On April 4, 1841, William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia, becoming the first President of the United States to die in office and the one with the shortest term served (he died on his 32nd day as president). A renowned Indian killer (having risen to fame for his part in 1811’s Battle of Tippecanoe), a proponent of the expansion of slavery into Northwest Territories, and a Whig, Harrison won the presidency in part by turning the Democrats’ “log cabin and hard cider” aspersions on his character as the basic symbols of the campaign.
Though hardly a “limited government man,” some libertarian history buffs proclaim him the Greatest President, on the ostensibly droll and possibly cynical grounds that he spent so little time in office.
The campaign slogan of 1840, “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too,” proved an actual campaign promise, as Vice President John Tyler took over the job of the presidency, establishing a precedent on presidential succession that would later be enshrined into constitutional law, in the form of the Twenty-fifth Amendment.