JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Monday is Presidents Day, a day when we remember and celebrate the country’s 46 presidents.
While presidents and the weather has been intertwined, from Inauguration Day conditions to troop movements in times of war, one U.S. president may have been severely impacted by the weather.
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It possibly killed him.
The 9th president
William Henry Harrison was the nation’s ninth president. He was elected in the very active 1840 election, defeating President Martin Van Buren.
Harrison was a war hero from his battles in the Midwest and campaigned on his military experience and living at the then “wilderness” of the Midwest.
Harrison became the oldest U.S. president at the time, at age 68.
Age had become a major campaign issue in the 1840 election. As the new president, Harrison wanted to show the country not only his education and statesmanship but his vitality despite his age.
The shortest presidency
On Inauguration Day in March 1841, he gave one of the longest inaugural addresses in U.S. history. It’s estimated it took the president almost two hours to deliver.
The inauguration was marred by cold and very wet conditions. Harrison, trying to show his youthfulness, refused to wear a coat or hat while giving the long address outside in public.
In office, Harrison often refused to wear a coat or hat when on his morning walk.
Just a few weeks after taking office, Harrison became seriously ill and was diagnosed with pneumonia.
Almost exactly one month after becoming president, Harrison died at the White House on April 4. He was the first president to die in office.
Conventional wisdom for years was Harrison died due to the cold, damp conditions from the inauguration and his refusal to take proper precautions.
However, some scientists have developed a different theory.
Was it the weather?
They believed Harrison was misdiagnosed and likely died from septic shock from typhoid or paratyphoid fever.
Public sewage systems did not exist in Washington during Harrison’s tenure. The scientists discovered a marsh of public sewage upstream from the White House.
The sewage likely entered the water supply of the White House, possibly killing the president.
Upon his death, Harrison’s vice president, John Tyler, became the 10th president of the United States. Tyler served the remainder of Harrison’s term and exited the presidency in 1845.
While his exact cause of death is now up for debate, Harrison will not be remembered for his education or his vitality but his incredibly short presidential tenure.