Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901)

I

Introduction

Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901), 23rd president of the United States (1889-1893). Harrison was a quiet, industrious political leader and a veteran of the Civil War (1861-1865). A grandson of President William Henry Harrison (1841), he won the presidency through his family name and party loyalty, aided by the support of Civil War veterans. Harrison signed important economic legislation while in office, including the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, and the McKinley Tariff Act. Under his administration part of the Oklahoma Territory was opened to white settlers in 1889, and in 1890, Idaho and Wyoming became states.

II

Early Life

Harrison was from a wealthy and politically prominent Virginia family. His great-grandfather, for whom he was named, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence (see Harrison, Benjamin (1726?-1791)). His grandfather, William Henry Harrison, became president of the United States in 1841 when Benjamin was seven.

Harrison was born in his grandfather's home in North Bend, in southwestern Ohio, on August 20, 1833. He and was raised on his father's farm a few miles away. His parents were Elizabeth Irwin Harrison and John Scott Harrison, who had served two terms in the Congress of the United States. His father struggled to support a large family, but he managed to send Benjamin and his older brother to Farmers' College, near Cincinnati. After two years, Benjamin transferred to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He graduated in 1852. A year later he married a college friend, Caroline Lavinia Scott, daughter of the president of the Oxford Female Institute (later absorbed by Miami University). The couple had a son, Russell, and a daughter, Mary.

III

Early Career

Harrison was deeply religious. He considered becoming a Presbyterian clergyman (see Presbyterianism) but finally decided to study law, and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1854. In quest of a promising location, Harrison decided on Indianapolis, Indiana as a good place to open a law office. Harrison's grandfather had served as the first governor of Indiana Territory and had fought in the Battle of Tippecanoe there.

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Harrison formed a law partnership with William Wallace, son of a former Indiana governor, and the firm prospered. Harrison's family name, his mastery of Indiana laws, and his membership in the new Republican Party led to his appointment as assistant city attorney.

Harrison worked hard for the Republican Party. In 1856 he campaigned for the Republican presidential candidate, John Charles Frémont, the explorer and former U.S. senator from California. In 1857 Harrison was elected city attorney of Indianapolis. The following year he was chosen secretary of the Republican state central committee. In 1860 he was elected state supreme court reporter, and in the same year he campaigned for Abraham Lincoln for president.

A

Army Career

Harrison sat out the first part of the Civil War, but then was commissioned colonel and commanded the 70th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which he created in 1862 at the request of Governor Oliver P. Morton. In Kentucky Harrison's raw recruits helped fight an invasion by Confederate General Braxton Bragg. Harrison's unit was later transferred to the army of General William Tecumseh Sherman, and in 1864, Harrison and his men fought in the bloody Atlanta campaign. At the Peach Tree Creek engagement he won praise for gallant conduct.

Harrison went home on furlough in 1864 to campaign against pro-Southern Democrats in Indiana. He was reelected supreme court reporter, and later rejoined his regiment in the Carolinas. He left the army with the rank of brigadier general.