- Benjamin Harrison, photograph by George Prince, 1888.
(1833–1901). Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States, came from a political family. His great-grandfather, also named Benjamin Harrison, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. His grandfather, William Henry Harrison, was the ninth United States president. The younger President Harrison was a moderate Republican. He was elected president in 1888 despite losing the popular vote to Democrat Grover Cleveland. After one term he was defeated by Cleveland in his bid for reelection. Early life and marriageBenjamin Harrison was born on August 20, 1833, in his grandfather's home in North Bend, Ohio. He was the son of John Scott Harrison, a farmer, and Elizabeth Irwin Harrison. At age 14 Benjamin was admitted to Farmers' College, near Cincinnati, Ohio. He continued his studies at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. After graduating in 1852, he returned to Cincinnati to study law in an attorney's office. In 1853, at the age of 20, Harrison married Caroline Lavinia Scott. She was the daughter of one of his professors at Farmers' College. The couple had two children. Lawyer and Civil War officerHarrison moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1854 to establish his own law practice. Despite his father's warnings to stay out of politics, Harrison joined the new Republican party. In 1860 he became reporter of the Indiana Supreme Court. Harrison served in the American Civil War as an officer in the Union Army. He fought gallantly in many battles, finally reaching the rank of brevet brigadier general. Thereafter he was called General Harrison. Political careerAfter the war Harrison returned to his law practice and his work at the Indiana Supreme Court. In 1876 he ran unsuccessfully for governor of Indiana. Four years later, however, he was elected to the United States Senate. He served there from 1881 to 1887. In 1888 the Republican Party nominated Harrison for the presidency. His Democratic opponent was President Grover Cleveland. Harrison polled about 90,000 fewer popular votes than Cleveland. He won the election, however, because he received 233 electoral votes to Cleveland's 168. PresidencyHarrison's administration was marked by a bold foreign policy. In 1893 Harrison presented to the Senate a treaty to annex Hawaii to the United States. The treaty was not approved during his term, however. At the start of Harrison's presidency, the federal government had a large supply of money. During his term, however, Congress spent such enormous sums on soldiers' pensions and funds to help businesses that the surplus soon vanished. The 51st Congress was the first to spend a billion dollars in peacetime. Many Americans viewed the Harrison Administration and the “billion-dollar Congress” as wasteful. An important law passed during Harrison's term was the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. This law outlawed monopolies and other business practices that give unfair advantages to businesses. Defeat and retirementHarrison was renominated by the Republicans in 1892. The Democrats again nominated Grover Cleveland, who won the election by a large majority. Harrison's wife died midway through the campaign. After Cleveland's inauguration Harrison returned to Indianapolis and resumed his law practice. In 1896, at age 62, he married his deceased wife's niece and caretaker, Mary Lord Dimmick. They had one daughter. Harrison died on March 13, 1901. He was buried in Indianapolis beside his first wife. |