Worst Presidents: William Harrison (1841)

By Jay Tolson

February 16, 2007 RSS Feed Print
Slideshow: Worst Presidents

Slideshow: Worst Presidents

Alas, poor Harrison.

That the ninth president makes any list at all is an act of scholarly injustice. The Virginian's greatest claim to fame was defeating the Shawnees in 1811 at the Battle of Tippecanoe.

Delivering the longest inaugural address in U.S. history, he came down with pneumonia that made his 30-day presidency the shortest in U.S. history.

Death would seem sufficient punishment for long-windedness; historians are guilty of piling on.

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I don't think it's fair at all to judge Harrison at all. He wasn't in office long enough to contribute to his legacy. His only mistakes were one, not being laconic, and two, putting John Tyler on as his running mate (which reflects badly on his candidacy, not his presidency). I'd have to agree with some of the users here who would rather have poor Tippecanoe exempt from the list.

Dan of KS 6:47PM April 29, 2012

I personally think that this president should be exempt from this list because he wasn't any office long enough to be judged. If given more time it is a possibility that he could have been one of our greatest presidents. It seems as though he is being punished for being long winded which is just not fair to me.

Jeannine of CA 7:10AM January 22, 2012

While I have sympathy for Harrison, where else are you going to put him? It's either near the bottom, judging him on what he did do (nothing), or keeping him off the list. The alternative is to speculate about his Presidency, which was stuck between the America's worst financial crisis (at the time) & the seeds of rebellion. As with most Presidents of his era, it did not look good for him.

salemowalk of TX 3:43PM January 19, 2012

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