William Henry Harrison Book

Mike Venezia once again uses his winning formula of combining humor with history to make learning fun. Each book in this series is an appealing mix of full-color historical images and photos, Mike's hilarious cartoon-style illustrations, and simple, factual text describing each person's path toward the nation's highest office. These biographies are peppered with humbling and funny anecdotes that bring out the humanity of each of these historical figures and help kids realize that these were real people--not just names from history books. William Henry Harrison didn't really get to show what he could do as president--he caught a cold on his inauguration day and died of pneumonia after only 32 days in office. As a young man he almost became a doctor, but changed his mind and left medical school when his father died. He decided to join the army and to seek adventure in the Northwest Territory. He eventually became a military hero, earning the nickname "Tippecanoe" after defeating American Indians in 1811 at the Battle of Tippecanoe. His colorful military career became the theme for his exciting presidential campaigns--he ran in 1836 and lost, but won when he ran again in 1840. He was the first president to die in office.