Hail to the Chiefs Part XXIII: President Who?
There are a lot of obscure presidents between Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt. Let me give you a sense of just how obscure Benjamin Harrison is. He is one of the only Indiana native presidents, so I decided to ask an Indiana native if she had any juicy tidbits about Benjamin Harrison. Her response was: "Who?" Apparently in Indiana they would rather focus on the fact that Lincoln spent a few years there in his boyhood, than dwell at all on Harrison.
Benjamin Harrison was born in North Bend, Ohio, but spent the majority of his life in Indiana. He was the second child out of 8. He was 7 years old when his grandfather William Henry Harrison was president.
An extreme introvert, he was known to be so lost in thought that he would walk right past people he knew. In his teens he became smitten with, and eventually married, Caroline Scott. Caroline, or Carrie, was more outgoing than Harrison, and was able to draw him out. He was warm and affectionate with those he was closest to, but came off as rather a cold fish in public.
Harrison took the typical presidential route of becoming a lawyer. He also moonlighted as a court reporter. When the Civil War started in 1861 initially he chose to stay home with his family, as he figured the conflict would not last long. As the war dragged on, Indiana had a lower than average number of recruits. Benjamin Harrison was asked to become a recruiter. As Harrison felt he couldn't in good conscience recruit for an army he was not a part of, he took a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. He found it a challenge at first creating a sense of discipline in a regiment that was primarily people that all knew each other, but he was successful. His regiment was eventually part of Sherman's March to the Sea.
The military was also where Harrison began to cultivate his love of public speaking. At parties he would give the occasional toast which surprised his fellow officers: "from my quiet reserve at table have probably voted me a bore."
Harrison moved up the ranks and ended the war with the rank of Brigadier General. He was eager to return home to his wife and family. He became heavily involved in the Indiana Republican Party, and was a popular campaigner. Although before being president, the only elected office he held was one term in the Senate.
Harrison emerged as a Dark Horse candidate for president in the 1888 election. When he defeated Cleveland, the deeply religious Harrison attributed his victory to God. Matt Quay, the head of his campaign, thought this was pretty funny. "Think of the man! He will never know how close many men were compelled to approach the gates of the penitentiary to make him President." In other words, as another Republican would say in 1960, "They stole it fair and square."
Harrison's executive style was unique for the era. He interacted directly with Congress, promoting bills directly. According to Harrison biographer Charles Calhoun, William McKinley (at the time in the House) paid close attention to this technique, and later used it himself when he was in the White House.
In the Harrison administration, 6 states were admitted to the union: North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming. This would be the most states admitted to the Union in any administration since George Washington's.
It was also in the Harrison years that electricity was installed. However that doesn't mean any of the Harrisons knew how to use it. They were all terrified of flipping a light switch for fear of being electrocuted. Every night they would go to bed with the lights on. The next day the servants would turn off the lights. (Apparently it was OK if the servants got electrocuted....)
The most famous legislation to be passed in the Harrison years was the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, to try to put an end to price fixing. A young whippersnapper that he appointed to the Civil Service Commission, Theodore Roosevelt, would later take this a lot further.
Another notable act by Harrison was an attempt to pass a Civil Rights Act to secure voting rights for African-Americans. He was unsuccessful. It would take 70 more years and an assassination for Civil Rights legislation to finally pass.
Harrison received the Republican nomination for the 1892 election...with only 60%. He was doing an adequate job, but he wasn't inspiring a lot of enthusiasm among his party. He was perceived as being ineffective with the labor strikes. In September his wife Caroline was diagnosed with tuberculosis. In October, she died. Harrison stopped campaigning. Out of respect, Cleveland stopped campaigning as well.
Thus for the 1st and so far only time in American history, a sitting president was defeated by the former president he had defeated 4 years early. Grover Cleveland was back.
Harrison wanted to keep busy. For a while he lived with his children, and resumed his law practice. Probably the most interesting case was representing Venezuela in border dispute with the United Kingdom. He lost the case, but was praised for his work on the case.
Harrison began a romance with his late wife's niece, Mame Dimmick. Dimmick and Harrison had a rather affectionate friendship. During the 1888 presidential campaign she would massage his head when he was stressed. (That's practically sex by Victorian standards, I'm thinking...) Much to the chagrin of his children, Harrison and Dimmick married and had a child together.
Benjamin Harrison died in 1901. President McKinley stated that Harrison had "displayed extraordinary gifts as an administrator and statesmen."
Mysteriously, it is next to impossible to find pop culture references about Benjamin Harrison. So instead I opted for this clip from Air Force One where the president is played by Harrison Ford.
Benjamin Harrison was born in North Bend, Ohio, but spent the majority of his life in Indiana. He was the second child out of 8. He was 7 years old when his grandfather William Henry Harrison was president.
An extreme introvert, he was known to be so lost in thought that he would walk right past people he knew. In his teens he became smitten with, and eventually married, Caroline Scott. Caroline, or Carrie, was more outgoing than Harrison, and was able to draw him out. He was warm and affectionate with those he was closest to, but came off as rather a cold fish in public.
Harrison took the typical presidential route of becoming a lawyer. He also moonlighted as a court reporter. When the Civil War started in 1861 initially he chose to stay home with his family, as he figured the conflict would not last long. As the war dragged on, Indiana had a lower than average number of recruits. Benjamin Harrison was asked to become a recruiter. As Harrison felt he couldn't in good conscience recruit for an army he was not a part of, he took a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. He found it a challenge at first creating a sense of discipline in a regiment that was primarily people that all knew each other, but he was successful. His regiment was eventually part of Sherman's March to the Sea.
The military was also where Harrison began to cultivate his love of public speaking. At parties he would give the occasional toast which surprised his fellow officers: "from my quiet reserve at table have probably voted me a bore."
Harrison moved up the ranks and ended the war with the rank of Brigadier General. He was eager to return home to his wife and family. He became heavily involved in the Indiana Republican Party, and was a popular campaigner. Although before being president, the only elected office he held was one term in the Senate.
Harrison emerged as a Dark Horse candidate for president in the 1888 election. When he defeated Cleveland, the deeply religious Harrison attributed his victory to God. Matt Quay, the head of his campaign, thought this was pretty funny. "Think of the man! He will never know how close many men were compelled to approach the gates of the penitentiary to make him President." In other words, as another Republican would say in 1960, "They stole it fair and square."
Harrison's executive style was unique for the era. He interacted directly with Congress, promoting bills directly. According to Harrison biographer Charles Calhoun, William McKinley (at the time in the House) paid close attention to this technique, and later used it himself when he was in the White House.
In the Harrison administration, 6 states were admitted to the union: North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming. This would be the most states admitted to the Union in any administration since George Washington's.
It was also in the Harrison years that electricity was installed. However that doesn't mean any of the Harrisons knew how to use it. They were all terrified of flipping a light switch for fear of being electrocuted. Every night they would go to bed with the lights on. The next day the servants would turn off the lights. (Apparently it was OK if the servants got electrocuted....)
The most famous legislation to be passed in the Harrison years was the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, to try to put an end to price fixing. A young whippersnapper that he appointed to the Civil Service Commission, Theodore Roosevelt, would later take this a lot further.
Another notable act by Harrison was an attempt to pass a Civil Rights Act to secure voting rights for African-Americans. He was unsuccessful. It would take 70 more years and an assassination for Civil Rights legislation to finally pass.
Harrison received the Republican nomination for the 1892 election...with only 60%. He was doing an adequate job, but he wasn't inspiring a lot of enthusiasm among his party. He was perceived as being ineffective with the labor strikes. In September his wife Caroline was diagnosed with tuberculosis. In October, she died. Harrison stopped campaigning. Out of respect, Cleveland stopped campaigning as well.
Thus for the 1st and so far only time in American history, a sitting president was defeated by the former president he had defeated 4 years early. Grover Cleveland was back.
Harrison wanted to keep busy. For a while he lived with his children, and resumed his law practice. Probably the most interesting case was representing Venezuela in border dispute with the United Kingdom. He lost the case, but was praised for his work on the case.
Harrison began a romance with his late wife's niece, Mame Dimmick. Dimmick and Harrison had a rather affectionate friendship. During the 1888 presidential campaign she would massage his head when he was stressed. (That's practically sex by Victorian standards, I'm thinking...) Much to the chagrin of his children, Harrison and Dimmick married and had a child together.
Benjamin Harrison died in 1901. President McKinley stated that Harrison had "displayed extraordinary gifts as an administrator and statesmen."
Mysteriously, it is next to impossible to find pop culture references about Benjamin Harrison. So instead I opted for this clip from Air Force One where the president is played by Harrison Ford.