William Henry Harrison (Profiles of the Presidents) Book

A biography of the ninth president of the United States, discussing his personal life, education, and political career.

Della A. Yannuzzi - Children's Literature

William Harrison was the ninth president of the United States, but he only spent one month in office before dying of pneumonia. He was the first president to die in office. Prior to his presidency, he was an Army officer, first governor of Indiana Territory, a congressman and a senator. As an army officer, he mainly fought the Native Americans, then as a governor, Harrison's main job was to manage Native American affairs. He purchased land from Native Americans for the U.S. government, and many tribes signed over their land rights. Sometimes Harrison gave the chiefs alcohol to confuse them, and eventually, the governor managed to acquire about 60 million acres of land for the United States. Robin Doak doesn't mention how Harrison felt about doing this work or that his relations with Native Americans was not a good one. After these two jobs, Harrison moved into politics, and at the age of sixty-seven, he became a candidate for the Whig Party and was elected president. For the brief time Harrison was in office, he was known as an easygoing leader. Doak has done her best to portray William Henry Harrison as a man worthy of the presidency of the United States of America even though his past relations with Native Americans was not good and he only served the country for one month. There are color and black-and-white photographs as well as a glossary, a timeline, a further reading section and Internet sites for reference. 2004, Compass Point Books, Ages 10 to 12.