Case of the Late William H. Harrison, President of the United States

Abstract

On the 26th of March, 1841, at 5 o'clock, P. M., I was summoned to visit President Harrison. I found him slightly ailing, although not confined to his room. He complained of having been somewhat indisposed for several days, which he attributed to the great fatigue and mental anxiety he"had undergone; stated that he had taken medicine, had been dieting himself, and believed he would soon be well again ; that he had sent for me, not to prescribe, being always his own physician in slight attacks, but to confer with me respecting some of the peculiarities of his constitutiqn, which he thought it important that his physician should be aware of. He mentioned his liability to neuralgia, affecting his head,

Death in the White House: President William Henry Harrison's Atypical Pneumonia

“…In response to intense pressure from a stunned public to provide an explanation for the loss of their newly elected leader, he gave them pneumonia as his answer, though with obvious reservations. "The disease was not viewed as a case of pure pneumonia [he wrote]; but as this was the most palpable affection, the term pneumonia afforded a succinct and intelligible answer to the innumerable questions as to the nature of the attack" [9].…”

“…Since his death, it has been taken for granted by even the most eminent presidential historians that an overly long inaugural address delivered in freezing weather without a hat, overcoat, and gloves led to a fatal case of pneumonia [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Fatal pneumonia, however, is a diagnosis in many respects at odds with the detailed description of Harrison's final illness left by his personal physician, Dr Thomas Miller of Washington, DC [9]. Harrison's illness, like those suffered by 2 of his successors, James Knox Polk and Zachary Taylor, had characteristics more consistent with enteric fever than pneumonia.…”