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 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

This is NOT FAIR? What of BUSH and his Dad? I think BUSH should be No1. Instead of judging this man with his 30days stay in office why not look at his antecedents? Only in America you would find this poor judges? Huh!!!

Bobby 12:06PM December 29, 2011

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