Benjamin Harrison, the twenty-third President of the United States, was often portrayed in political cartoons as a little man, wearing his grandfather's oversized hat and sitting in a big chair. Although not very complimentary, this was an accurate portrayal of the President who served in between Grover Cleveland's two terms. Benjamin Harrison was an exceedingly short, fat, older gentleman who wore a long gray beard. He was a submissive party politician who had little to do with the decision-making policies of his own administration. Though a good public speaker, he lacked personality and had a tendency to be cold and aloof. His success as a politician was largely due to the fact that he was the grandson of ninth President William Henry Harrison.
Benjamin Harrison was born August 20, 1833 on his grandfather's estate in North Bend, Ohio. He was the second of ten children born to Elizabeth and John Harrison; four of Benjamin's siblings died in infancy, and he had two older half-sisters by way of his father's first marriage. When Benjamin was seven, his grandfather, William Henry Harrison, became President of the United States. Benjamin's great-grandfather had been governor of Virginia and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin received his elementary education from formal public schools and from private tutors. In 1847 Benjamin Harrison moved to Cincinnati where he enrolled at Farmer's College. He began a relationship with Caroline Lavinia Scott, the daughter of the president of a Cincinnati women's college. In 1850 Caroline's father moved his family to Oxford, Ohio where he intended to establish a school, and Benjamin followed, leaving Farmer's College for Miami University in Oxford. Benjamin Harrison graduated with honors from Miami University in 1852. He began studying law at a local firm and passed the bar in 1853. Benjamin Harrison and Caroline Lavinia Scott were married on October 20, 1853. The couple had two children, one son, and one daughter. Caroline Harrison died in the White House on October 25, 1892.
In 1854 Benjamin Harrison moved to Indianapolis, Indiana where he established a practice with William Wallace. While living in Indianapolis, he became interested in politics and joined the Republican Party. Harrison was elected city attorney in 1857, and in 1858 he was made secretary of the Indiana Republican party's central committee. In 1860 he was elected reporter of the Indiana Supreme Court. While serving as court reporter, Harrison supplemented his income by acting as court crier.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Harrison assisted in recruiting the men for the 70th Indiana Volunteers and was commissioned with the rank of colonel in August 1862. For the first part of the war, Harrison's regiment was given the job of guarding the western railways. Harrison proved to be an expedient leader, but his men disliked him for his harsh discipline and cold manner. The 70th Indiana Volunteers were assigned to the campaign on Atlanta, and Harrison led an attack at Peach Tree Creek. He was recognized for bravery and promoted to brigadier-general in 1865, before being removed from the military for abandoning his position as reporter in the Indiana Supreme Court, which he had done to enlist in 1862. After his term as court reporter expired, Harrison returned to practicing law.
The Indiana Republican Party nominated Harrison for governor in 1876, but he lost the election to the Democratic candidate James D. Williams. In 1878 Harrison presided over the Indiana Republican convention, was a member of the Mississippi River commission in 1879, and was elected to serve as chairman of Indiana's delegation to the Republican national convention in 1880.
Benjamin Harrison was elected to the United States Senate in 1881. In the Senate, Harrison became a supporter of the interests of Civil War veterans and defended the rights of settlers against the onslaught of the railroad companies. He favored President Arthur's build up of the Navy and the civil service reforms of President Cleveland. As chairman on the Senate Committee on Territories, he argued for the admission of Idaho, Washington, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota into the Union. Harrison lost a bid for re-election in 1886 and returned to Cincinnati to practice law.
Benjamin Harrison was nominated for President on the eighth ballot during the Republican national convention of 1888. The Democrats nominated President Cleveland. The major issue of the campaign was the tariff. Harrison favored a high protective tariff on all American industrial goods. Though he lost in the popular election, Harrison beat President Cleveland in the electoral college 233 - 168. Benjamin Harrison became the twenty-third President of the United States on March 4, 1889.
In July of 1890, the Harrison administration passed the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. The former outlawed business agreements that created alliances designed to monopolize the market by providing a specific good or service. The latter was an inflationary measure designed to shift the dollar standard from gold to silver. Also passed in 1890 was the McKinley Tariff Act which greatly raised the protective tariff on industrial goods. The McKinley Tariff Act caused a sharp increase in the prices of all goods, and, as a result, the Republicans responsible for its passage became extremely unpopular.
In foreign affairs, during the winter of 1889-1890, Secretary of State James G. Blaine presided over the Pan-American Conference, a friendly meeting of the nations of the Western Hemisphere. Blaine was also responsible for arranging a treaty with Great Britain and Germany that established the independence of the Samoan Islands. In 1892, a group of United States sailors were on shore leave in Chile when they were attacked by a mob. President Harrison demanded an apology and reparations from the Chilean government. All of his demands were met. Also in 1892 the Chinese Exclusion Act, a law forbidding the admittance of Chinese immigrants to the United States, was passed. President Harrison arranged a treaty to annex Hawaii, but its ratification was held up in Congress by the Democrats. The treaty was later vetoed by President Cleveland.
President Harrison faced Grover Cleveland again in the election of 1892, but this time, Harrison lost. Benjamin Harrison left office on March 4, 1893, returning to Indianapolis once again to practice law.
In retirement, Harrison delivered a series of lectures on constitutional law at Stanford University in 1894 and published a book on the federal government entitled, This Country of Ours, in 1897. On April 6, 1896 Benjamin Harrison married Mary Scott Lord, the niece of his first wife who had lived with the Harrisons in the White House while Benjamin was President. The couple had one daughter. In 1899 Harrison and his new wife traveled to France where the former president represented Venezuela in its border dispute with Britain. Benjamin Harrison died of pneumonia on March 13, 1901 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
