Mr. Jefferson's Hammer

When it comes to president's legacies and impact on the country, William Henry Harrison's is minimal to the extreme, since he died one month into his first term. Couple that with him being sick most of the time, and his policies that he wished to enact on the nation were never fully realized, if they were thought about at all.

With this consideration in mind, Mr. Jefferson's Hammer by Robert M. Owens, chooses to look at Harrisons pre-presidential career serving as Indiana's Governor. During this time, Owens also explores the states history with slavery, and how Native Americans were treated by the United States government. Does this make for an interesting book? Not really, and it is because of the ending that I find it so troublesome.

You see, this book baerly focuses on the career of Harrison after he ends his time as Indiana's Governor. Baerly 10 pages are devoted to it, so we get little information about what made him want to run for president, or what he did in between Indiana and running for office. Instead, we get an ample look at how he shaped frontier life for those in Indiana, and the Ohio River Valley. Relationships between the US government is explored, along with notable people on both sides. We also see how the relationship and protocol when dealing with land acquisition was developed (largely due to Harrison). Yet, what should be a very interesting element of American history is delivered in a dry manner that can make it difficult to read. History at it's best can be compelling and can show the how and why of an event, while being entertaining as well. This book does not do this, and the result is a boring text that can be a slog to sit through.

In the end, what I found really annoying was the lack of explanation on Harrison's presidential career, and his running for office. It would not have been hard to include, given he served such a short time in office. Yet, it is barely mentioned, as though it was an afterthought. When there are so few modern Harrison biographies in print these days, this seems almost criminal. I give this book a two out of five. I can only hope that John Tyler's biography is better.