The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Harrison, Benjamin (President)
HARRISON, Benjamin, 23d President of the United States: b. North Bend, Ohio, 20 Aug. 1833; d. Indianapolis, Ind., 13 March 1901. He was a great-grandson of Benjamin Harrison, signer of the Declaration of Independence (q.v.), and grandson of William Henry Harrison, ninth President (q.v.). He was graduated from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) in 1852, studied law in Cincinnati, was admitted to the bar in 1853 and in 1854 began in Indianapolis the practise of his profession. In 1860 he was elected reporter of the Supreme Court of the State. At the time of his election to the Presidency (1888) he was one of the foremost leaders of the State bar. At the outbreak of the Civil War he assisted in recruiting the 70th regiment of Indiana Volunteers, of which he became colonel (August 1862). He was an exceedingly efficient commander. For some time he was detailed to guard railways in the West; and in the campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta the regiment was in the 20th Army corps, the commander of which was Gen. Joseph Hooker. Harrison commanded a brigade at Peach Tree Creek, where he served with especial distinction, and also at Nashville. He was present at Johnston's surrender at Durham Station, N. C., in 1865, was brevetted brigadier-general for his services in command of the brigade, and in June of that year was mustered out. The Supreme Court in Indiana had declared that Harrison by his enlistment vacated his office of reporter, and a Democrat was elected by default to fill that office for the unexpired term. At the election of 1864 Harrison, while still in the field, was rechosen. In 1867 he refused a renomination, and recommenced his legal practice, in which he was largely retained in both the Federal and State courts. In 1876 he became, on the retirement of the original candidate, the Republican candidate for the governorship, and though he ran about 2,000 votes ahead of his ticket, he was defeated by a Democratic plurality of 3,000. He was appointed a member of the Mississippi River commission in 1879, and in 1880 was chairman of the Indiana delegation in the Republican National Convention. At that convention, where he east nearly the entire vote of the State for Garfield, he was himself mentioned in connection with the Presidency. From 1881 to 1887 he was in the United States Senate, in which he took rank as a prominent debater. He opposed Cleveland's vetoes of the pension bills, urged increase in the navy and civil-service reform, and as chairman of the Committee on Territories demanded the admission as States of North and South Dakota, Montana, Washington and Idaho. In 1884 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention. At the convention of 1888 (Chicago, Ill.) he was presented by the solid Indiana delegation as a candidate for the nomination to the Presidency; and on the eighth ballot he received the nomination by a vote of 544. The campaign was a vigorous one, and Harrison made many excellent speeches. He was elected, receiving in the electoral college 233 ballots to 168 for Grover Cleveland. His administration was broadly characterized by a firm defense of American interests in foreign affairs and a general promotion of industry and governmental effectiveness. During this time the 55th Congress passed the tariff act known as the McKinley Law; the reciprocity system was introduced; the new navy was extended; civil-service reform was promoted; and the Pan-American Congress with Representatives from all Central and South American countries was held at Washington in the winter of 1889-90. The Bering Sea arbitration respecting the seal fisheries was also organized between Great Britain and the United States. The Samoan difficulties were adjusted; and the Chile affair, concerned with an attack on American sailors either connived at or permitted by Chilean authorities, was promptly and satisfactorily settled by enforced reparation on the part of Chile. At the Minneapolis convention of 1892 Harrison was renominated without serious opposition. He was a second time opposed by Cleveland, and his defeat by 276 electoral votes to 145 was an occasion for some surprise. Upon his retirement from office, he returned to the practice of law, and in 1893-94 delivered a course of lectures on constitutional law at Stanford University. In 1899 he appeared as counsel for Venezuela in the Anglo-Venezuelan Boundary Arbitration Commission. He was appointed a member for the United States of the Peace Conference held at The Hague in 1899, and became one of the International Board of Arbitration. He wrote ‘This Country of Ours’ (1897). A complete collection of his public addresses from 1888 to 1892 was edited by Hedges (1892). A posthumous collection of articles, ‘Views of an Ex-President,’ was published in 1901. Consult the campaign life by Lew Wallace (1888), and Wilson (editor), ‘The Presidents of the United States’ (1894).
BENJAMIN HARRISON
Twenty-third President of the United States