Benjamin Harrison
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| Benjamin Harrison | |
|---|---|
 Adam Cuerden · Public domain · source | |
| Name | Benjamin Harrison |
| Caption | Harrison c. 1896 |
| Order | 23rd |
| Office | President of the United States |
| Term start | March 4, 1889 |
| Term end | March 4, 1893 |
| Vicepresident | Levi P. Morton |
| Predecessor | Grover Cleveland |
| Successor | Grover Cleveland |
| Office2 | United States Senator, from Indiana |
| Term start2 | March 4, 1881 |
| Term end2 | March 4, 1887 |
| Predecessor2 | Joseph E. McDonald |
| Successor2 | David Turpie |
| Birth date | August 20, 1833 |
| Birth place | North Bend, Ohio |
| Death date | March 13, 1901 (aged 67) |
| Death place | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Caroline Scott (m. 1853; died 1892), Mary Scott Lord (m. 1896) |
| Children | 3, including Russell Benjamin Harrison |
| Alma mater | Miami University |
| Profession | Lawyer, Politician |
| Signature alt | Cursive signature |
Benjamin Harrison. The 23rd president of the United States, he served a single term from 1889 to 1893. A grandson of President William Henry Harrison, he was a prominent Republican lawyer and politician from Indiana who championed economic protectionism and a robust federal government. His administration was marked by significant legislative activity but also by political friction, and he was defeated by his predecessor, Grover Cleveland, in his bid for re-election.
Early life and education
Born in 1833 at the family estate in North Bend, Ohio, he was a scion of a prominent political family, the grandson of former President William Henry Harrison and great-grandson of Benjamin Harrison V, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was educated in a one-room schoolhouse before attending Farmer's College near Cincinnati. Harrison graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1852, where he studied classical curriculum and joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. After his graduation, he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he studied law at the office of Storer & Gwynne and was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1854.
Legal career and early political involvement
Harrison established a successful law practice in Indianapolis and became active in the newly formed Republican Party, campaigning for its first presidential nominee, John C. Frémont, in 1856. He served as the city attorney for Indianapolis from 1857 to 1860. During the American Civil War, he helped recruit the 70th Indiana Infantry Regiment and served as its colonel, participating in William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign and the subsequent March to the Sea. After the war, he resumed his legal career, becoming a leading attorney who argued several cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Indiana in 1876 but was elected to the United States Senate in 1880, where he advocated for veterans' pensions, protective tariffs, and civil service reform.
Presidency (1889–1893)
Harrison defeated the incumbent Grover Cleveland in the 1888 election, winning in the Electoral College despite losing the national popular vote. His term was characterized by a rare period of Republican dominance in both houses of Congress, leading to a flurry of legislation known as the "Billion-Dollar Congress." Major enactments included the McKinley Tariff, the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. His administration also saw the admission of six new states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming. In foreign policy, he pursued an activist agenda, convening the first International Conference of American States and attempting the annexation of Hawaii. However, his support for the Force Bill and perceived aloofness contributed to Republican losses in the 1890 midterm elections, setting the stage for his defeat by Cleveland in the 1892 rematch.
Post-presidency and later life
After leaving the White House, Harrison returned to Indianapolis and a lucrative law practice, representing the Republic of Venezuela in its boundary dispute with British Guiana before an international tribunal in Paris. He authored two books, *This Country of Ours* (1897) and a collection of his lectures, and served as a trustee for Purdue University. He remarried in 1896 to his former secretary, Mary Dimmick Harrison. Harrison remained a vocal commentator on national affairs, criticizing the free silver movement and William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold speech. He died from pneumonia at his home in Indianapolis in 1901 and was interred at Crown Hill Cemetery.
Legacy and historical view
Historians often view Harrison as a competent administrator whose presidency was substantive but politically costly, with his ambitious domestic agenda fueling a voter backlash that returned the Democrats to power. The landmark Sherman Antitrust Act remains a cornerstone of United States antitrust law. His foreign policy initiatives, particularly his advocacy for the Pan-American Union, laid early groundwork for hemispheric cooperation. Often overshadowed by the more charismatic Grover Cleveland, Harrison is remembered as a president of significant, if not always popular, legislative achievement during a transformative period of economic and geographic expansion for the nation.
Category:Presidents of the United States Category:American Civil War colonels Category:1888 United States presidential candidates