Benjamin Harrison 1889-1893

Born: 1833, North Bend, OH
Died: 1901

The grandson of President William Henry ("Tippecanoe") Harrison, Benjamin Harrison was a conservative Indiana lawyer and a staunch advocate (some said pawn) of big business. He served as a colonel in the Union Army during the Civil War and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1881, where he supported a high tariff. Chosen as the Republican Presidential candidate in 1888, Harrison received substantial campaign contributions from American manufacturers who favored his protectionist stance.

President Harrison sponsored the first Pan-American Congress. In domestic affairs, he supported the McKinley Tariff Act, which increased import duties; a new Pension Act and other appropriation bills; the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which regulated monopolies; and the Silver Purchase Act, which authorized the minting of additional silver coins. In all, Congress spent over $1 billion in a single session, setting a peacetime record. While manufacturers benefited from high tariffs under Harrison, they did not pass the benefits on to labor. Faced with mounting resentment among industrial workers, and a depressed farm economy, Harrison lost his big for a second term to former President Grover Cleveland -- the same man he had defeated four years before.

Twenty-Third President
Republican