William Henry Harrison, an American military officer and politician, was the ninth President of the United States (1841), the oldest President to be elected at the time. On his 32nd day, he became the first to die in office, serving the shortest tenure in U.S. Presidential history.

What was the shortest US presidency?

Historians <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/william-henry-harrison">have long accepted </a>the diagnosis of Harrison’s doctor, Thomas Miller: “pneumonia of the lower lobe of the right lung, complicated by congestion of the liver.”

What killed him?

<figure><img alt="William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States of America.&amp;nbsp;" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/04/01/science/01HARR2/01HARR2-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/04/01/science/01HARR2/01HARR2-articleLarge.jpg?quality=90&amp;auto=webp 600w, https://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/04/01/science/01HARR2/01HARR2-jumbo.jpg?quality=90&amp;auto=webp 769w, https://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/04/01/science/01HARR2/01HARR2-superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&amp;auto=webp 1537w" width="420" height="560"><figcaption dir="auto">William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States of America.&nbsp;
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Stock Montage/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>By Jane McHugh and Philip A. Mackowiak<UL><LI><time datetime="2014-03-31T16:59:07-04:00">March 31, 2014</time></LI></UL>_____William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States, holds a distinction that with luck will never be equaled: He was our shortest-serving president, dying on April 4, 1841, after just a month in office.What killed him? Historians <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/william-henry-harrison" title="One of many." rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">have long accepted</a> the diagnosis of Harrison’s doctor, Thomas Miller: “pneumonia of the lower lobe of the right lung, complicated by congestion of the liver.”Advertisement

The accepted wisdom is that the shortest-serving president developed pneumonia after delivering a long Inaugural Address in cold weather. But that might not be true.

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By Jane McHugh and Philip A. Mackowiak

William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States, holds a distinction that with luck will never be equaled: He was our shortest-serving president, dying on April 4, 1841, after just a month in office.

What killed him? Historians <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/william-henry-harrison">have long accepted </a>the diagnosis of Harrison’s doctor, Thomas Miller: “pneumonia of the lower lobe of the right lung, complicated by congestion of the liver.”

THE 9TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

What was the shortest US presidency?

What killed him?

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