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39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Laudatory but Solid Political Bio, March 4, 2005
This bio was first published in 1939, so the style is a bit old. But it is still quite readable. As far as I know, it is the only non-juvenile biography of Harrison in print.
The author has an excellent grasp of the details of Harrison's career as a general, governor of Indiana Territory, and Congressman. There is not much to say, of course, about his month-long administration, except for the distribution of the spoils.
The biggest weakness of the book is the author's tendency to view everything Harrison did in a positive light. For example, Harrison made some major mistakes in his battles that cost lives, yet Cleaves glosses over these issues. Clay and Harrison also seem not to have gotten along well, yet Clay is the one at fault, according to Cleaves.
Cleaves also does not clearly explain the turning point in Harrison's career--at age 62 after having left Congress years earlier and while working as a lowly common court clerk to pay off his debts, he somehow became a presidential candidate in the campaign to succeed Jackson. Cleaves attributes it to the widespread reprinting of a letter Harrison wrote defending his generalship during the War of 1812. But he overlooks the question of why it was so widely reprinted. Harrison must have had an organization to get the campaign going--I just can't see it as having been a "draft Harrison" campaign as he was so far from the political limelight. A fascinating question that Cleaves left untouched.
This book contains good material regarding relations with the Indians in the Northwest Territory. Of course, it narrates a lot of tragedy and injustice, but it also gives a dynamic and somewhat sympathetic portrayal of the Indians with whom Harrison dealt. Cleaves describes the different strategies the Indians adopted, ranging from unswerving alliance with the Britith to assimilation into white society. Harrison comes across as sympathetic to the Indians but unwilling to rock the boat to protect them from injustice. I was surprised by the Indians's varying strategies regarding land. Some happily sold, others were pressured into it, and yet others fought to the death. It's not a pretty story and something I'm not proud of as an American, but it's also not the simple story of the white man stealing the Indians' land.
Finally, Cleaves says that Harrison died not as a result of a sickness contracted during his inaugural address but as a result of walks in the cold and slush about three weeks later (something Chitwood confirms in his Tyler bio). This is the first time I have read this, but Cleaves has his point well documented. It would be interesting to read an analysis of the origin of this discrepancy.
Overall, this book is a good (and probably the only serious) bio of Harrison. You won't really understand his personality or what drove him, but you will gain a good view of his career. And the writing is fairly good as well.
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40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Informative and Entertaining, July 8, 1999
This book contained everything I could have reasonably hoped to expect from a presidential biography of the subject. Naurally the book tends to gravitate to the early history of Indiana as pertains to Harison, the military acheivements of General Harrison and the Native Americans he encountered. The presidential portion of Harrison's life, I feel was conveyed fully, since this portion of his life was so breif. I particularly appreciated the way the author expanded subjects of American history around Harrison in an effort to better explain the environment and circumstances from which Harrison would have perceived them.
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37 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good introduction to the life of WH Harrison., October 27, 1999
I enjoyed this book. The majority of the book focuses on WHH's experience as Govenor of Indiana Territory, and as a commander in the war of 1812. The book was written in the 1930's. As is typical of many biographies of its era, little attention is paid to Harrison's family or his personal life. Some may find that a refreshing change from the psychologically based biographies of today. Others may feel that an important facet is missing.
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