] President Harrison has the dual distinction among all
] the Presidents of giving the longest inaugural speech and
] of serving the shortest term of office. Known to the
] public as "Old Tippecanoe," the former general of the
] Indian campaigns delivered an hour-and-forty-five-minute
] speech in a snowstorm. The oath of office was
] administered on the East Portico of the Capitol by Chief
] Justice Roger Taney. The 68-year-old President stood
] outside for the entire proceeding, greeted crowds of
] well-wishers at the White House later that day, and
] attended several celebrations that evening. One month
] later he died of pneumonia.

I recently accomplished a longtime goal of memorizing the name of every single U.S. President, in order. #9 was William Henry Harrison, famous for having the shortest term of office of all of them, primarily because he gave the longest inauguration speech in history, in a snowstorm, while wearing neither a coat nor a hat.

As another interesting bit of trivia, there was a suspicion that he had died because of an Indian curse, since it was under his command that the great Indian leader, Tecumseh, was killed. Harrison was the first President to die in office, and starting with him, every President who was elected in a year ending with zero, died in office, until Reagan in 1980.

1840: W. Harrison (pneumonia). 1860: Lincoln (shot). 1880: Garfield (shot). 1900: McKinley (shot). 1920: Harding (natural causes, though some suspected his wife may have poisoned him). 1940: FDR (old age). 1960: Kennedy (shot). 1980: Reagan (shot, but survived). 2000: G.W. Bush (still alive, last I checked).

8 Presidents have died in office, 7 of them in the list above. Bonus points for anyone who can name the one other President that died in office. ;)

William Henry Harrison: Inaugural Address, March 4, 1841