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On 12/2/1840
William Henry Harrison (b2/9/1773)
defeated Martin Van Buren & became the 9th president
On 3/4/1841 he gave a rambling inaugural address (longest one on record) in a rainstorm and caught cold.
On 4/4/1841 (That would be 4/4/1841 in the UK) Harrison died of pneumonia, making him the first
president to fail to complete his term - only 32 days in office.
The times are bad and want curing,
They're getting past all enduring,
Let us turn out old Martin Van Buren,
And put in old Tippicanoe. (sic)
"Old Tippicanoe." See The Ballad Index
The sobriquet, "Old Tippecanoe" refers to his winning the battle of Tippecanoe. He indecisively beat
Tecumseh & the Shawnee Indians (or Tecumseh's brother), at the Tippecanoe River near present-day
Lafayette, Indiana on Nov 7, 1811
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