Shortest Presidency
Sometime after the War of 1812, Harrison had returned to civilian life. The Whigs, in need of a national hero, nominated him for President in 1840. He won by a majority of less than 150,000, but swept the Electoral College, 234 to 60. Harrison thereby became the oldest person elected president of the United States and the last to be born while the United States was still under British rule. But before he had been in office a month, he caught a cold that developed into pneumonia. On April 4, 1841, he died -- the first President to die in office -- and with him died the Whig program.