Really Cool Stuff about Benjamin Harrison
1. You already know that Benjamin was William Henry Harrison’s grandson and that WHH was recognized as a celebrated general (Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!). What you probably don’t know is that Ben, during the Civil War, engaged in more battles than his famed grandfather.
2. In one of those quirky instances in history, Benjamin’s father’s dead body was experimented on by medical students. “On the eve of the party’s state convention, where he was scheduled to give the keynote address, Harrison received the news that the body of his recently deceased father had been discovered at a Cincinnati medical school where grave robbers had deposited it” (p. 35). I think it’s a testament to Harrison’s aplomb that he then went on to give a powerful speech at the convention. “He dashed to Ohio to investigate the grisly affair and then returned to Indianapolis to offer the convention a rousing speech, interrupted repeatedly by applause and laughter” (p. 35). Ha!
3. Modern campaigning was right around the corner but you can say that Harrison began it with the first ever use of front porch speeches. “For the nation’s first front-porch campaign, the rail hub Indianapolis proved ideal to accommodate visiting delegations from around the state and country” (p. 52).
4. And guess who we have popping up again? Old Lew Wallace, the author of Ben-Hur! Campaign biographies were very popular back then as a means of introducing the candidates and their backgrounds to the public. Lew Wallace actually wrote Benjamin Harrison’s campaign bio! “The official campaign biography, written by Ben-Hur author and Harrison friend Lew Wallace, gave a benign account of Harrison’s actions during the 1877 railroad strike and underscored Harrison’s own economic struggles in his early professional life” (p. 55).
5. Benjamin Harrison’s cabinet was the first to include the new Secretary of Agriculture, Jeremiah Rusk.
6. Electricity was first used in the White House during Harrison’s presidency. “Although Congress refused to fund expansion, it did pay for major refurbishing including the installation of electricity” (p. 106).
7. During Harrison’s presidency, Frederick Douglas was the American minister to Haiti.
8. Four states were added to the Union under Harrison’s administration: Montana, Washington, and North and South Dakota. Only under Washington were more states admitted to the United States at one time. Plus it is interesting that we are not sure whether North or South Dakota was admitted 39th or 40th because Harrison never said.
9. Finally the US annexed Hawaii. “A delegation of commissioners soon set off for Washington, where by February 14, 1893, they and Secretary of State Foster had completed a treaty of annexation” (p. 152). On an interesting sidenote, John W. Foster’s grandson, John Foster Dulles, would be secretary of state in the 1950s. So I guess we’ll come across him again
10. In retirement, Harrison wrote several articles for the Ladies Home Journal. These articles were eventually turned into a book named This Country of Ours. Also posthumously, Harrison’s wife published some of his speeches and other writings in the book Views of an Ex-President.
11. Harrison became a trustee of Purdue University, where they named Harrison Hall after him.
It couldn’t have been easy to be the guy sandwiched in between Grover Cleveland’s two terms. I mean, it would have been nice to beat him the first time but then, four years later, to be beaten by him? Ouch! On a scale of rejection, this one had to hurt. To think that the American public liked him so little that they put the man he had just beaten back into office, well that just sucks for Harrison. I was intrigued because what caused this strange ambivalence in minds of the masses?
Calhoun, the author (and the author of several books dealing with the Gilded and Progressive Ages), seems to believe that it was due to the political nature of the time and the equipoise between the political parties. Because the Republican and Democratic parties were almost exactly even in terms of voter turnout, Harrison did not win the popular vote but won in the Electoral College. “In 1888 the elements of this political universe worked in Harrison’s favor. He hailed from the doubtful state of Indiana and boasted an impressive record as soldier, lawyer, senator, and party spokesman—both of which helped him win the Republican nomination” (p. 3). However, just four years later, the American people turned against this president. “In 1890 the Republicans lost overwhelmingly in the midterm congressional elections. Their [and by extension Harrison’s] activist agenda offended and perhaps frightened many essentially conservative voters who held on to the traditional American notion that good government meant limited government” (p. 4-5). Calhoun goes on to state that “The conditions of the political universe that had allowed Harrison to win the presidency now worked against him, the balance in the party equilibrium shifted, and he lost his second election to Cleveland, the man he had defeated four years earlier” (p. 5).
Although Harrison seems to be merely a blip in the radar screen as far as presidents are concerned, he was, at the time, rather a radical president after all. McKinley is usually credited for being the first modern president, but Calhoun declares that Harrison was really the frontrunner that allowed McKinley to do what he did. “In defense of those ideas and in pursuit of what he thought to be his duty, he expanded the boundaries of presidential activism. Both publicly and behind the scenes, he effectively intervened in the deliberations of Congress and posted a remarkable record of legislative achievement. He resisted the dictation of the party bosses in the matter of appointments, thereby risking his own reelection for the sake of personal independence. He frequently operated as the nation’s chief diplomat and shaped its aspirations in foreign affairs. Through skillful use of the press and in widespread travels he took the presidency to the American people. In these and other ways, he unwittingly taught his successors new uses of power and techniques of leadership” (p. 165-66).
Clearly Benjamin Harrison should be remembered in his own right and not merely as William Henry Harrison’s grandson or as the placeholder for Grover Cleveland. It was due to Harrison’s authority that the modern age was ushered into American politics.
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