William Henry Harrison ’s presidency was memorable , but doubtlessly not for the reason he would have liked . He passed away one calendar month after pitch arecord - length 1 hour and 45 minutespeech at his inaugural on a rainy day in March . The level go that he contracted pneumonia and died presently after , but as a new video fromBusiness Insiderexplains , there was potential another component at play that ties him to the death of two other presidents elect that decade : contaminated boozing water .
James K. Polk , elected in 1844 , suffered from gastroenteritis while in the White House and died of cholera three months after leaving . Zachary Taylor , elected in in 1848 , succumb to gastroenteritis while still in office . After count back through the journals of Harrison ’s physician , some historians now believe that this may have been the same condition that led to W.H.H. ’s demise .
It ’s true that he was experiencing pneumonia - same symptom at the time of his death , but his irregularity and abdominal distension were reported as being more severe . His medico even admit to leaning toward pneumonia as the cause of death because it was the simple-minded explanation .
historic researchersbelieve the life - threatening stomach issue suffered by all three presidents can be trace back to a individual cause . In the 1840s , D.C. did n’t yet have a modern sewer system and the White House sourced all its water from a nearby spring — which also happened to be a few block downhill from a sewerage trash dump , a perfect training ground for deadly bacteria that cause gastroenteritis .
The possibly pollute provision of drinking pee is the likely culprit behind the president ' digestive distraint ( though history books often join Taylor ’s deadly bought of stomach flu to a collation oficed milk and cherrieshe’d consumed a few day prior ) . And while Harrison ’s cast , underdressedinauguration talking to may not have been the straight cause of his expiry , it for sure could n’t have helped in conjunction with a causa of deadly tummy problem .
[ h / tBusiness Insider ]
