to the prevailing medical misconception of the times, it was believed that his illness was caused by the bad weather, when, in fact, he was likely a victim of the virus that causes the common cold.)
His doctors tried everything to cure him, applying opium, castor oil, petroleum jelly, Virginia snakeweed, even actual snakes. But the treatments only made Harrison sicker and weaker until he went into delirium. He passed away a month later at 12:30 a.m. on April 4, 1841 of right lower lobe pneumonia, jaundice, and overwhelming septicemia, becoming the first American president to die in office. His last words were "Sir, I wish you to understand the true principles of the government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more." Harrison served the shortest term of any American president: only 32 days, 12 hours and 30 minutes. According to later legends, Harrison's death was brought about by a curse placed on him by Tecumseh in his dying breath.
Harrison's son, John Scott Harrison, was also elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio from 1853 to 1857. Harrison's grandson, Benjamin Harrison of Ohio, became the 23rd president in 1889, making them the only grandparent-grandchild pair of presidents to date. In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison gave his inaugural address in the rain. Understanding his grandfather's mistakes, he asked his outgoing predecessor (and later his successor), Grover Cleveland, to hold an umbrella above his head, delivering the longest inaugural address since his grandfather's.
The untimely death of Harrison was a disappointment to Whigs, who hoped to pass a revenue tariff and enact measures to support Henry Clay's "American System" of economics. John Tyler, Harrison's successor, crushed the Whig agenda, leaving himself without a party.
Other related archives"American System" of economics, "Mad Anthony" Wayne, 1773, 1774, 1776, 1777, 1781, 1784, 1791, 1794, 1795, 1798, 1799, 1800, 1809,
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