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Homage to the 30-day president

Downtown Tampa's Harrison Street was named for the nation's ninth president.

Thirty lousy days. That's how long President William Henry Harrison held office.

It's fair to call them lousy, since he caught a cold on inauguration day and ended up dying from it. (It probably didn't help that, up to that point, he was the oldest man to become president).

In 1847, Tampa civil engineer John Jackson named one of downtown's first platted streets after Harrison. An obscure tribute, perhaps, for the man who served the shortest presidential term ever. But at least he holds the posthumous distinction of being the only chief executive to have a grandson become president.

Harrison was born in 1773 on a plantation in Charles City County, Va. He quit school in 1791 to join the Army. Before long, he became a hero in the early Indian Wars and was given command of Fort Washington, Ohio. While there, he married Anna Symmes. They had 10 children, six of whom died during Harrison's lifetime.

In 1798, Harrison resigned from the Army and was appointed secretary of the Northwest Territory by President John Adams. Two years later, Adams made him governor of the Indiana Territory.

When the War of 1812 broke out, Harrison was recommissioned as brigadier general of the Army of the Northwest. In 1813, his troops won a resounding victory over combined American Indian and British forces in southern Ontario, Canada.

In 1814, Harrison left the Army again, settled in North Bend, Ohio, and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives two years later. In 1819, he was elected a state senator and, in 1825, was elected to the U.S. Senate.

He resigned three years later to serve as U.S. Minister to Colombia.

In 1836, Harrison made a surprisingly strong bid for the presidency but was defeated by Martin Van Buren. In 1840, Harrison ran again against Van Buren, becoming the ninth president of the United States. He won by only 147,000 votes but with a large electoral majority.

On his rainy inauguration day, Harrison caught a cold, which developed into pneumonia. He died April 4, 1841, at age 68.

Harrison's grandson, Benjamin Harrison, served as president from 1889 to 1893.

- Source: World Book Encyclopedia, Tampa Bay History Center