Anna Tuthill Harrison was the first lady of the United States in 1841 as the wife of President William Henry Harrison. She served in the role for only one month, as her husband contracted pneumonia and died shortly after his term began. Their son John Scott Harrison was the father of President Benjamin Harrison. She never entered the White House during her tenure as first lady, remaining the only presidential wife to never visit the capital during her husband's presidency. At age 65 when her husband's presidential term began, Harrison was the oldest woman ever to assume the role of first lady, a record held until Jill Biden became first lady at age 69 in 2021. She also has the distinction of holding the title for the shortest length of time, and the first first lady to be widowed while holding the title. Harrison was the last first lady to have been born before the inauguration of George Washington.
Harrison c. 1820
Grouseland, the Harrison home in Vincennes
William Henry Harrison was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration as president in 1841, making his presidency the shortest in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causing a brief constitutional crisis since presidential succession was not then fully defined in the United States Constitution. Harrison was the last president born as a British subject in the Thirteen Colonies and was the paternal grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States.
Harrison by James Lambdin, 1841
An engraved portrait print of Harrison at age 27, as a delegate member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the Northwest Territory by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, c. 1800
1915 depiction of Tecumseh, believed to be copying an 1808 sketch
This portrait of Harrison originally showed him in civilian clothes as a congressional delegate in 1800; the uniform was added after service in the War of 1812.