rubber soul

23. BENJAMIN HARRISON (It's all about the Benjamins)




Born: August 20, 1833, North Bend, Ohio
Died: March 13, 1901, Indianapolis, Indiana

Term: March 4, 1889- March 4, 1893
Political Party: Republican

Vice President: Levi Morton

First Lady: Caroline Scott Harrison

Before the Presidency: Benjamin Harrison came from a political family. His grandfather was the ill-fated William Henry Harrison, the ninth President of the United States and his father, John Scott Harrison, was a congressman. On top of that, his Great-Grandfather was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

As for Benjamin, he was raised in rural Ohio where he enjoyed hunting and fishing among other things. He was schooled by private tutors. He grew up with a certain self-assurance that some people took as arrogance and later was given the derisive nickname, the Human Iceberg.

Benjamin was a good student, and he was near the top of his class at Miami of Ohio University in 1852. He passed the bar in 1854 and he and his wife moved to Indianapolis where he set up a law practice.

Harrison joined the new Republican Party in 1856 and backed John Fremont for President. He became Indianapolis City Attorney in 1857. He later served with the Indiana Republican State Central Committee as secretary and supported Abraham Lincoln for President. Harrison was an ambitious sort and he also took on the job as state reporter for the Indiana Supreme Court.

Harrison’s career was interrupted by the Civil War. He joined the Union Army ending his stint as Brigadier General under William Sherman, who liked Harrison. Harrison, though, hated the war, finding it a filthy business.

After the war, Harrison returned to his law career and worked as a court reporter. He also continued on with his political career, running unsuccessfully for Governor in 1872. He ran again four years later as the Republican nominee but would lose in the General election. He was a supporter of Rutherford Hayes and Hayes would appoint Harrison to the Mississippi River Commission in 1879. He chaired the Indiana Delegation at the 1880 Republican National Convention. There, he threw his support behind the dark horse, James Garfield.

Harrison finally made the big time as he became a Senator from Indiana in 1881. It was here where we have an idea of where Harrison stood on the issues. He supported pensions for Civil War veterans, meaning he wasn’t a fan of Grover Cleveland. He also supported statehood for Dakota, high tariffs, some civil service reform, a modernized Navy. He also broke with his party by opposing the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Summary of offices held:

1857- 1861: City Attorney, Indianapolis

1862-1865: US Union Army, Brigadier general, served under William Sherman

1881-1887: US Senator


What was going on: The Sherman Anti-trust act, Wounded Knee massacre,

Scandals within the administration: none that we know of

Why he was a good President: He continued the drive towards civil reform and, while he had mixed success on the foreign affairs front, he did start the Pan American Conferences which was essentially the North and South American United Nations.

Why he was a bad President: His aloof and arrogant personality tended to turn people off, so he wasn’t the greatest diplomat. His push for high tariffs would precipitate the Panic of 1893. And he obviously wasn’t very sensitive in the arena of Indian affairs.

What could have saved his Presidency: Better attention towards the economic conditions might have lessened the severity of the Panic of 1893.

What could have destroyed his Presidency: A disastrous foreign policy could have led to war with both Italy and Chile. I don’t see how either could have defeated us and Chile in fact caved in to US demands. As for Italy, it was certainly our bad and we managed to smooth things over.

But, if we hadn’t, well…

Election of 1888: Harrison’s Senate career ended after the Democrats took over the State Legislature 1887 and he declared his candidacy for President calling himself a living and rejuvenated Republican, thus inventing a catchphrase of the times briefly. Meanwhile, Blaine was again seen as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, but unlike 1884, he was unable to get enough support to guarantee his nomination.

So, he threw his support behind Harrison in hopes of uniting the party. It became a hotly contested contest between Harrison and new favorite James Sherman of Ohio. Harrison would win out on the eighth ballot and be given Levi Morton as his running mate. The Democrats, meanwhile, had an easy selection and renominated President Cleveland.

The 1888 general campaign was much less hostile than the infamous Cleveland-Blaine battle. Harrison limited his campaign to front porch speeches while Cleveland would make only one public appearance. Their backers, of course, were a totally different story, but even they, for the most part, stayed civil.

It was an issue oriented campaign as Harrison talked about tariffs, sound currency (Harrison supported the Gold Standard), and Civil War pensions. One issue that did cause some tensions was over the Civil War itself. Cleveland wanted to return captured Confederate Flags to Southern States which caused some consternation in the North. There was also some fraud in some of the states, notably in Harrison’s hometown of Indianapolis which strangely went for Cleveland.

And it ended in a rather controversial election count. President Cleveland won the popular vote and with a majority, but Harrison won the electoral vote and he was to be the next President of the United States.

At least the Congress didn’t have to decide the outcome this time.

First term: President Harrison started right of the gate as he condemned the practice of Senatorial courtesy and the spoils system. James Blaine, as under Garfield, was the Secretary of State and he was quite active, organizing the first Pan-American Conference among other things. The Sherman Anti-Trust act was also passed during Harrison’s term though it wouldn’t really be used until the Roosevelt Administration. Harrison also pushed for the Sherman Silver Purchase Act though that would have little effect on the economy.

President Harrison also signed the McKinley Tariff act increasing duties by nearly 50%. This proved to be one of the less popular bills in the Harrison Administration. Plus, he had to deal with an International Crisis when eleven Italian immigrants were lynched in New Orleans. Italy had considered going to war over it. There were also tensions with Chile and war was being threatened there as well.

But perhaps the lowest point of Harrison’s Presidency was the infamous Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890. In that incident, there was an uprising that resulted from the attempted arrest and murder of Sitting Bull (another thing for Trollheart to delve more deeply into). A group of Lakota Indians were met by the 7th Cavalry. There were escorted to camp at Wounded Knee and, after being told to disarm, there was confusion as Chief Yellow Bird began what was called the Ghost Dance. After some confusion, shots rang out and, in the end, nearly 400 Lakota men, women, and children lay dead.

At the time, it probably did little to hurt Harrison’s political chances and it is uncertain as to what he even knew (he basically was more pro than anti civil-rights at the time, even going so far as to appoint Frederick Douglass minister to Haiti).

But it pretty much destroyed his legacy.

Election of 1892: Harrison entered 1892 as not the most popular President going. He had differences with Secretary of State Blaine and Blaine resigned that summer, running against him for the nomination. Meanwhile, Grover Cleveland was back and was more popular than ever. And though there was some resistance from within the party, Cleveland eked out the nomination on the very first ballot.

Harrison, too, would be nominated on the first ballot but only because Blaine had turned down a draft (he would die in early 1893) and as for up and comer William McKinley, well, it just wasn’t his time yet.

So, it was going to be a Harrison- Cleveland rematch. It was a quiet campaign as Cleveland, out of compassion for President Harrison’s ailing wife (she would die just two weeks before the election), didn’t campaign at all. Harrison, for his part, limited his campaign to just New York and New Jersey, considered swing states at the time.

There was also a third party to contend with known as the Populists. They nominated Civil war General James Weaver and advocated the free coinage of silver.

In the end, Cleveland again won the popular vote but this time, he also ran away with the electoral vote, thus making history.

Harrison, now widowed, was just going home.

Post Presidency: Harrison had a quiet retirement, speaking on Constitutional Law at Stanford University and working as Chief Counsel for Venezuela during a boundary dispute with British Guiana.

Benjamin Harrison passed away in 1901 at the age of 67.

Odd notes: Harrison owned a goat named Old Whiskers

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/...bably-planning

Harrison had electricity installed in the White House

Final Summary: Harrison wasn’t the most eloquent of Presidents and he certainly lacked the ability to rally Americans around a cause like Theodore Roosevelt would do a decade later.

But he did have some accomplishments on the foreign front, notably the Pan-American Conference. He backed American sailors after an incident in Chile, and he supported the expansion of the Navy.

But, overall, he probably goes down as one of the littlest known Presidents in history. And I’m sure being sandwiched between Grover Cleveland’s two terms didn’t help.

He did try to do his best though.

Overall rating: C-

https://millercenter.org/president/bharrison

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