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| Benjamin Harrison |
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Born on August 20th, 1833,
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd
President of the United States as a
member of the Republican Party.
Nominated for President on the
eighth ballot at the 1888
Republican Convention, Benjamin
Harrison conducted one of the first
"front-porch" campaigns, delivering
short speeches to delegations that
visited him in Indianapolis. As he
was only 5 feet, 6 inches tall,
Democrats called him "Little Ben";
Republicans replied that he was big
enough to wear the hat of his
grandfather, "Old Tippecanoe."
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd
President of the United States as a
member of the Republican Party.
Nominated for President on the
eighth ballot at the 1888
Republican Convention, Benjamin
Harrison conducted one of the first
"front-porch" campaigns, delivering
short speeches to delegations that
visited him in Indianapolis. As he
was only 5 feet, 6 inches tall,
Democrats called him "Little Ben";
Republicans replied that he was big
enough to wear the hat of his
grandfather, "Old Tippecanoe."
Born in 1833 on a farm by the Ohio River below Cincinnati, Harrison attended Miami University
in Ohio and read law in Cincinnati. He moved to Indianapolis, where he practiced law and
campaigned for the Republican Party. He married Caroline Lavinia Scott in 1853. After the
Civil War--he was Colonel of the 70th Volunteer Infantry--Harrison became a pillar of
Indianapolis, enhancing his reputation as a brilliant lawyer.
The Democrats defeated him for Governor of Indiana in 1876 by unfairly stigmatizing him as
"Kid Gloves" Harrison. In the 1880's he served in the United States Senate, where he
championed Indians. homesteaders, and Civil War veterans.
In the Presidential election, Harrison received 100,000 fewer popular votes than Cleveland,
but carried the Electoral College 233 to 168. Although Harrison had made no political
bargains, his supporters had given innumerable pledges upon his behalf.
When Boss Matt Quay of Pennsylvania heard that Harrison ascribed his narrow victory to
Providence, Quay exclaimed that Harrison would never know "how close a number of men
were compelled to approach... the penitentiary to make him President."
Harrison was proud of the vigorous foreign policy which he helped shape. The first Pan
American Congress met in Washington in 1889, establishing an information center which later
became the Pan American Union. At the end of his administration Harrison submitted to the
Senate a treaty to annex Hawaii; to his disappointment, President Cleveland later withdrew it.
Substantial appropriation bills were signed by Harrison for internal improvements, naval
expansion, and subsidies for steamship lines. For the first time except in war, Congress
appropriated a billion dollars. When critics attacked "the billion-dollar Congress," Speaker
Thomas B. Reed replied, "This is a billion-dollar country." President Harrison also signed the
Sherman Anti-Trust Act "to protect trade and commerce against unlawful restraints and
monopolies," the first Federal act attempting to regulate trusts.
The most perplexing domestic problem Harrison faced was the tariff issue. The high tariff
rates in effect had created a surplus of money in the Treasury. Low-tariff advocates argued
that the surplus was hurting business. Republican leaders in Congress successfully met the
challenge. Representative William McKinley and Senator Nelson W. Aldrich framed a still
higher tariff bill; some rates were intentionally prohibitive.
Harrison tried to make the tariff more acceptable by writing in reciprocity provisions. To cope
with the Treasury surplus, the tariff was removed from imported raw sugar; sugar growers
within the United States were given two cents a pound bounty on their production.
Long before the end of the Harrison Administration, the Treasury surplus had evaporated, and
prosperity seemed about to disappear as well. Congressional elections in 1890 went
stingingly against the Republicans, and party leaders decided to abandon President Harrison
although he had cooperated with Congress on party legislation. Nevertheless, his party
renominated him in 1892, but he was defeated by Cleveland.
After he left office, Harrison returned to Indianapolis, and married the widowed Mrs. Mary
Dimmick in 1896. A dignified elder statesman, he died in 1901.
in Ohio and read law in Cincinnati. He moved to Indianapolis, where he practiced law and
campaigned for the Republican Party. He married Caroline Lavinia Scott in 1853. After the
Civil War--he was Colonel of the 70th Volunteer Infantry--Harrison became a pillar of
Indianapolis, enhancing his reputation as a brilliant lawyer.
The Democrats defeated him for Governor of Indiana in 1876 by unfairly stigmatizing him as
"Kid Gloves" Harrison. In the 1880's he served in the United States Senate, where he
championed Indians. homesteaders, and Civil War veterans.
In the Presidential election, Harrison received 100,000 fewer popular votes than Cleveland,
but carried the Electoral College 233 to 168. Although Harrison had made no political
bargains, his supporters had given innumerable pledges upon his behalf.
When Boss Matt Quay of Pennsylvania heard that Harrison ascribed his narrow victory to
Providence, Quay exclaimed that Harrison would never know "how close a number of men
were compelled to approach... the penitentiary to make him President."
Harrison was proud of the vigorous foreign policy which he helped shape. The first Pan
American Congress met in Washington in 1889, establishing an information center which later
became the Pan American Union. At the end of his administration Harrison submitted to the
Senate a treaty to annex Hawaii; to his disappointment, President Cleveland later withdrew it.
Substantial appropriation bills were signed by Harrison for internal improvements, naval
expansion, and subsidies for steamship lines. For the first time except in war, Congress
appropriated a billion dollars. When critics attacked "the billion-dollar Congress," Speaker
Thomas B. Reed replied, "This is a billion-dollar country." President Harrison also signed the
Sherman Anti-Trust Act "to protect trade and commerce against unlawful restraints and
monopolies," the first Federal act attempting to regulate trusts.
The most perplexing domestic problem Harrison faced was the tariff issue. The high tariff
rates in effect had created a surplus of money in the Treasury. Low-tariff advocates argued
that the surplus was hurting business. Republican leaders in Congress successfully met the
challenge. Representative William McKinley and Senator Nelson W. Aldrich framed a still
higher tariff bill; some rates were intentionally prohibitive.
Harrison tried to make the tariff more acceptable by writing in reciprocity provisions. To cope
with the Treasury surplus, the tariff was removed from imported raw sugar; sugar growers
within the United States were given two cents a pound bounty on their production.
Long before the end of the Harrison Administration, the Treasury surplus had evaporated, and
prosperity seemed about to disappear as well. Congressional elections in 1890 went
stingingly against the Republicans, and party leaders decided to abandon President Harrison
although he had cooperated with Congress on party legislation. Nevertheless, his party
renominated him in 1892, but he was defeated by Cleveland.
After he left office, Harrison returned to Indianapolis, and married the widowed Mrs. Mary
Dimmick in 1896. A dignified elder statesman, he died in 1901.